So Much Halloween

My kids are pretty good about telling me what they want to be for Halloween months ahead of the actual event. Yet it seems that each year, despite a fair warning, I find myself frantically sewing just days before October 31. It just sneaks up on me. Or maybe I'm a procrastinator. Probably the latter.

Ava, since November 1, 2011, had been set on being Rainbow Brite for Halloween. I was a little surprised by the choice since Rainbow Brite is a character from my generation and not so relevant these days. But, I agreed. However, just a few months before Halloween, I introduced Ava to "Jem and the Holograms," another show from my childhood (and quite possibly my favorite). It didn't take long for Ava to change her costume. I knew most people wouldn't know who Ava was supposed to be (unless they were children of the 80's), so she just called herself a "rockstar." Oh, but she knew who she really was. 

Jax, didn't waver one bit on his costume, despite my best efforts. He, without a doubt, wanted to be a cobra snake, or a "flathead cobra" as he calls them. I went back and forth with how exactly to make said costume and came up with this. Not too shabby, although far too many people called him a dinosaur or lizard, for his liking. 

I was so excited to make Eden a unicorn costume until, just weeks before Halloween, she developed a serious aversion to all headgear. Hats, headbands, clippies, hoodies. She rips them off her head either with a resounding, "Uh-uh!" and a head shake, or she coyly removes them and then hides them so I can't replace them on her noggin. So, I had to change my plans. Jax and I saw a cute little octopus costume online that would have been easy to recreate, but because of my aforementioned procrastination problem, I never got around to it. So, at the last minute, I made a little ghost costume. 

We had a quite the extended Halloween, first going to Andy's brother's town the weekend before for a town-wide shindig. Then, on actual Halloween, we joined cousins for trunk-or-treat at their church building, then "real trick-or-treating" (as Ava calls it) in this awesome neighborhood where residents set up movies outside their homes, offer popcorn, hot apple cider and even NBA basketball on a large TV. 

Jax, Nathan, Bracken and Ava at Trunk-or-Treat

Most importantly, the kids got quite the haul. One nice lady at trunk-or-treat even gave them all her leftover Dum-Dums (about 40 total), which just happen to be Jax's favorite treat in the whole world. Seriously, he'll take a Dum-Dum over any dessert. 

 We had a great time and, of course, the kids are already planning next year's costumes. Maybe I'll get a head start this time around. Probably not, though.