Stop, I Can't Take it Anymore!

November 02, 2010

Three straight days of Halloween fun and craziness was more than enough for me. I am so ready to move on to the next big thing! I feel this way every year, but the girls will never agree to just skip Halloween. This year everyone knew what they wanted to be pretty early - in order here from biggest to smallest: witch, Glinda the good witch, Belle, cheerleader, and little witch. The costumes were ready and then, suddenly, everyone changed their minds to (also in order): hula girl, indian, robot, woodland fairy, and kitten. I guess I didn't care too much because they each found their new costume on their own. I was only responsible for hair and makeup.

The first night they got their costumes on and we all gathered in the bathroom to add the finishing touches. It took a while for all five girls and was pretty crowded with six of us in there! Natalie didn't need anything besides her costume - the wait was apparently so boring that she fell asleep on the floor. Once we were all set we headed out to meet Jared at the base for a Halloween party. At first we couldn't see anyone else in costumes - Madison got out of the car and then hid behind it and Emily refused to even leave the car. They were not going to be the only ones dressed up. But then we saw a karate kid and a ballerina and everything was alright again. The kids had fun decorating sugar cookies and making caramel apples. The candy collecting that night was pretty minimal, but they each came home with something to put in their bags - or straight in their tummies.

Night two was our ward's annual Trunk or Treat. We had another set of costumes that night - witch, pirate, Belle, cheerleader, and kitten. I definitely spent more time getting them ready for the ward party than I had for the party the night before. Madison's entire face was painted green, Emily had crazy ratted out hair and one tooth colored black with a Sharpie. "Don't worry" I told her, "it will come right off when you brush your teeth." Guess who still has traces of black Sharpie on her front tooth? Abigail got a lot of makeup and I did my best with her hair but since I'm not that great at hair, my best wasn't too wonderful. I'm just glad that she's not picky about stuff like that. Samantha had bows in her hair that matched her cheerleading uniform, as all good cheerleaders must. We also enlisted the help of my seldom used eyeliner to write Go Team! and #1 on her cheeks. Natalie didn't need much, but we did use the eyeliner again and color a little kitten nose on her little girl nose. The Ward Halloween party is always packed - by the time we arrived there were no seats left. So we walked around and tried to keep our kids from running like posessed children all over the cultural hall and stage. Then the Trunk or Treat began and it was a candy free for all. It's really a much more efficient way to do Halloween. Cars are parked much closer together than houses can ever be so kids can collect a lot of candy in a small area. And it's easy to go around two, three, or even four times (like Abigail!) to really maximize the amount of candy you go home with.

The third night we got dressed up again, and again there was some changing of costumes. We had a witch, Glinda the good witch, Belle, a little witch, and a princess. I'm not sure if you've been able to keep track, but Samantha and Emily wore a different costume each night. At this point I didn't care anymore and I did nothing but tell everyone to put on a costume and get in the car. No hair styling, no make up, and not a single picture. We drove to Landstuhl, the closest base to our house to trick or treat. I gave the girls an hour, but that ended up being more time than we needed. The housing area on Landstuhl isn't that big and we were able to go to every house that had candy in less that an hour. It was a bit disappointing for the kids, especially because there were houses with huge inflatable pumpkins on the lawn or skeletons everywhere, but no one home for trick or treaters. After that we had a party to go to here in town and I guess I wasn't the only one who was Halloweened out - Madison and Abigail asked if they could just stay home. The other girls and I went and had a good time. Samantha learned that she's very good at bobbing for apples and Emily learned that she likes feta cheese.

After three consecutive days of parties and candy, Natalie woke up on Sunday morning to ask me where we would be trick or treating that day. Next year I think we should not do so many Halloween parties and activities - it takes the fun out of it and makes it less special. I am happy to say good-bye to Halloween and hello to Veteran's Day, Emily's birthday, Thanksgiving, and all the other candy-free fun November has to offer.