Halloween 2024

 

It was a cold Thursday Halloween night in 2024. Grayson brought up a memory of several years ago, when it was still quite warm and he set up the projector with "The Great Pumpkin" playing as he handed out candy. That was before he got "scrooge-y" (so he says, although that's a Christmas, not a Halloween reference). 

I'd bought some candy and had it prepped and ready ... and Coop and I snuck some of our favorites in the days preceding the holiday. We didn't get our first visitor until fairly late, after 7:00, but then we got quite a few groups. I was on door duty this year. 

My Zumba class had a couple of seasonal songs; Skeleton Sam, and of course, Thriller.  I remember the Terra Linda 6th graders performing it, so I have video of both Cooper and Colton doing the dance back in the day. Similar steps in each, based on the original music video.  99% of the time I'm just in my traditional gray/black at Zumba, but I sported an orange Halloween t-shirt this year.  I snagged the picture of a cute little red riding hood and a scary wolf from K8's Instagram.  Landon and others at LKL dressed up at work (more Landon pictures below).  Gray had his usual "Pal"oween with his work buddies (the Friday before). He's Deadpool. I didn't get a Halloween post up for a few years, but in 2022 ... he was the danger (from Breaking Bad). 

I wasn't super familiar with Landon's character costume, but he sure looked cute!

Loved the freckles!

Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable ... Disney series.

Landon said they made some of the traditional sugar cookies shaped like pumpkins and decorated with candy corn. We didn't get around to making them at the West Jordan Blackham abode.  Fingers crossed there will turkey cookies come Thanksgiving though! 

Halloween 2017

 

What do you do with a Gordon Hayward jersey after he's been traded?

Ingles it up!

Cal and Kate dressed up in jerseys too!

We're kinda a basketball family!

The pumpkin carving happened a little early, and the poor pumpkin wasn't looking so hot come Halloween night! I guess it still works for the season though! On Friday, October 27, Hubs had his work PALoween. Earlier in the day, Colton had an award assembly at the school (he received the "Student of the Month" award) and afterward, the 6th grade performed their annual THRILLER dance ...

https://youtu.be/CHBN6ZMLC2k

They had the annual "Halloween Parade" on Tuesday, Halloween, but I didn't make it back for that. The littles didn't go trick-or-treating, but helped man the door at home, although we didn't get much action. 

Halloween 2016

Halloween was on a Monday this year. That just feels a little off. It seems more like a weekend holiday! Several schools had their Halloween parades on Friday, while many stuck with the actual day for parades and parties (Colton's school had theirs on Monday). He went as a "Chick Magnet" for lack of a better costume. Not that he likes girls at all of course. I mean ewwww.

Callahan apparently does feel the same way about girls (Keaton either ... but that is another post). For a triple date, Cal and friends and their dates came and carved pumpkins at our house. This one pictured was Callahan's design ... and a pretty perfect one for a house full of basketball boys!

Pokemon Go even got into the Halloween theme ...

They had a Halloween update for the week preceding the holiday. The "scary" Pokemon, such as Gastly, Haunter, Zoobat, Cubone and even Meowth (a cat, though not black) would appear much more often. Also, distance walked was doubled, and triple points were earned on some catches. Cooper was pretty happy about the incentives, but then he got sick and ended up on the couch for several days, instead of walking around taking advantage of the update.

My Friday Zumba class encouraged us to dress up ...

It was a fun holiday dance edition.

Dancing in costume to Thriller, Ghostbusters, Monster Mash, Witch Doctor and more. Happy Halloween Zumba! #zumba

A video posted by JenB (@jenbsjourney) on Oct 28, 2016 at 10:38am PDT

Callahan and Co also raided the costumes for a school dance ...

Cute Woopie Cushion Callahan!

Colton ended up getting sick the weekend before Halloween too. I wasn't sure if either of the little boys would feel up to going out, or if they would even want to (they consider themselves a little old for it at this point). Colton felt better, and did want to go collect some candy, so I walked the neighborhood with him (and the PokemonGo phone). He would have had more fun with friends I'm sure, but we hadn't planned ahead enough. I didn't get around to taking the traditional "candy" shot. 

Halloween 2015

 Colton's Candy Collection

What I really love about the picture above, it that I didn't take it! Cooper did. I usually do take such a picture, but didn't get around to it this year, and Cooper kept the tradition alive. *Ü*  I actually wasn't sure we'd even have any Halloween pictures this year. The boys didn't seem to care about trick-or-treating. Cooper has been on a health kick ... exercising a lot and improving his eating.He has pretty much given up treats and sweets. In the end, both boys did go, although Cooper gave his haul to Colton as he wasn't planning on eating any himself. 

