This is Halloween

First, a little catch-up. Week before last was red-ribbon week at Andrew's school. One day was crazy hair day. Andrew's hair is still short (he's growing out his buzz), so we couldn't get it to go too crazy--but we did spray paint it red and I think he was pleased. Don't ask me what's going on behind this facial expression. I don't know. 

And then it was the week of Halloween. My kids have been looking forward to this for months. Evelyn had her preschool Halloween party a day early, so we dressed her up. In a radical departure from the previous years' princesses, she decided to be a witch this year, green skin and all. But she was quick to reassure people that she was a "nice witch."

A couple funny Evelyn-isms from this week:

We were driving in the car and she told me, "Mommy, I'm an animal. You're an animal, too." She paused for a moment, thinking. Then she asked, "Mommy, is Heavenly Father an animal?"

I wasn't sure how to answer that one.

A few days later (on Halloween), we were walking to Andrew's school to pick him up. She told me, "Mommy, some people wear bracelets on top of their teeth." It took me a minute to figure out that she actually meant braces.

I tried to make Halloween festive--I have to admit I haven't been up to much of anything fancy recently, and doing the little we did for Halloween was difficult. (Oliver cried through most of anything that took a significant amount of time.) But I'm glad I did it.

I started with some butterscotch oatmeal--we tried to die it orange, but only ended up with a dull pumpkin color, despite using *lots* of food coloring.

That afternoon, Andrew had a friend over and we did our first ever attempt at making chocolate candies with molds. Considering that I was trying to help a 4-year-old and two 6-year-olds, I think these turned out pretty well. (This is, however, one of the activities during which Oliver cried the whole time, so it was more stressful than it should have been).

 For dinner, we had wrapped mummies, witches fingers (sweet-potato fries), and steamed brains (cauliflower) with cheese sauce.

And then, of course, we went trick-or-treating. Andrew, as the red ninja (aka Kai, from Ninjago). His costume isn't exact, but it was red, which was all he cared about. He was particularly excited about the weapons on his back: two swords and two daggers.

 Oliver made a brief appearance in his shark costume. He was tired, so he lasted just long enough to get a couple of pictures.

 I think this is the first appearance Dan has made in a picture for some time. Dan manned the fort (and baby) while I took the older kids out. We made it farther this year than we have yet--and were stroller-free for the first time! But I think we'll be using the stroller again next year.

 

Andrew has also been industriously working on entries for the Utah PTA Reflections contest. Our school deadline was Friday, so I think it's safe to share his masterpieces. This year's theme was "The Magic of the Moment," but you'll notice a distinct trend in how Andrew interpreted the theme.

Here's a sculpture Andrew made. If you can't tell what this is--it's Oliver doing tummy time in his play yard. (That big yellow thing that's almost as big as Oliver is the bird toy that hangs from the bars over the play yard).

 And here's a picture Andrew took--also of Oliver.

 He wrote a story, too. I'll post that another time. It probably took me almost as long to assemble his entries (with the entry forms, signatures, etc.--the sculpture required digital pictures on a CD and a 5x7 picture of the entry) as it did for Andrew to do the originals. I'm starting to appreciate the level of parental involvement in some of the really outstanding kids I know!

We'll let you know how he does.

And of course, we can't sign off without some new pictures of Oliver. You're welcome.