Halloween: Part 3

We went over to the Milette house for the big night, and had a lot of fun.

Group shot- just before we lost the light.

Earlier on the kids helped prepare the food...

oggled over Keira...

and tormented Thomas. Par for the course!

Katharine spent the whole night in those high heels. I never thought shoe dexterity could be inherited, but maybe she got a little something extra passed down from Iria.

The boys and Keira waited patiently for the food and trick or treat'ing to start.

Keira had some pretty wild hair tonight, which was certainly fitting for the occasion.

And it was fun watching her get stuffed into her puffy costume.

It began to get dark just a few minutes after the group shot. The warm weather and full moon made for a perfect Halloween night.

Glow sticks were handed out to everybody.

Those were fun for the kids, and made them pretty easy to spot from far away.

Here is Lennon's very first "trick or treat". Last year he stayed home with me and Keira.

Julie and Chris live in a great neighborhood for trick or treating. There were a few haunted porches, a lot of fake smoke and tons of lights and (of course) candy.

Gwen and Lukas were silly as usual.

Back at the house I took a few more shots of the costumes before the kids put their pajamas on.

Iria made some spider cupcakes that everyone loved.

But what everyone ended up caring about the most was, of course, the candy loot!

Halloween: Part 2

Katharine and Mikayla were ready for the big night, long before it even started getting dark.

Halloween: Part 1

The kids were drawing this morning in anticipation of the big night.

"Happy Halloween" by Katharine

"The Witch's Nephew" by Katharine

"Zombie Dance" by Katharine

"Lukas and Gwen Being Chased By a Monster" by Lukas

"E R" by Lennon (???)

Star Wars Sunday

Last weekend the big kids and I played hooky from Sunday school to catch the final day of a local Star Wars convention (sorry, Trey!).

We were greeted by Princess Leia in her slave outfit. Welcome to geekdom, girls!

The toys were plentiful and cheap. We spend about 7 dollars total from their piggy banks (and Katharine got a two dollar discount because a vendor liked her shirt).

We briefly attended an art class, but it wasn't very good.

Outside in the hall there were many characters walking and rolling around.

This guy was just worth the price of admission. I wonder if it was my Elvis impersonator neighbor (http://the-doeschers.blogspot.com/2008/04/new-neighbors.html)?

Lukas got a little freaked out when he finally saw Darth Vader- even though it is his favorite character from Star Wars (note the toy in his hand).

There was a small Ralph McQuarrie exhibit which ended up being a lot more inspiring than the art lesson. McQuarrie is a famous concept artist for the original Star Wars trilogy.

Outside the kids played with their toys and Maya shook her booty. A typical weekend with a Star Wars twist.

Jack O' Lanterns

Yesterday afternoon we finally got around to carving our pumpkins. It seems like over the years I have gone from assistant carver (that was when we had Katharine only) to main carver. What a promotion! Everyone except Keira, who took a nice nap got involved. Well, not Erik, either. The kids first took a Sharpie to draw a design on their pumpkins. We then proceeded to decapitating each orange "sphere" and scooped out all the gunk. The comment I heard most was "yuck" and "stinky". Oh well, I guess not everybody gets as excited as me when it comes to getting messy. Katharine's design was very easy to follow, thanks to nice lines. Lukas had a face drawn that needed some imagination to see all the lines and Lennon's definitely was the most challenging to find a face in all the many different lines. Each pumpkin ended up needing carved hair on the sides. What's a Jack O' Lantern without hair, right?!

They all git tired and bored quickly and preferred sitting by the open window, watching bugs and being wrapped up in blankets.

We have a constant battle over things being boys or girls in our house. Here is Katharine's girl pumpkin.

This is Lennon's "pokin.

"

This is Lukas' scary boy pumpkin.

Oh yes, I am the one to blame for that when I told Katharine that the actor of Peter Pan is traditionally a woman. I am hoping that the "battle of the sexes" would have happened anyways.