Halloween Party

The weekend before Halloween, Tom and I asked Cole if he wants to have a Halloween party with his friends. Cole was so excited! So we invited his friends to come over. This was the first time Tom and I have ever had to deal with so many kids at once. I'm sure Tom shares the same sentiment as I do when I say I appreciate teachers WAY more now than I used to... dealing with so many more kids five days a week, X number of weeks out of the year! Good grief! Don't get me wrong... I love kids... just not used to dealing with more than one at a time. Being a teacher requires a whole set of different skills!!

The kids started trickling in at around 2:30 p.m... then it was a madhouse! I had 2 activities planned for the kids... but of course only one happened. The first one was a spider made out of double chocolate muffins (for the body), with chocolate frosting, m&m's (for eyes) and chocolate-flavored twizzlers (for legs). The second activity was supposed to be owl faces on sticks but Tom and I could tell that the kids just wanted to run around and play. Who the heck wanted to stay indoors and make owl faces on sticks?! So the kids went out to the backyard to play... and I ended up making the owl faces myself. (lol) I had fun though!

Here are some snapshots of the kids playing...

Here's Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi...

When I saw this kid running around the house when he first walked in the door, I thought, "Who the heck is that kid?!" I had to ask Tom who the kid was and I just laughed when he told me it was Andy. Andy wore that mask pretty much the entire time. :)

Here's little Miss Olivia... cute as a pussy cat! She was a bit overwhelmed at first because she was the only girl that showed up. The other two girls couldn't make it. She warmed up eventually and played with the boys. We're glad her Dad stayed the whole time and helped. Thanks, Jason! And I'm sorry Veronica and Smith couldn't make it... the little one had the flu and stayed home with Mommy. Love these next shots of Olivia. The costume was very flattering on her. What a cutie!

Harry was a bit overwhelmed by all the kids too!

Here's Allen who later on dressed as The Grim Reaper...

Group shot while Pam put the Grim Reaper face on Allen inside the house...

Here are some of the parents conferring whether to take the kids around the neighborhood to trick or treat was a good idea... "Do we take the kids now? What if it starts pouring rain?... "

Here's Dylan... I mean Obi-Wan Kenobi...

Silly group picture...

Silly Obi-Wan Kenobi...

Here's my happy little vampire. This was the first year Cole wanted to be something scary. I think the idea scared him a little bit too at first. My baby's growing up!

Our kids were the first ones to trick or treat in our neighborhood. The parents trotted after the kids as they went from house to house... even when it drizzled a little bit. So the pictures stop here... as I didn't want the camera to get wet. We all brought umbrellas but the kids had fun even with a little drizzle. Hard to stop them with candy waiting behind those front doors! Oy!

At around 6:30, the kids started trickling out... everyone except Dylan (Kris and Mark, thanks for letting him stay longer) who decided to go with Cole to Olivia's neighborhood later on to trick or treat some more. Tom and Jason went with the Cole, Olivia and Dylan. At that point, I was NOT going anywhere... I was exhausted!

It was great to see the kids have a good time. I know Cole was very happy... he didn't want the party to end.

Hey parents, thanks for letting your kids come over. We had a great time!