Trick-or-Treat! Or should I say, a week of SUGAR!

We had an awesome Halloween this year. Holidays are becoming more and more exciting as my kids really understand what they actually are all about. And Halloween is all about dressing up (they loved that part) and, of course, CANDY (they really loved that part!). We started our Halloween celebrations off with our first ever annual Pumpkin Carving and Cupcake Decorating Family Night. Our poor little family has been so sick the past couple of weeks, so we didn't make it to a pumpkin patch, which we are so doing next year!! (Maybe we'll go twice to make up for this year!) But who needs a pumpkin patch when we have (drums please) Albertsons! They had a huge selection of pumpkins, so we drove there to let the kids each pick out their own pumpkin. Bryce picked out the first pumpkin he saw.Rix carefully selected his pumpkin - and ended up choosing one in the very back.
Cole was just happy to climb.

After we got home from the Albertsons "Pumpkin Patch" we looked online for pumpkin carving templates. Rix really wanted to carve bats and Bryce chose a spider. We chose a goofy face for Cole, and Bryan picked out a skull face. I didn't carve a pumpkin, I was just happy to get my pumpkin seeds out for roasting! I put Bryan in charge of cleaning out the pumpkins and carving, which turned out to be a bad and good idea all wrapped into one. I guess in the Pearson house we carve pumpkins with power tools? Bryan got out his Rotozip to carve the pumpkins, which was really great - it carved the pumpkins to well and even cut out the really detailed parts. BUT, it was a bad idea because pumpkin flew everywhere. I cleaned pumpkin off the floor, table, walls, door, and windows, and anything else in the pumpkins path. The boys loved watching their pumpkin get carved, and when they were done they thought it was so fun to put the candle in and light it (we turned out the lights for full effect). Cole is rolling his pumpkin into the kitchen. So resourceful!

Bryan using the Rotozip, and Rix not loving the noise.Picking out my pumpkin seeds!This is Bryan's pumpkin.

We put Cole to bed (he was getting into everything, a sure sign he is ready for bed) and I let the other two boys decorate the cupcakes with Halloween decorations. It was so much fun! They each got to pick one out, and of course they picked out the ones with the most decorations on them. In fact, when I told them they got to pick one out, they both immediately started piling the candy on their cupcakes. Sneaky! Bryce stealing cupcake decorations - caught red-handed!
Aren't they awesome decorators? Rix kept wanted to "organize" his decorations, meaning make them symmetrical and pretty. Bryce is, again, just eating the decorations.

Next year we are for sure doing this again. The only difference is I will either get a pizza for dinner or we will go out for a quick bite. It was really crazy trying to take care of dinner while dealing with pumpkins and pumpkin seeds and cupcakes baking and three crazy boys. We are excited for our second annual Pumpkin Carving and Cupcake Decorating Family Night next year!

We also went to Carissa's house to make caramel apples, something I hope to do every year! I love caramel apples! I even had mine for breakfast (it's a fruit!!!). My kids said they didn't like the caramel apples (they don't like to get sticky - so weird) but they enjoyed decorating them and making them anyway. And I totally don't mind eating theirs!
On Halloween, the boys were so excited to get all dressed up. Rix chose to be a vampire. I tried to tell him vampires sparkle (from Twilight, for those, like Bryan, who are living under a rock and don't get the reference), but he insisted they were white with blood running down their faces. I think he got that from Scooby Doo. Or my mom. We borrowed the cape from my mom, and we picked it up Saturday afternoon. Rix asked if he could put the cape on right away so he could practice bringing it across his face and turning into a bat. He was seriously into his costume! He wasn't a huge fan of getting the make up on, but once it was on and dried, it didn't make his face itch. Scary! We waited until we got to the trunk or treat to put on the "blood".

Bryce chose to be a clown, and it was so fun. It is actually the same costume my mom made for me when I was little! I put a little make up on his face, and even though he didn't love having the make up put on, he didn't complain too much and actually didn't even smudge it all night! The wig was a different story. It had gold threads in it, and they hung down in his face all night. At one point he said, "Mom, my wig is getting all...(pause)...hairy." It was really funny. And he referred to his red-painted nose as his beepy nose.

Cole was a cowboy. It was a perfect outfit for him since it didn't have lots of weird parts that he would take off. He was an adorable cowboy! He used a little cowboy hat we've had for a couple years, and it was a little small, but still so adorable.We went to our ward's Trunk-or-Treat, which we love for many reasons. We know who the candy is coming from, the kids get candy fast since they are going trunk to trunk instead of house to house, and it's safe because the block off the parking lot and no one is allowed to leave until they get the all-clear. Oh, and the real reason we go is Sister Mathison's hot chocolate! Yummy! The boys were so excited to go around. Cole is our pokey-little-puppy, so he was really slow going around. I finally told Rix to go around by himself because the faster you go from car to car the more candy you get! Bryce went around with Papa, and Bryan slowly went around with Cole. I held down the fort of our trunk and handed out candy.
The boys with Nana and Papa at the Trunk-or-Treat.
Missy!
Yeah! Blood! Finally...
Cole did some early trick-or-treating at Nana's car.
Bryce with his Best Costume award. And his favorite candy (well, one of them). How did they know he liked Whoppers so much?
A sugar-sick cowboy.
Rix with his bat pumpkin (the one below it is Cole's).
Bryce with spider pumpkin.

Overall we had a great Halloween. The boys had a blast and loved dressing up, and now I have tons of candy to bribe them with :) Although I'm a bit disappointed in the lack of Almond Joys in their Halloween baskets, I'm excited for next year! We are for sure doing our pumpkin carving night, and I also think next year we will let the kids trick-or-treat door to door a little bit too. I hope you all had a great Halloween! Up next...Thanksgiving. I'm soooo excited!