There was the truck-or-treat over at the church ... I can't remember what we had that night, I think one of the boys had a game. Of course there was the parade and class parties at the school. Cooper wore his "Lego Man" costume he wore last year, and Colton went as a basketball star on a box of Wheaties.

After the parade, the 6th graders have a tradition. They perform the dance "Thriller".  As Cooper is in 6th, he was part of this production. I enjoyed it a lot more than I anticipated (there is a little clip down below). After the dance was finished, it was off to Cooper's class for their party.

The entire 6th grade was celebrating, split into groups and moving from classroom to classroom for different activities. In our room, we broke the kids into smaller groups and rotated them through a few games. An "eyeball and spoon" relay race, monster toss, cup crash and Picture-eek-a.  In the other classrooms they were doing a picture scavenger hunt (using ipad cameras to capture the items on the list), decorating pumpkins, and ... I don't know what all else! It took a couple hours to get through everyone! And I wasn't done yet! Colton's class party was in the afternoon, so I was helping out with it too. There, I manned the "bingo" station. After it ended, there really wasn't time to go home before I'd have to come back and grab the kids, so I just waited until school got out. Just spending one entire day at school really makes me appreciate teachers and all they do (and put up with!)

... as promised, here's the clip of and "thrilled" Cooper

(small Instagram clip HERE, updated/longer YouTube video below)

 

https://youtu.be/w5iQGPtf60s

I even dressed up as I went to help at the school ... one of the items on the scavenger hunt was "a parent in costume" so even though it was just ears, I got my picture taken lots of times for that game.

... as I mentioned above, the boys weren't super excited about trick-or-treating. They went with simple, but coordinating costumes. We actually let them go out alone, just around our little block. As it went over an hour, I began to regret that decision (worry wart mommy here) but of course they got home just fine. We didn't have very many trick-or-treaters come to our door, it was pretty slow.

As Colton wasn't wearing the Wheaties box ... 

the kitties decided to get in on the action!

I DID go through all the costumes this year and pared them down by over half ... keeping just what would still fit the boys, and only things I thought they'd actually wear. I'll pass some on to cousins for dress up, and to a neighbor who collects and loans costumes out. We still probably have way more than we need, but at least I eliminated a couple of bins and got the mess cleaned up!

Halloween 2014

 Happy Halloween! I'm really an angel!

Halloween is NOT my favorite holiday. I went ahead and stocked up on some candy. I went to the school for the Halloween parade and then volunteered in Cooper's classroom for their party (I've been in charge before with my stock of Halloween games) but this year I was just helping out at one of the stations (Memory). After pulling out THREE HUGE boxes of Halloween costumes, the kids said there was "nothing" to wear ... so I took them to the store to buy new ones.

Grayson took the boys to the church "Trunk or Treat" (as I was busy with Keaton's basketball game that night) ... so he said I was on duty to take them around the neighborhood this year. I guess that's fair, as he did the walk-about last year. We actually could not beat the weather this year! I can't recall a nicer evening for trick-or-treating ever! It was 70° ... perfect!

Gray had come home from work and rolled his eyes a bit at the Halloween excitement. Like me, it's not his favorite holiday. I pretty much expected him to go hide in the bedroom and put Landon and Keaton on door duty. Instead, he totally surprised me by saying "I wonder if we should get out the projector and show a movie on the garage?"  They proceeded to set that up ... we downloaded "It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" and he and the boys simply sat outside and handed out candy. there were extra chairs set up if anyone wanted to stop and sit and watch for a bit too.

I walked around with Cooper and Colton (and Jacob from next door). We went around out little loop, then up out of the neighborhood to 40th West. Colton was "done" but Cooper wanted more. We stopped home to unload, and while I was willing to go out again and hit the rest of the neighborhood, Cooper decided he was done too. That was fine by me as well. I had worn my Fitbit of course ... we'd gone just over 6000 steps (approximately three miles). 

Then it's time for the annual "candy haul" picture and candy sort. Neither little boy likes peanuts/peanut butter, so any candy containing that is set aside for me or their brothers. Kit Kats are their favorite. I didn't get any full costume shots! Keaton didn't go out this year, but helping passing out candy with Landon and Dad. Callahan was off with friends as usual.

I never got around to really decorating this year ... for Halloween of for Fall. I put out the wreath for the front door, but that was about all outside. Indoors, I pulled out the glass pumpkin and filled it up with candy corn. I'm not sure WHY I temp myself like that, but I do. I LOVE candy corn!

How was YOUR Halloween?

