Trick-or-Treat!

I finished the bat wings just in time, even with a broken sewing machine. Payton's smile made it all worth while. (Those are glow sticks in his wings, purple even, his favorite color these days, but the picture just doesn't show it.)

I signed up to bring treats to his school class and was asked to bring veggies. I wasn't sure how creative I could get with those --- good thing for Google --- I found something easy enough. The hardest part was coming up with a little container small enough for the nose. (Yeah, I found one!) I also signed up to bring treats to Alyssa's class, but, it turns out that I guess that meant I was staying to help with the party! Ohhhhhh... so, I would bring cupcakes still... but, the teacher wants the kids to decorate them! Okay... I guess I can do that too...

I don't know why I didn't get a picture, the cupcakes were really cute with a spider web in the icing and a spider ring stuck on top. But here's her class playing musical chairs to Halloween music.

And here are my two monsters after a quick dinner, ready to TRICK-OR-TREAT!

Alyssa's is a witch for the 3rd year in a row. My mom sewed us matching costumes and left room for my little girl to grow with it. Doesn't she make a darling witch!

The weather was cool, yet, nice for this time of year. We trick-or-treated our neighborhood down to their school where they were having a trunk-or-treat. We ran into some of our friends there.

Then we trick-or-treated our way back home. Some people where very creative in decorating their house. These were some of our favorites:

We got TOO MUCH CANDY! (Almost 2 buckets full each!) I told them so too and asked them to just keep their favorites --- we needed to get rid of the rest. And they did --- without complaining (and with a little help). YEAH! Now they've got 1/2 a bucket each (as if that isn't too much!)

We hope your Halloween was fun too!

Bat Wings

Today begins another attempt at turning my son into a vampire bat. Last Halloween, I gave up when I couldn't get the wings to work. He was so disappointed. I felt awful letting him down that way. So, I promised him he could be a bat next year. (I would have an ENTIRE year to figure out how to make bat wings...) Next year's here. It's 1:00 Wednesday morning. He needs his costume Friday morning. No need to panic yet --- I have it all pinned together. He'll get to try it on in the morning (I hope all the pins are poking outward enough that those don't draw blood. And, I'm hoping for only minor adjustments.)

My mom is the seamstress. Not me. She made my daughter and me matching witch costumes 3 years ago. This will be our 3rd year wearing them together. However, Alyssa says she's not doing Halloween this year. Of corse I said OK --- I told her she could stay home with Daddy (he would LOVE that). I'm betting she'll change her mind. She's already decided to wear her costume to her ballet Halloween party, after all.

My 6-Year Old Daughter

Alyssa, she’s a sweetheart. Find a lonely girl and she’ll be first to be her friend. She feels sad when she sees others making poor choices. She always wants to know when we can do more service. And she's smart. One time when she was barely 3 we called her “Little Miss Smarty Pants” and she said, “No! I’m not Smartly Pants, I’m Smarty Skirt,” because, she was, after all, wearing a skirt!

At 4 years old, she could not learn how to read fast enough and it frustrated her so deeply she’d scream. Now she’s the top reader in her first grade class. She brings home extra books every night and can’t wait to read those to us. She sneaks books into bed and reads until the last sliver of light fades from her room.

However, one of her favorite ways to spend time with me is getting ready for church Sunday mornings. She picks out her prettiest dress and I polish her dainty fingernails. She carefully places those into her very own pink nail dryer. She tells me just how her hair should be and really likes it braided. For a finishing touch we add sparkly stickers to her ears. She feels like a princess as she admires her reflection with a satisfied smile.

Goo Goo Ga Ga

Payton's 1st grade teacher played "Goo Goo Ga Ga" for his first grade class. He tried telling me about the baby and the troll in the song. So, because he was so excited about it, I looked it up online. It was easy to find because, apparently, Joe Scruggs is a favorite with some other bloggers. It's very cute --- at least it was the first 1/2 a dozen times we listened to it. Now I can't get out of my head! Needless to say, the kids don't have a problem humming and singing it all day loooooooooooooooong!

Pumpkins

My son (6), so creative...

He started drawing pumpkins during sacrament meeting last Sunday and kept on drawing until the meeting was over.

I thought we'd tape those to the front window with the other Halloween decorations, but, then thought his birthmother would enjoy them, too. So, we're sending them in the mail tomorrow --- and I'm hanging these scanned drawings in my blog instead.