Anyone who knows me well knows that Halloween is my favorite holiday. I have been having Halloween parties since the 7th grade and I haven't missed a year. This year, however, I was seriously thinking about not having one. I was running out of ideas. My friends and I had been playing the same games since childhood and the thought of trying to entertain a bunch of adults and keep them all happy was worrying me. The more I thought about it, the more sure I was that this was going to be the year I broke tradition and didn't have a party. Anyone who knows me well also knows that, when I plan something, I don't like to back out. The party idea never left my mind, and two weeks before Halloween I decided that, instead of canceling my party, I would change the intended audience. Since all of my friends have children now, I would instead have a Halloween party for little kids. Boy, I thought I was a genius! I planned the party for the 27th and invited most people I could think of who had children my son's age. The day of the party I was running around cleaning and doing everything I could to be ready. It didn't help that we had a Primary Program practice that morning that I had to take Uriah to, but we still went to that and got the house ready for the party. I bought 3 pizzas, 3 containers of cupcakes, juice and drinks, apple slices and caramel dip, had some friends bring caramel popcorn and "ants on a log", not to mention the candy, and everything was eaten. I have never had that happen before, but was very grateful that there weren't leftovers. I was only expecting about 5-10 people because that's all who RSVPd, but I had probably 20 or so in my apartment before the night was over. I bought a bunch of stuff from the Dollar Tree and made gift bags for all the kids. They really liked them, and I was happy that everyone got to take something home.
I didn't want to over think this party, so I promised myself I would keep it to 2 hours max, and I had planned 3 activities.
Here are the kids watching "Ichabod Crane". I love this cartoon, but actually thought that it would be too dull and old for the kids. To my surprise, they loved it!
After the movie, we played Freeze Dance, where the kids had to dance and act silly until the music stopped, and then they had to freeze in place. It was a great way for them to get their wiggles out.
After the dancing, the kids took a break and then we jumped right in to "Pin the Wart on the Witch". The kids loved this game. They especially loved being blindfolded.
They all lined up for their turn to put a sticker on the witch's face. The party was a success, over by 7, and a few friends stayed behind afterwards to watch "Dracula: Dead and Loving It". I'm thinking, if having a party for kids means it gets done earlier and I can have the rest of the night to myself, that's not such a bad thing!
The week before my party, our ward had their trunk-or-treat. We share our stake center with 3 wards, so we have to take turns and alternate Saturdays every year to accommodate the various Halloween parties. The kids had lots of fun at ours. I actually wasn't going to dress up this Halloween, but right before the trunk-or-treat I decided that I would make my son's wish come true. He had been telling everyone all month long that he was going to be Mario for Halloween and mommy was going to be Luigi, but I kept telling him that mommy wasn't going to be Luigi. Well, long story short, he won.
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I did this digital scrapbook page from our trunk-or-treat. Bonnie was a monster, Jordyn was Minnie Mouse and Uriah was Mario. The missionaries also came as Mario and Luigi, and Uriah didn't want to leave the big Mario's side all night long. They even had a costume parade and games for the kids to play while the parents set up their trunks.
On Halloween, Uriah got to wear his costume to day care and at lunch I brought him back to my office for our yearly costume contest. He got the most cheers and won a prize for the best kid's costume. He was pretty excited. He walked around saying, "It'sa me, Mario!" That's my boy!
Jared had a class that night, so I went with my parents to a tri-ward trunk-or-treat (which was WAY too crowded) and then when the hubs got home we went to visit a few people we know and then went to G&G Nichols to get a picture taken. So here we are, Halloween 2012: Minnie Mouse, Luigi, Mario, a 1-Up mushroom, and a monster.
This was the first year I have ever dressed up as anything, and I will never forget the joy on my son's face when he would look at me and tell other people who I was. Here's to many more great Halloweens!