Halloween Happenings

Ready for some costumed kids? I haven't purchased anything new for several years. I just have a few big boxes of old costumes and I told the kids to find something they wanted to wear. As in past years, the different celebrations got different costumes. First up with the church "Trunk or Treat" which WAS actually a trunk or treat (out of car trunks) this year. The Mario costume was quite snug on Colton, but he wanted to match Jacob's Luigi outfit. For the school celebration and parade, Cooper was a convict and Colton an NBA star (with a broken wrist). We actually got the cast off after school, so he didn't have to be a ninja with a cast that evening. Cooper was a dragon.  Keaton was Darth Vadar again, but he was off trick-or-treating with friends, so I didn't get a picture that night. 

Halloween day, I spent several hours over at the school. First observing the Halloween Parade. Being on D track, we'd never really been able to participate in this activity. Then I ran the party for Cooper's Class. We split up into groups and rotated through the game stations. Bone Bender, Cup Crash, Monster Toss, Memory, Pictureeka, Pass the Pumpkin and Make a Mummy. Donuts and Witch's brew were the refreshments (the kids were quite in awe of the smoke and bubbles coming from the cauldron ... just fruit punch and dry ice).  My t-shirt was as dressed up as I got. I put Grayson on supervising duty as the kids went out around the neighborhood. The ran from house to house until Colton was in need of a drink. While at one of the houses we knew well, the kids were able to get a drink of water. Colton told Daddy "That was the best house and the best treat!"  Back at home, I had Landon man the door and I took the night off. The kids got a lot of candy. Yum.

This is Halloween

With the Halloween party at school done, it felt a little like Halloween was over ... I had to remind myself that the actual night was still coming up. Landon dressed up in his "chick magnet" costume for school, and then went out with friends in the evening (dressed as a whoopie cushion ... I asked for pictures but he didn't comply). Rather than trying to stomp around in his walking boot, Callahan took the night off and stayed home, helping hand out candy there.  I usually send Grayson on Trick-or-Treat duty with the little boys, but I went ahead and went out with them this year. Keaton went with his friends, and I walked around with Cooper, Colton and their buddy Ridley. Cooper SHOULD have been dressed as The Flash or an Olympic Runner, because he would take off after each house, leaving the other two boys in the dust and struggling to catch up.

Colton's Ninja Stash

 

Cooper Hulk's Haul

 Super Keaton's Candy

The little boys don't like peanut butter, 

so Callahan and I gladly relieved them of any and all Reeses.

Halloween Party Time

Time for the annual HALLOWEEN PARTY at school ... several weeks early, as our kids go off-track. I've been in charge of (or helped with) the school parties for the past several years. This year I'm room mom for Cooper's class. We packed in the fun, having several different activity stations that the kids rotated through. I admit, my games are perhaps a little more commercial (purchased) than some of the other games/crafts out there, but after the initial investment, I haven't had to spend any money on the school parties as they've lasted me for years now. We split the kids into five groups (4-5 kids per group) and rotated them through...

• Monster Toss: I picked up these darling plush monsters (from Oriental Trading) and the kids stood several feet behind a cauldron that they took turns tossing them into. (Back at home, these little monsters are a favorite for family fights, the boys just pelt each other with them.)
• Cup Crash: Stack plastic cups into a pyramid, and toss plush pumpkins to knock it down. This has been a favorite activity for many years now. I also helped out in Keaton's class (before Cooper's party) and was asked to bring an activity. I gave Keaton the choice, and one was the one he chose.
• Bone Bender: Halloween "Twister" ... I picked this up for pretty cheap and wasn't sure it would last more than one party, but it's still going strong (ok, one tear this year, probably because I didn't make the kids take their shoes off, which I should have).
• PictureEEKa: Our family actually does own the real Pictureka game, but this Halloween version is actually quite a bit more fun, and super easy for a group activity like this. This game was a little expensive upfront (ordered from Amazon) but its been worth it. 
• Halloween Memory: I thought of making my own set of memory cards ... then decided that was going to be too much work. I picked up this little set of Memory cards from Oriental Trading ... actually it was a dozen sets! I gave away a few. The kids always like memory! 
• Make a Mummy: After rotating through the activities, we had each group stop and we gave them two rolls of toilet paper. Each group made one person into a mummy. They just had two minutes. This was a favorite activity *Ü*

So one more annual Halloween party down ... it feels like Halloween is over, because the party is. I have to keep reminding myself that the actual holiday is still coming!

 

Bone Bender

PictureEEKa

 Memory

Cooper and his MUMMY crew (above)

The other groups and their made mummies (below)

You know, I had a ton of other fun game ideas and other cute Halloween ideas collected on Pinterest ... so many ideas, so little time!

