The brothers grim

The years of cute, adorable Halloween costumes are solidly behind us.

Inspired by Minecraft, the boys both wanted to be grim reapers. They chose matching outfits and sorta-glow-in-the-dark scythes.

They hosted their annual Halloween party the week before the holiday. It was such a fun and busy night I've lost track of how many kids were here. Suffice to say, it was in the double digits and there was only one girl. I had gathered and hidden all the toy weaponry, but in the time it took me to greet guests and set out food, they had outfitted themselves with assorted foam and plastic light sabers and shields made of plastic, wood, cardboard and foam and taken to the back yard for an epic battle. It was a fun party, veering from classic (bobbing for apples) to modern cool (zombie tag with glow bracelets).

Halloween was eerily quiet compared with previous holidays. Everyone was probably scared off by the petite Death brothers stalking the streets.

Getting ready for Halloween!

Aaarrgh!

We're caught up with our fall posting....and there was much rejoicing. Yay!

We've been spending the last few weeks getting ready for Halloween. Devon and Rylee have enjoyed doing lots of Halloween crafts. They made lots of spooky pictures for the house, and hung ghosts and all around our yard (and Grandma's yard).

Last weekend, we met up with some friends at Boo Bash, a trick or treating event sponsored by some stores in Saint Paul. We didn't want to ruin our actual costumes, so the kids agreed to wear their "back up" costumes.  Here are they decked out as a pirate and a zebra.

The world's cutest zebra (not that I'm biased)

Pumpkin cleaning

Another activity from this weekend was pumpkin carving. It took us 2 days, but we got it done!  On Saturday, the pumpkins were selected and purchased. Both Devon and Rylee helped clean out the pumpkins to get them ready for carving.  Seeds were extracted, washed, and toasted.

On Sunday, we tackled the carving.  They each took great care to design just the right jack-o-lanterns. Devon drew the face on his pumpkin himself, and I helped with the carving. He was very proud of the fangs. Rylee wanted her pumpkin to look like....wait for it....a princess. She helped me figure out what it should look like, and gave me very precise instructions about how it should be carved.

Ewww....pumpkin guts!

Showing off their completed works of art

Devon's vampire pumpkin

 Rylee's princess pumpkin

Another fun activity this weekend was going to the "Trick R Trolley" - a trolley ride sponsored by a local independent bookstore. The kids wore their costumes, and really enjoyed a reading by author Sam Hiti. He read his new book, Waga's Big Scare and showed the kids how to draw a monster. The kids came home eagerly clutching their autographed copy of the book, and Devon talked at length about his new aspiration to be an author/illustrator when he grows up.

Finally, we topped the weekend off with our traditional spooky dinner. We had Grandma and Grandpa over for meatloaf rats, mashed potatoes, spider rolls, and swamp punch. Grandma and Devon made these eyeballs (peanut butter balls) for dessert!

The Pumpkin King and the Indecisive Trick-or-Treater

Both of my boys have loved Halloween since just about forever. As toddlers, strolling through stores to check out the holiday displays counted as a genuine outing. They have been pumped for weeks, and they had a blast.

Calvin wanted to be something gruesome and ghoulish, but when we vetoed any accessories that looked like they were designed to tear flesh he instead chose a clone trooper outfit.

Jack and Zero

Finn wanted to be Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas, so we marked up a cheap tuxedo, scribbled a paper-plate mask, stitched up a felt bat bowtie, and made a little Zero costume for Boo-Boo to wear.

We spent the weekend at Disneyland. The first day, Finn wore his Jack Skellington costume much of the day and was trailed by lots of compliments (most along the lines of "best costume ever!").

The boys have been leery of many rides — even Pirates of the Caribbean is on the no-go list because of the brief drop near the ride's start. To entice them to try some new rides, I offered adventure pins: For each new ride they ventured on, they'd earn a pin. Once they earned three pins, they got double the souvenir cash.

