Halloween

So you say it's nigh on Christmas? (I didn't know you talked like that.) No matter, I am still posting about Halloween even though it's almost December . We've got pumpkin carving, school Halloween parades, and trick-or-treating to talk about!
We carved pumpkins the week before the holiday. I didn't get one because I know that we always end up carving much of the kids' pumpkins, and I didn't want the added stress of doing my own! Joseph was dedicated to finishing his "Tardis" carving though.

Serious Joseph

Jonah wanted a tiger, so I helped him carve it, then he added some of his own embellishments. Josh and Elora carved almost their whole jack-o-lanters by themselves!



The night before the big day, Joseph was making some treats for his class party.



He had some left over chocolate, so he made me a special treat too. It was pretty tasty.



For Halloween Elora was going to be a fairy princess; we were using her wings from two years ago, her tiara from when she was a flower girl last winter, and a dress she's owned for almost four years now. It used to be a lot longer on her, as you can imagine! I decided to curl her hair up the night before. Yes, mothers of other girls will be shocked to know this is the first time I've tried curlers in her hair, even though I'm said I was going to do it for Easter for several years now. She was very excited about it.
Unfortunately, her hair didn't really dry at all that night, so it was pointless! I did curl it a bit with a curling iron that morning, and she says she got lots of compliments on it at school- most days we usually braid it.

miss fancy pants

When it was time for the school "parade" though, I brought things to put her hair up and it wasn't that curly anymore. She still looked pretty cute!





Doesn't she look so cute next to all the scary guys!

Joshua got to be batman. I tried to convince him to wear his superman outfit again, but it was only half-hearted, as I knew he'd worn it two years in a row already. So he's the only one who got a costume from the store. Lo and behold, he was one of four batmans in his class! And he was happy as a clam about it too, so I'm just glad he fit in.

look at my spider rings mom!

Jonah got a superhero cape, belt, mask,  and arm cuffs for his birthday; we combined these with his Superman shirt, and he was happy about that. Last year he was Superman too, but he was wearing his pajamas then, so to him this was a completely different costume! Eli we put in our trusty lion suit, that has been worn by everyone from Elora on down. He looked pretty cute in it too!

Joseph was a sheriff I guess. Walking the cute boys around the gym.

As for myself, I haven't dressed up for Halloween for several years now. But this year I was feeling adventurous, and I figured I could wear something that wasn't too obnoxious but still participate. I had the idea that I could wear one of my favorite skirts, my glasses, some tights, and some of my favorite pairs of black and white shoes from my highschool/college days. No one here usually sees me wear glasses, so it would look different to them; also, the only time I wear a skirt is to church, and that would stand out too. To complete my "school girl" outfit, I snagged one of Joseph's ties! Luckily, he had one in the color I needed that was still tied , because I have no idea how to tie it myself. In the end, I really looked just like myself from about 10 years ago, but no one here would know that!



When I showed up to Joseph's school, his teacher's aid (an older Lakota woman)  cackled and said, "You're a school girl here to see the teacher? Hahaha!"
While I hadn't wanted too much attention, Joseph went around pointing me out to all the other teachers, telling them, "Hey look, I'm robbing the cradle!" All the highschool kids kept eyeing my shoes too, like they'd never seen anything like them.
They have a costume contest each year for each of the age categories, and for the adults. THey didn't announce the winners at the school like they usually do, but then next day Joseph says it was in the announcements. Elora and I both won a prize: I got third place for the adults, and I think she got second!
Oh yeah, while we were at the school, I took pictures of this high school student, just because I thought he looked cool.

The Crow. For real.

That evening we set out to trick-or-treat. The day before it had been balmy and warm, but of course this night there was a biting wind! Elora and I were freezing in our skirts.  The first year we were here we drove up to Faith to get our candy, but since then we've decided that they get plenty just going to the houses here where we live. Sadly, a lot of the kids who live here do leave for the night- some travel the two hours to Rapid so they can get a better haul! Even though lots of the families are missing for that reason, all the teachers are here still, and the kids get plenty. (Seriously, we're still finishing it off!)

knock knock!

I love when the sky looks like this in the east, so we got plenty of pictures.

Elora has an awesome bag that grandma made when she was small.

trick or treat mom!

I hope you had a good Halloween too!