• Musical Pumpkins: Gather in a circle, pass around a stuffed pumpkin while music plays. When music stops, individual holding it moves to the "dead spot". If an individual gets caught in the "dead spot" then they are out  (but they could help stop/start the music so no one was just sitting). You'd be surprised at how many funny halloween songs there are out there!
• Candy Corn Toss: Just like the Monster Toss above ... cheaper alternative. Any type of bucket to toss them into is fine too.
• Halloween Bingo: I've seen several sets at stores, or you can print this free version from Artsy Fartsy Mamma, or many schools have their own set too.
• Pop Goes the Pumpkin (Martha Stewart): Blow up a bunch of small orange balloons and fasten them to cardboard in a pumpkin shape. Let the kids throw darts to try and pop the balloons.
• Balloon Art: Let the kids draw a jack-o-lantern face on orange balloons with a black magic marker. Add paper shapes to turn black balloons into spiders, bats or black cats.
• Balloon Bop: Arrange the kids in a circle and have them try to keep a balloon constantly in motion, never touching the ground. Add additional balloons to make it harder.
• Don't Eat Pete: This is a simple but classic game that can easily be changed up for any holiday. I found a darling free printout from The Game Gal. 
• More party ideas at One Charming Party and Tip Junkie. There are SO many cute craft ideas too (check out my Halloween Pinterest Board for the ones I was keeping an eye on) ... although I didn't end up doing crafts, just games.   

Happy Halloween

Ah ... Halloween. It's not my favorite holiday. But this year wasn't bad. With the boys on D track at school, the school Halloween party always sets the stage a little early (it was on October 19). I went to school to watch the costume parade (it was the first year they actually had D track do it) and to help with class parties. During Keaton's party I was busy running one of the game stations, but Cooper's class had enough help, so I grabbed my cameras and took pictures and video. The muvee is below ... featuring the parade then Cooper's class party.

As if Halloween doesn't provide enough temptation with all the candy around, I was also in a baking mood. I made the pumpkin cookie press cookies (Keaton's favorite), cinnamon rolls, homemade oreos, spiderweb cubcakes and sugar cookies cut with a pumpkin cookie cutter ...

It's fun to make funny faces

on the cookies with candy corn.

The Saturday before Halloween, it was the annual neighborhood "Trunk or Treat" over at the church. Callahan's group was in charge of one of the theme rooms. They all dressed up like nerds and gave out nerds candy. I wish I had gotten a picture of him! I took Cooper and Colton over and they enjoyed it.

While the younger boys were out of school on Halloween itself, Landon and Callahan were still going. They both dressed up a little.

I took the little boys to Maceys in the morning (groceries and credit union for me, trick or treating around the store for them). They broke out the jailbird costumes, complete with handcuffs. Then both boys went to a scout Halloween party in the afternoon.

The boys were SO excited to go out in the evening. Grayson took them around. Cooper started out as a stormtrooper, but said the mask was too hard to see through, so he dashed home and changed after just a few houses. Callahan wasn't planning on going out, but when friends were, he (and Keaton) joined them ... their costumes? An NBA jersey ... I don't feel too bad I didn't get a picture of that (as that's pretty much everyday attire for them).

At home with the "haul"

Kit Kats and Twix are the favorites for the little boys. I let them trade things they didn't want for things on our bowl (we were actually passing out the good stuff this year, KitKats, Reeses, 100 Grand and Crunch, the kids current favorites. I HAD picked up a big bag of Smarties but then Grayson mocked them ... but my boys do like them!). I love how the kids sort and count their candy *Ü*

And of course the Halloween season wouldn't be complete without the Halloween Ghost (other years it has been the Phantom). I do like this online version, with printable sheets. Dropping off a treat, encouraging you to pass it on ... I admit, I was ssss.....l.....o.....www to pass it on ... but I finally did. Halloween night I was inside baking goodies inbetween answering the door (actually, Landon was a big help with that).

The weather couldn't have been nicer for trick or treating!

Thanks Mother Nature!

Halloween Decor

Colton kept asking WHEN we were going to decorate for Halloween. I certainly wasn't going to spend the time outside during the week of rain we had, but it finally ended. I'm loving this fall weather. Cool, but sunshine. The leaves are turning. I had Colton help me pull out the decorations from the shed and now the front porch is showing some halloween/fall spirit. Unfortunately, Colton isn't terribly impressed. "That's ALL?" was his response when we were done. I guess he was expecting a full set of decorations for inside the house too. My little glass pumpkin filled with candy corn just doesn't cut it I guess (have I mentioned I LOVE candy corn ... I must resist!) He sighed ... "I wish there was just a button you could press, and the whole house would be decorated with spiderwebs, pumpkins and ghosts" ...