Proudly showing off their earned pins

It worked better than I expected! We did mostly new rides: They enjoyed the Haunted Mansion, decked out for the Nightmare Before Christmas; Mr. Toad's Wild Ride; Soarin' Over California, which I thought would be too much for them (and indeed, they say they're glad they did it but once was enough); Pinocchio; and Star Tours, which was such a runaway hit we went on it three times. They chose Lego sets for souvenirs, which have proven so absorbing in the days since that we could barely get Calvin to break away for trick-or-treating.

One small tragedy: Boo-Boo disappeared at some point, either lost to hotel housekeeping or overlooked in a late-night parking lot tumble. On Halloween, Finn carried an empty Zero costume and ended up using it like a puppet in his class performance.

Finn took the loss in stride. He's shared the news with his teachers and his dentist, but isn't upset. Today he had a pretend phone conversation with Boo-Boo, who said he's vacationing in Japan for 70,000 days. I, however, am a little misty-eyed. Doug tracked down a replacement on eBay, and Boo-Boo III should be here by week's end.

Finn enjoyed doing "The Monster Mash" with his classmates and making crafts at school. He's especially proud of a roll of toilet paper wrapped up to look like a pumpkin and a cheesecloth ghost.

Capt. Rex at his school party

Calvin wore his new clone trooper costume in his school's parade, but complained that it was too big and too hot. He was still working out the details of his replacement costume minutes before trick-or-treating (makeup or no makeup? zombie? warlock?), settling on an all-purpose witch/warlock/zombie/ghoul outfit from two years back with a last-minute mask addition.

Ready to hit the streets

They ran through the neighborhood that night — Finn had no patience for circling close to home, grousing at us: "You don't understand how trick-or-treating works!" But eventually even he grew tired of pounding the pavement and retired to home, where the kids ate candy and handed out treats to late trick-or-treaters. There's a slideshow below; if you just get a Flash player message and don't want to be bothered, click here to browse on Flickr.

Get the flash player here

Halloween!

Here are a few photos from this year's Halloween - first, pumpkin carving. Both kids enjoyed the pumpkin carving this year, especially Devon. He cheerfully cleaned out his pumpkin (a task deemed too icky to do in previous years), and then offered to get Rylee's ready for her as well.

Devon designed the face for his pumpkin (the one with the squiggly mouth). Rylee wanted...a princess. Of course. The zigzag line across the forehead is supposed to be a crown. Oy.

Devon's pumpkin

Rylee's princess pumpkin

Posing with the pumpkins

Halloween itself was lots of fun. The weather was perfect - clear and crisp, but not too cold. Both kids started their days with parties at school. I volunteered at Devon's party, which was a fun way to get a feel for the kindergarten room and Devon's classmates. After school, both kids came to my office. We do some elaborate decorating every year (I'll post pictures!) and host some child care centers for trick or treating on Halloween. Devon and Rylee enjoyed taking in the decorations, and doing some cubicle trick or treating. From there, we went to the town Halloween party, where the kids enjoyed pizza, balloon animals, games, and lots of bounce houses. The festivities included with a small amount of trick or treating - only about 3 houses or so. The kids had some unexpected surprises, as two of our neighbors had special treats set aside for them...including glow in the dark pez dispensers and finger puppets. All in all, a nice Halloween.

Here are some costume pictures...both kids had very strong opinions about their costumes this year, and both were excited to finally get to wear them! Devon knew he wanted to be a superhero, ultimately choosing Iron Man...and Rylee enthusiastically requested an elephant costume.

Happy Halloween!

Another Halloween post

Here's a glimpse at our Halloween celebrations... The boys of course had a fine time trick-or-treating, though their costumes became too awkward and uncomfortable after an hour or so. Happily, they were equally excited to hand out candy back home while they ate their way through their haul. "Hi, there's candy here!" Finn greeted trick-or-treaters.

They're already planning costumes for a few years out, but are ready to turn their full attention to Christmas. Finn, who once had a wish list he limited to three items, now wants almost everything he sees. On the positive side, he tells me he's going to ask "everybody in the world" what they want for Christmas too.

