Halloween - the morning after

Last year - Michael and Isaac got braces on November 1st.

I think I should be awarded a good mom prize for letting them wait until after Halloween.

They, on the other hand, were ticked about all the candy they had to throw out.

Nonetheless, they are both on the downhill slide of having braces and on the uphill side of straight teeth.

ANYWAY -
It rained often yesterday - in spurts -
and the ground has been "squishy" for weeks due to an extra rainy "rainy" season.

So when the boys were all dressed and it was officially 6pm -
the rain was really coming down.

It seemed like all hope was lost - but thankfully, it stopped raining after about 30 minutes and Mike took the kids around the neighborhood while the "bigs" stayed in the drive-way and helped hand out candy.

Here is part of the crew:

I don't have a lot of photos because I was either holding Meleah and/or helping with dinner and passing out candy.  
But we had a great time, as always, with our friends - the Scott family, Mr. Steve, and Doc Jeff -
and our new friends/ family to the island,  the Cooks.  They have kids the same ages as our boys and live in our neighborhood.  It's like a little present from heaven and we are so blessed to know them!

Apparently, I don't have a photo of Michael because he was hiding on the roof shooting people with Nerf bullets.  I know this because he posted it on his Facebook page ....we will be talking about that later, when he gets home from school.

Facebook - the new way that moms' have eyes in the back of their heads!



Last but not least - for all you science fans out there.
This is what a few hours outside in Guam does to a pumpkin.
Seriously - it happened overnight.

Happy Halloween

First of all -
I have to say, "We miss you Gillam Family!"

Last year - Mike was out of town until 6pm Halloween - the boys and I went over to the Gillams'.

You can read about that here.

This year - because Mike was home - there was pumpkin carving.

Mike has serious pumpkin carving skills -

He has produced some award winning pumpkins,
seriously!

But those were before the days of digital photos,
and you will just have to believe me.





Isaac is pretty serious about his pumpkin too.

Meleah's first Halloween......  I know, I know....she's adorable.

The boys are at school and bitter about it.

"Why do we get off of school for LAME holidays like Columbus Day but we have to go to school on Halloween?"

"Columbus didn't even make it to America anyway - he was in the Bahamas."

"And he was MEAN to the Native Americans;  you are Native American right mom?!!"

(*well, I guess at this point I was suppose to join in on the Columbus-bashing ban-wagon-but instead I just said, "sorry, yes, you have to go to school")

So....we are having friends over for dinner and the kiddos will get to hang out a little while and hopefully, I can redeem Halloween being on a school day.  (*or maybe the candy will do that)

More tomorrow on the evenings activities....stay tuned!!

Meow!!!  

Happy Halloween!!!

Costume fun consumes Isaac and Zion.


Like all little boys, they have always loved to get into the full character when they pretend.


From animals when they were little,


to Super Heroes


and now, big action movie characters ......


This year was no different as they went back and forth at the store on which costume to get.


And then, reevaluated the WHOLE thing when the costume box came out.

For church on Wednesday night........we had Sniper Isaac and Jango (or is it Bobo) Fett Zion

For Trick or Treating on Saturday night, we went over to the Gillams house for Chili dinner and some hang out time.  As always, a good time was had by all............AND........

their neighborhood is much bigger than ours,
so......good Trick or Treating. 

Michael, the Jedi - hard to see in the background
Isaac the Clone Trooper
Zion - Bumblebee
Ellie - Hermione (not to be confused with Harry Potter)
and Maddy's character is based on Sally from "A Nightmare Before Christmas"

Sam and I, (well, our shadows) walking the kids around
I wanted to take a picture cause I look so tall!  :)

Zion asked me to take a photo of this pumpkin
He loved it

Because of Zion's allergy to peanuts, we have a big family candy TRADE at the end of each Halloween night.  It helps Zion feel like he has some control over his candy, instead of just taking things out of his bucket that he can't eat.   (and, his brother loves peanut butter anyway)  Zion usually trades for Skittles and really loves the SOUR ones.  Maddy and Ellie seemed pretty excited about this idea and so the candy trade began.  I think everyone has different likes, which made it all a perfect end to the evening.

Last but not least.......I finally learned how to LINK a blog.
So, for Sam's take on the evening (and a few more photos)  Click here