I found this video on YouTube ...

I wonder if Colton would be happy with this ...

YouTube suggests similar video links too

(same house, a variety of different songs)

Costumed Kids

Halloween 2010

Last year I went a little overboard on costumes ... I bought ALL new (Lugi for Landon, Mario for Cooper, a Basketball Box for Callahan, BumbleBee for Keaton, Buzz for Colton ... and Woody for Cooper, even though he already had the Mario costume). The kids do generally get several opportunities to wear their costumes other than just Halloween night. This year, I didn't buy ANY new, the kids just went through the boxes of costumes from previous years (although Landon's was purchased last year AFTER Halloween on clearance, so it was new, just not purchased this year) ...First up is the Halloween party at school (see the Halloween Party Post for pictures and a video) where the kids dressed simply in their Sesame Street hats for costumes. Colton had his preschool party the Thursday before Halloween ... here's a picture of him and his teacher (isn't that the CUTEST costume?)

Colton and Ms. Cindy

Landon also had celebrations at school ... he had a special backpack for the day ... even his shoes were a matching black and orange ... I called him Jack-O-Landon *Ü* During the day, the 9th graders got to have a Halloween dance. Landon took off his orange shirt and became a "Chick Magnet"

The Friday night before Halloween, there was the annual neighborhood party over at the church. The different church organizations (primary, young mens, young women, elders, etc.) each are in charge of a room which they decorate according to a theme. Gray and Landon were with the young men and a Cowboy and Indians themed room. Now I said *I* did not buy any new costumes this year ... but Landon didn't have Indian attire ... so hubby made a stop and $40 later, we do now have an Indian costume to add to the box (boxes) ... Grayson was able to make due with existing stuff for his cowboy costume.

After the Friday festivities, the kids went trick-or-treating in the cold and rain on Saturday night. Our house is in a little loop ... and the younger kids rarely ever make it out of our small little neighborhood, this year was no exception. The older kids did venture a little further, staying out after the little ones came home. But I think the little boys enjoy answering the door and handing out candy almost as much as collecting it! The favorites for the older boys are Reese's ... the little boys like Kit Kats and Twix. Landon said he's going on a health kick and NOT eating any candy... that's more willpower than I have!

Tricky Treats

SpiderWeb Cupcakes

When you think about Halloween, you often think about CANDY ... I LOVE the candy, and I hope that the small packaging might help with quantity control when it comes to eating it. In previous years, I've made sugar cookies and used candy corn to decorate them like jack-o-lanterns ... but I didn't get around to that this year, because I was so busy making NEW Halloween treats!

Every year at the church, there is a neighborhood "Trunk-or'Treat" (although we do NOT have the kids go from car to car, but rather room to room ... so I'm not sure WHY they use the TRUNK-or-Treat terminology). This year I was asked to bring cupcakes for the cake walk. A friend posted this spiderweb cupcake idea and I thought it was SO cute! It really wasn't very difficult either. You melt white chocolate drops and then simply follow the template from the website linked above. I think these will be an annual trick-or-TREAT each Halloween from now on. If you look behind the spiderweb cupcakes, you can also see my first attempt at cupcakes on a stick. They were a hit as well. It was the first (but not the last) time I used my new Cakesicle Pan.

We also made cookie-press pumpkins. Now the pumpkin shape did NOT come with my original cookie press. I actually hadn't seen this disk until last year. I really wanted it, but I couldn't find anywhere just the disk was sold, and I didn't want to buy and entire set just to get the ONE disk ... but this year ... that is exactly what I did. It was worth it ... these cookies will also be a Halloween (and Thanksgiving) tradition. They are Keaton's favorite.

A friend posted a darling OreoCookieCandyMold treat (seriously, follow this link, they are SO cute!) I actually made a trip to a couple of the local craft stores to try and find the mold, but I couldn't locate it. I'm going to keep looking and hopefully I'll land it before next year (I'll already have the white chocolate drops for the spiderweb toppers). Instead, I made MY homemade oreos (recipe here) and added orange food coloring to the frosting for a Halloween feel.

And then I picked up this large cupcake at the store ... I thought the idea was really cute. I did find these candy eyeballs ... I may have to work on my technique to try and duplicate the "fur" look ... maybe I'll try these critter creations next year, although looking through this post, I probably have ENOUGH tricky treats to send everyone into sugar shock ... and that's NOT including all the candy!