Halloween Overload - and it's not even Halloween yet!

Want to know a great way to overstimulate an almost 18 month old? Take him to a location that he's forced to dress up in and put him in a crowd where kids are screaming and he's surrounded with hundreds of people. He'll have fun for a while but then throw himself on the ground screaming after about 30 minutes.

Want to know a great way to bring out the many moods of a 3 year old? Dress her up two days in a row, in a costume that has a wig nonetheless, and send her out to get so much candy at her three halloween events that she can't even lift hte jack-o-lantern. The first one she'll be so overwhelmed because things are just merely a little different (ie - her school party), the second, she'll cling for dear life to here Daddy's fingers because she's surrounded by hundreds of people, and the third event she'll finally warm up to the idea of games and have a blast....the same event where her sibling is on the ground throwing a tantrum.

Want to know a great way to put a huge hurdle in front of someone who's on a diet? Have two young kids...one who is allowed very little candy, and one who can't eat anything but small M&M's and Smartees because he still doesn't have all his molars. Out of the two gazillion pieces of candy you'll bring home during the three Halloween events, you'll still have one gazillion, nine thousand, nine hundred, and two pieces left. How's that for temptation?

Halloween...it's a mixture of feelings for Darin and me. I loved going out as a kid and trick-or-treating. LOVED it. I also loved the thrill of being scared. As a teen, I thrived on scary movies, haunted houses...the whole bit. Darin, not so much. Besides the fact that now days, you just can't trick-or-treat the same way, it just seems to have phased out. The good news is a lot of communities and churches have different festivals and such.
So Zoe went as Dora the Explorer.  Her favorite single character is Dora, while her favorite group of characters is the Princesses. 

Ethan - well he went as two this year.  I bought him a horse costume (I know, not the best, but I bought them both at a consignment place).  He, however refused to wear the horse for yesterday's events, so I switched gears and threw together a fireman costume from a firefighter rain slicker we have and a fire hat Zoe got at school a few weeks ago.  It worked for such short notice.  Today for the church event, he actually allowed the horse on.  Moods!

Zoe had her little school party yesterday. That was a blast for her....after the first hour. It took me over 30 minutes to even get her in the classroom. They dressed up, and apparently she got a little nervous seeing all her friends dressed up. I never could get her to tell me what she was upset about. But she cried...and cried. Finally, she heard they were doing circle time (exactly what it sounds like), and she wanted to go. They went trick or treating throught the campus in some of the buildings and then came back for a halloween party. Stupid mommy didn't think to take her camera for those, so hopefully I can snag some pics from one of the other mom's. I did get a few however when I went to pick her up. Get a load of these! These are the four little girls who have grown up together in church. Now they all go to the same preschool together.

Even before the second event, Zoe decided to sift through her stash of candy.  Look at all this!  This doesn't even begin to describe how much is in this house now after three events! 

Next was our community event. It was overwhelming, mostly to Zoe who just wasn't sure what to think. Ethan was safely nestled in his stroller and had a good time looking around. Dora was there, so the two Dora's got to meet each other. Elmo, Ethan's favorite character for the moment was there as well. He kept squealing, "Elmo. That Elmo!!!" So sweet! Thrown in are a few before pictures.

Dora, meet Dora!

 

And last but not least was our church's festival. This is where Ethan and Zoe switched moods. Zoe loved the games and had a ton of fun, while Ethan....well, didn't. He had fun in a bubble machine, but after that grew boring, not much was left.

So Halloween 2010 comes to a close. Until next year....Boo!