Halloween 2021: The Addams Family

When the calendar struck October 1, we started decorating the house, watching scary movies together (Monster house! Muppets Haunted Mansion! The Addams Family!) We carved pumpkins and maybe ate a bit too much candy. 

And after all that fun build-up, Halloween 2021 turned out to be one of the best Halloweens ever! But don't take my word for it, take yours! We trick-or-treated with the Hanrihans, Longs, Larsens, and Rainey-Ellises in a new neighborhood and after the panedmic, everyone was so excited to have a regular-ish Halloween that they were super generous and gave out so much candy!

Julia, you got a full-size snickers and ran down the road with it high in the sky like a victory trophy! "I GOT A FULL SIZE SNICKERS!"

Aidan, your basket was so full that it was almost too heavy for you to carry!

You guys got candy and play-do and crayons and more candy! And more candy!

And when we got home, we were able to GIVE candy to neighbors and trick-or-treaters!

And we got to do it as a family... one creepy, kooky, mysterious and spooky family!

And for me, that is what Halloween is all about-- being together with friends and family and divulging in a LOT of sweetness together.

Trick or Treat!

Pumpkins Everywhere? It's almost Halloween!

It's October, which means fall is in the air and Halloween is on the way.

Julia, you and I got the spooky spirit this year and decorated the inside of the house and then the outside. Then mommy and Aidan joined in too. Okay, it was mostly you, but we all pitched in and got our house all spooky scary for Halloween. 

Then, we thought we didn't have quite enough decorations, so you and I and Aidan set off to make a big old spider-web in our front yard! And...we had to go get more string, but it turned out great! 

Then, we grabbed some sammiches and headed to the Arboretum for a picnic and a pumpkin village visit (and some family photos...and some chasing and cooling off by splashing people with fountain-wetted hats...)

Another weekend a little later, we decided to carve our pumpkins. Mommy sat and sunbathed on the deck while we worked, had fun with pumpkin slop and goop, cooked our seeds and finalized our spooky jack-o-lanterns.

When I finished scooping out my pumpkin's guts, I went inside to wash my hands. When I came back outside, my pumpkin was FULL of guts again. WAAAAY more guts than it had to begin with! Some mischievous imps played a halloween trick on me! Because I had left the time-lapse camera recording, I actually caught you guys on video!

Aidan, your pumpkin was extra special. It had like 6 or 7 growing SPROUTS inside of it! That's really good luck!

Julia, you wanted to make your pumpkin a LITTLE more magical, so you guided me on giving it round glasses and a lightning scar to make it SCARY POTTER.  

This is HALLOWEEN - 2018 Edition

It is no secret, kiddos, that we LOVE Halloween! 

We love dressing up in costume (and y'all don't necessarily wait for October to make that happen!). We love candy! We love trick or treating. We love getting in the spoooooky spirit and decorating. We love walking around getting candy with our neighbors. We love carving pumpkins and toasting seeds. 

So, when it was time for this Halloween, there was definitely some magic in the air!

Julia, you went as Princess Elsa from Frozen!

Aidan, you followed your newest obsession and went as a GHOSTBUSTER!

 On the day of, we packed your lunches up nice:

And I headed off for a Weird day at work dressed as our favorite summer obsession, Weird Al! You kids loved the costume, but were iffy on my mustache. Toby barked at me because he didn't recognize me!

Mommy wasn't going to dress up, but then we made her a costume at the last second, and went as the subject of one of our recent movie nights: A NEWSIE!

The rainy weather cleared, our teams were assembled, and we headed down the hill to collect the Long sisters and miss Ana for trick-or-treating!

And off y'all went...running door to door...not being daunted by an empty house, or spooky electronic ghost  (which Aidan gladly "Busted"). 

As darkness settled in, and the candy baskets got rather full...and as your tummies got fuller and slightly more upset from too much candy consumption.... we called a close to this 2018 eve of ghouls and goblins and chocolate....

And...if you look back on the day and the month leading up to it....there was certainly a BIG spark of MAGIC!