Just a brief note - the last two years we have lived in an apartment complex. We didn't have anywhere to put a jack-o-lantern so we didn't carve one.
It took a couple hours - after all, we had two pumpkins to carve! But this was the final product:
The kids thought the end result was AWESOME.
Then it was time to get the kids ready to trick or treat. Jon got himself ready while I pulled out the temporary spray-on hair color to give Jacob jet black hair. Twenty minutes later he was ready to go:
James was next. He sat in front of me for the hair color application....and I immediately noticed a problem. The hair color bottle had been mislabeled - our "red" hair color was actually bright, florescent orange.
OMG.
I started to wipe away the bright orange, and noticed that what was left after the wipedown was an orangey-red color. Close enough to the Ron Weasley color, right? James took a look in the mirror and pronounced it "cool" - so I went ahead and sprayed the rest of his head, added some freckles...and voila!
Still, not the shade of red I would have chosen...but James liked it, and that's all that matters, right?
I had to wait until it got darker to take a pic of Jon's costume. He had chosen an outfit that had eyes that light up, and it just didn't show well in the bright sunshine. But a few hours later, the blinking lights were nice and visible.
You can kinda make out his face behind the screen...kinda. He loved it once it got nice and dark because he could flash his light at the kids walking past us, and freak them out. I think he spent the last twenty minutes laughing at the reactions to his bright eyes.
Here's a couple extra pictures of the kids in their costumes:
And last but not least.....
...the candy!
The kids had a blast. While making rounds of the neighborhood, they ran into a lot of classmates, running door to door in an increasingly growing group. Near the end, there were over twenty kids running up to the same door yelling "Trick or treat!" in unison.
At one house the owner ran out of candy before getting through all the kids - the one kid left out was a three-year old girl in a fairy princess outfit. She burst into tears when she realized everyone else got candy except her. James went up and pulled a candy bar out of his bucket and held it out, saying "Happy Halloween, don't cry!" I would have taken a picture, but since it was someone else's kid, I didn't feel comfortable taking the shot without permission.
The only negative aspect of this Halloween was the religious fanatic three doors down. This guy was outside yelling at every kid that passed. "This day is of the devil! You participate in the devil's holiday! You, little boy, will go to hell and burn for all eternity!" He was also yelling at the parents. "You demons in disguise! Dragging innocent children into damnation, hiding the sin of the day behind candy and fun! There is a special place in hell for those who turn their own children away from Jesus!"
He seemed particularly offended by the costumes of my younger two boys. I know a lot of conservative Christians don't like Harry Potter, but seriously, this guy was crazy. He actually reached out towards Jacob at one point, as though to grab him by his cloak, and at that point I kinda snapped. I stepped between the fanatic and my son and said firmly that I no longer go to church, I refuse to indoctrinate my children in a religion before they are old enough to think for themselves, and that I was an agnostic and proud of it.
The look on his face was priceless. At least his shock meant he didn't continue with his diatribe until we were several houses down. But seriously, if this guy tries to touch one of my kids again, for any reason, I'm going to call the cops.
6 comments:
Thank god i wasnt there when that one dude was ranting at the kids and reached for Jacob...I dont think it wouldve ended well for the dude. But I'm glad to see the boys had a blast and the costumes look great!
Glad you approve of the costumes!
I have been watching since that incident - yesterday he was standing outside his home preaching again when the kids got off the bus. James and Jacob (along with a good-sized group of neighborhood kids) just ignored his rant as they passed his house.
I'm gonna keep an eye on this guy. I won't let the kids go past his house without adult supervision.
So, what does the wacko-neighbor do at Christmas or Easter, both of which are rife with pagan-symbolism?
Your kids look great, by the way :). Great costumes! I have a blast making costumes for my girls. This year, my teenager designed a "Queen of the Vampires" dress for herself, and using a couple of dresses from Goodwill, I was able to sew her design. It was a great collaborative effort, and she looked great - if I do say so myself ;).
LOVE the pumpkin(s)! Very creative. You guys looked great in your costumes! Love you and miss you all.
@Wendy I'm not sure what the wacko-neighbor will do (great name for him, btw)...we just moved here in July, so I haven't seen him in action much. I am amused to note he pulls his granddaughter (who is just a toddler) into the house whenever he sees me walk past. He doesn't shout at me or anything, but I can hear him muttering things to the grandaughter, and the tone doesn't sound flattering.
The costume for your teen sounded fantastic! Any chance you might post pics on your blog?
@Beth had a lot of fun carving the pumpkin. Was saddened that the big pumpkin wasn't the kind that tastes good in pies...the little pumpkin was a sweet variety, but there wasn't much in it. I have seeds for both large jack-o-lantern type pumpkins as well as pie pumpkins and can't wait to try growing them in the spring.
The kids look like they had a great time. The pumpkins look fantastic...much have taken a lot of work and time to carve them.
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