Candypalooza 2012

Phew...we made it.  

And, judging by the amount of candy in our house -- I'd say we were successful.  Though I love Halloween and enjoy watching my kids dress up and tell jokes (It's a St. Louis thing), I am ready to put the costumes and decorations away til next year.  When I was a kid, Halloween was a one night celebration.  Today, there are often so many festivities centered around all things spooky that the party train starts somewhere mid October, but doesn't stop until November 1.

I do love the traditions though that we've developed over the years -- like visiting a pumpkin patch, roasting the seeds after carving the pumpkin, watching "It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown", listening to jokes my kids have learned or made up themselves and just spending time together -- even if it means I have to contend with weeks of "Can I have a piece of candy?" 18 times a day.

One trunk or treat

"I know all of the Star Wars music," shared Noah. -- with Princess Leia 

Two school Halloween parties - I did my best to hang out with both kids.  Not easy to be in two places at once!

Noah's class played a spooky memory game. 

Natalie with her candy crazy classmates.

Pumpkin Designing

                     

Both kids were super pleased with their pumpkin creations. 

For the past five years, our family has been celebrating Halloween night with the Brauns and the Browns.  While the Brauns always host and provide the main dish (usually Bab's famous "slop" a concoction of Velveeta and chili), we bring a dessert and side dish to share. With eight ramped-up kids among us, the volume level can sometimes reach an 11.  However, this year it didn't seem as loud.  Maybe because the kids are older or maybe it's because we, the adults, just don't hear as well as we used to. This year Babs added some games to the mix - like "Monster Poop" -- in which she melted various candies and then told the kids to examine the piles and guess which monster had done its business...like the "Snicker-saurus", "Big Butterfinger-foot" and the "Baby Ruthless".

Smelling the "monster poop" was allowed...just no tasting!

 

Elvis (aka Kevin) enters the building.

We enjoyed fresh fruit and veggies 

 Bab's cauldron of slop

The F-Gang

The Browns

The Brauns

Megan the sweetest Halloween Fairy

And...they're off!

Here's the jokes they told:

Noah: How many wizards does it take to change a light bulb?

Answer: None!  Wizards don't need electricity.

Natalie: Why couldn't the skeleton cross the road?

Answer: Because he didn't have any guts!

Megan: What is a ghost's favorite food?

Answer: Boo-berry jam on toast 

Lindsay: How did the bee get to school?

Answer: On the school buzzzzz

Jason: Where does a bat brush his teeth?

Answer: In the bat-room!

Batman and Princess Cat

Ta Da! Look at us! Aren't we cute?

We didn't stop until our containers were full .