Halloween - the main event

OK, here goes our last Halloween-themed post for 2010. Devon was thrilled to finally get to celebrate Halloween today. He inexplicably opted for a scarecrow costume...I assumed he'd want to be a pirate or a robot. He knew he wanted to wear overalls and a cowboy hat, and together we figured out how to manage his straw. (We glued raffia into felt arm and leg bands so that straw would be coming out of his shirt and pants). Rylee went in an adorable handmade frog costume, on loan from a colleague. The picture doesn't do it justice - imagine cute eyeballs on top of her head, and flippers attached to her shoes. She was very excited to wear her costume...hopping around the house and making "grribit" sounds. When I asked her what a frog says, however, she'd respond "thank you mommy."

We started our celebrating at the party held each year at our town's community center. Both kids loved playing in the bounce houses and eating pizza. Devon also enjoyed playing games and trying to win some prizes. After that, we headed home to do some trick-or-treating. They both enjoyed going door-to-door in the neighborhood, armed with their flashlight from Grandma Lea that made spooky sounds. After that, it was home for baths and some spooky books, and finally, sleep. Happy Halloween everyone!

Pumpkin carving

One more post in preparation for Halloween. In mid-October, Devon and I went to carve pumpkins with his friend Margaret, an annual tradition. Devon carefully drew his face on his pumpkin, for me to carve for him. He also helped to design a kitty pumpkin for his sister. He stubbornly refused to help "scoop out the goop", but enjoyed the rest of the process (especially toasting and eating pumpkin seeds). We had amazing weather this month...and had the strange experience of sitting outside carving our pumpkins in 86 degree weather. Sadly, that means that the pumpkins only lasted a short time before needing to be discarded.

One other note - Rylee is shown wearing her very favorite shirt. It's hard to make out the detail in the photo, but it's covered with robots. She would wear it every day if allowed. She calls it her "silly bobot" shirt. Also featured is her preferred hairstyle - her child care teachers introduced her to the concept of ponytails, and now she likes to have one every day.

Happy Halloween!

Calvin debuted his homemade robot costume at the school parade Friday morning, drawing compliments from his friends ... and now he wants to be a devil. We're not rushing out to get a new costume, so he's fashioned himself a pitchfork with a plastic stick, paper, and tape. I love when kids can make do. He ended up dressing as a fireball-throwing vampire (superhero cape + wadded-paper "fireball") for his party last night.

Finn was set on being a pirate, until he saw "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!" and decided to be a ghost. But with only two eyes, because he doesn't want to get rocks for trick-or-treating. He had a wonderful time at his preschool's party, and enthusiastically sang along during the casual "show" they did during their costume parade.

Here's one more treat for you. Have a great Halloween!

Prequel to Halloween

The kids are both very excited about Halloween this year! Devon has been having fun decorating the house and reading spooky books. He also had a great time helping my work team decorate for the annual cube decorating contest. This year, we went with an "under the sea" theme, and Devon helped to transform their workspace with lots of homemade paperplate fish and jellyfish. He also donated lots of plush undersea friends from his room. I'm pleased to announce that our entry won first place in the "cutest" category.

On Friday, they had costume parties at school. I was worried about them destroying their actual costumes, so both kids went in their "back up" costumes. Devon opted for a pirate costume. He was especially excited about the hook and the face painting. Rylee was excited to dress as a monkey. She ran around all morning exclaiming "I a monkey" and "Rylee so fuzzy." In the afternoon, they went trick or treating at my office. Rylee managed to grasp the concept amazingly quickly, running from cube to cube with her bag extended, squealing "trick treat!"

Halloween - the prequel

Child care hosted their Halloween party on Friday - not wanting to destroy their costumes, the kids went to their festivities in their alternative costumes. Devon had a great time at the party - enjoying sugar cookies that they decorated and admiring all of the other cool costumes. Rylee didn't have much to say about her party.