Halloween...

Noah and Ian had a Halloween party at preschool on the 29TH.  They dressed up as Captain Hook and Buzz Lightyear.

Funny fact about Ian's class: There are 5 boys in Ian's preschool class and coincidentally ALL 5 boys dressed up as Buzz Lightyear!

I finally got around to hanging our Halloween decorations that very same evening.  Better late than NEVER! I hung 30 something bats from the front porch and put orange lights in all the light fixtures outside. I also had a fog machine and solution ready to use, to spook up the place, but after reading all of the CAUTIONS that were listed in the owners manual I decided to forgo using the machine... it seemed like their were too many risks involved in using it and I didn't want to be responsible should something happen to someones kid. The bats were really easy to make: I just cut them from black paper and used green paper circle cutouts for their eyes, next I laminated them all so they wouldn't get destroyed outside should it rain, and I used fishing line and paper clips, along with some duct tape to hang them.  They floated really nicely in the breeze and really did look like a swarm of bats hovering around our house.  Some even took flight the following day when it started to get REALLY windy and rainy.  I'm so glad I chose to hang the bats this year in lieu of getting hay bales and cornstalks to stack on the front porch... those hay bales are a nightmare of a mess to clean up after and frustrating to dispose of.

I woke I early Saturday morning, the 30TH, to make preparations for our guests who would be arriving for dinner and trick or treating later that evening.

I made and frosted some gluten free cupcakes, trimmed with cute little cutout cupcake holders my mom made using her Cricut machine.  She sent me up the cartridge she used to make them and I can't wait to make some for other upcoming holidays!

I also made a couple of batches of this yummy popcorn.  Seriously it's SO good.  I put Reece's Pieces in it and drizzled it with caramel, milk chocolate AND orange flavored chocolate.  I found the original recipe for it here: http://www.justgetoffyourbuttandbake.com/?p=878 .

After I was done making the popcorn, I made some caramel apples, then dipped half of the apples in melted white chocolate and sprinkled them with a cinnamon sugar mixture.  The other half I dipped in melted milk chocolate and rolled in pieces of Snickers.  They were delish!  They could have looked nicer, but I was in a hurry to finish them... in that hurry, I decided to put them in the freezer after dipping them in the caramel and melted chocolates to help speed up the process and help them set faster... BIG MISTAKE!!!  After a day, most of the apples we had left over from the party started to get mushy; I think it was due to the freezer effect on them.

The last thing I made was a home made chili.  It's such an easy recipe to follow and tastes SO good, especially over Frito chips and with lots of shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream. Here's the link to the recipe: http://www.justgetoffyourbuttandbake.com/?p=883 Note: I also like to add a can of garbanzo beans to the mixture just for added texture and nutrition.

While I was busy making food and snacks for the evening, Spencer helped the boys carve pumpkins...  okay, actually, they only carved one pumpkin but they did get clever and creative and decided to dress up our other BIG pumpkin using Mr Potato Head pieces.  It turned out pretty cute don't you think???

 

The weather cooperated the first part of the day, but by 3 or so that afternoon, it was raining cats and dogs outside!!!  I was beginning to worry that the rain was going to destroy any hopes we had of TRICK OR TREATING that evening... the boys were all dressed and ready to go by 5p.m....

We took a few pictures outside in the rain...

 ... and a short video for the grandparents...

...Then we took cover inside where it was dry and warm...

Aunt Laura arrived.... we ATTEMPTED to take a decent family photo... this is as decent as they come these days...

Then we decided to wait by the big front window to watch for our cousins who were supposed to arrive at any moment and wait for Trick or Treaters.

Almost an entire hour passed; the rain still hadn't let up and we hadn't received ONE trick or treater yet... THEN... our little neighbor from behind us, pulled up in his mini van with his little sister and dad, they'd come to ask for candy!  My boys were SO THRILLED to finally have someone come to the door!!!  At that very same minute, the rain let up and their cousins, along with Aunt Emily and Uncle Aaron pulled up and piled out of their car.  We decided not to waste a minute, since the weather was FINALLY cooperating, so we hurried out with the gang to trick or treat.

We were out collecting candy in the neighborhood for a good solid hour, maybe even longer.  The boys, Cohen, Ian and Noah all walked the entire route on their own and carried their own buckets of candy... that's a first for anyone in our family!  Poor little Cohen, his feet must had been aching after walking that distance in his boots!

The kids got A LOT of candy!!!  Most of it though was candy that our two oldest, Noah and Ian, can not eat because almost all of it had gluten in it.  I thought the boys would be terribly upset by the fact, but they were content with just the number of suckers and Laffy Taffys they did get and could eat.  We've been rationing the candy out, one a day to each boy, and Spencer and Cohen have been enjoying all the gluten candy that us others in the family can not eat.

When we returned home, I was pleased and shocked to see how many trick or treaters were coming to our door.  We must have had somewhere between 200 and 300 that evening!  We have A LOT of kids in the neighborhood.

We warmed up with pumpkin hot chocolate (it's the Stephen's kind and it's divine) and apple cider.  We also ate chili in pumpkin bread bowls and cream of broccoli soup that Emily made.  It was SO SO SO GOOD!

We hid all the candy the kids received from trick or treating, but the kids must had raided the candy bowl we hat set out for our trick or treaters because that night and for the following 2 days I found candy wrappers stashed behind the piano, in closets, in the toy room, underneath the couch, in between seat cushions, on top of dressers, inside of books AND as I was cleaning out the treasure box where we keep all of our dress up gear, I found a half eaten smashed Snickers bar! Next year I think I'd prefer it if the boys and their cousins just ate their candy and disposed of the wrappers properly instead of leading me on a 3 day candy hunt around the ENTIRE house!!!  Oh yeah, did I mention I also found part of a candy bar smashed against the wall in Noah's bedroom where his bed cornered the wall?!  It was a terrible, sticky mess to clean up!

Grandma and Grandpa Campbell arrived a little too late to see the kids trick or treat but they did get to eat with us and watch Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas movie with us.  It was a FUN, memorable evening with family!