Much as we tried to get all geared up for McKay's first Halloween as a mobile person, things just weren't quite working out our way. For all the ambitious plans we started out with, everything seemed to be converted to a Plan B, C or even Plan R.
For starters, our original Halloween costume ideas were, well, awesome! McKay was going to be the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz. I was hoping for something cooler like everyone being Snap, Crackle, and Pop, but Teri was convinced that the Scarecrow costume would be adorable and so I relented. My costume - which apparently will be for the Halloween 2008 extravaganza - was the ever topical and relevant, Hamburglar. So cool. Teri hadn't decided on a costume, and being pregnant limited some of her options so she was going to be a Rubik's Cube - also a funny, topical costume.
But after making our grandiose plans, we got caught up in the storm of life. Teri has been doing her student teaching this semester and she has to teach full time for 6 consecutive weeks. That has been really hard on her physically. All the standing and walking has just worn her down a little bit. She does love teaching, which was a good thing to find out, but I think she will be very happy when she can just take a break and be home with McKay. The student teaching put a crimp in our plans as Teri simply didn't have enough time to make McKay's costume, or my cape. I would have volunteered to make my own cape, but I know how I get along with manual dexterity tasks and I backed away. After all, the Hamburglar costume is a once in a decade costume and it needs sufficient craftsmanship to outclass all the other costumes. Teri's Rubik's Cube also got put on hold for time reasons.
We ended up repeating our previous performances for costumes. I was Woody from Toy Story. Teri was the Chick-fil-A cow. McKay was a monkey.
Besides not being able to finish the costumes, we never got to carve pumpkins. We bought pumpkins. We even put them on our porch. McKay thinks they're funny and likes to try and pick them up, but he can only really get a hold of the little one.
Then there was Halloween itself. We went to our ward's trunk or treat. It featured a chili cook-off which was interesting. I'm sure the good people at Hormel would be proud of how many votes their chili from a can received. While the chili cookoff didn't have its usual sizzle, the trunk or treat proved to be pretty fun. McKay got up close and personal with a horse. He liked it.
After we got back from our trunk or treat we still had some time for trick or treaters so we popped in a movie and waited for the masses to arrive. As it turned out we only had 10 total. But get this - 4 of the ten came twice. And not only that, but I wanted to unleash some Halloween shock and awe on those kids.
The problem stemmed from the fact that when I was a trick-or-treater I always liked it when adults would allow me to select my candy of choice. That way I could acquire the right mix of candy and make sure that my mom's "taxes" didn't mean I was left without a Snickers. So naturally as an adult now I wanted to give that same experience to other kids. But I found out the hard way that some kids these days have no self control.
The first time the four kids came to our door I told them Happy Halloween and then said "You can choose what you would like." To my honest shock the first little boy, probably about 8 years old grabbed a handful of candy, then another. His sister followed suit and found Hot Tamales whereupon the little boy came back - yes, came back - and grabbed some of those too. His other two siblings were far nicer preferring only to grab one handful a piece. It was absolutely shocking! They did this right in front of their mother and she must have not even thought about it because she brought them back again. The second time they came back they each only grabbed 1 additional handful despite me telling them that they could choose whichever piece of candy they would like. Wow.
But I guess Halloween will probably get more fun as McKay (and bro) get bigger. Besides, Teri and I are excited for our first Thanksgiving and Christmas at our own house (largely due to Teri being unable to travel) and for our new baby boy to be born. And in the larger scheme of things that sounds like a lot more fun than Halloween anyway.
4 comments:
Hey Tad! Just came across your blog via Kirin's. You have a cute family! Just thought I would say hi. Are you in AZ too?
In response to your post:
Kids aren't as polite as I remember being. On Halloween I couldn't believe all the trick-or-treaters helping themselves to so much candy. To stop that annoying behavior I started to drop a treat into their bag, but some kids would actually have the nerve to ask for something else...
I also had a bunch of moms & dads on my doorstep begging for goodies. Uh, go to Wal-mart and buy your own.
Your family is growing! You guys seem like your doing well and the Lord has really blessed you. We told your flinging poo story the other day and just died laughing! We miss you guys. Phil says hey to you! Check out our halloween pics Gotta love Phil and his craziness!
Hey Libby,
If you ever stop by again make sure and invite me to read your blog. I'm not sure how you do it, but let me know if you need something.
That's cool that you are in AZ as well. Which part are you in?
Our Halloween wasn't quite what we were hoping for either. We drove around Provo forever looking for a neighborhood where kids still trick-or-treat en masse, and we never found one -- apparently it's died out in the last couple of years with the arrival of trunk-or-treats. But you'd think that the city with the lowest per capita crime rate in the entire nation would still do some trick-or-treating. No such luck. We were stuck with a stupid trunk-or-treat in which they shepherded the kids through the hallways of the church. Lame.
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