Hallowe'en And All Saints

Halloween was really a blast this year.  Per Aidan's instructions, we began our planning for the big day back in July.  Seriously.  We pored over every catalog and site for the perfect costume.  He picked his out of the same catalog where last years costume came from. . .at the end of July!  I gave him until the end of August to make a final decision (change his mind) but it was THE costume of all costumes!  So, I ordered it.  And it came.  And it was gruesome looking.  It was. . .

A Pirate Ship Ghost!

You'll see pictures below.  Suffice it to say, his cutey pie face was covered in a gruesome mask. . .for a little bit. . .and the pants didn't quite want to stay up, so I had to safety pin them to his shirt.  But he was happy.  And that's what counts. 

We spent September decorating the house with fall decorations--no jack-o-lanterns until October, please!  And then added more scary things in October.  We bought our FOUR, yes FOUR pumpkins at Harris Teeters--we never made it to Pumpkinville this year and Aidan never even asked to go!!--for $5.00 a piece--way cheaper than Pumpkinville!--AND had a volunteer pumpkin to carve from the garden!

The day before Halloween was the day allotted to carving said pumpkins.  I arrived home to find Pat on the front lawn surrounded by the neighbor kids and our kid, too, gutting all kinds of pumpkins while the kids carved.  I got out of the car and had to smile.  It was like Pat was the Pumpkin Pied Piper with all those kids around him!  Really wish I'd gotten a picture of it.  What a fun evening listening to the kids chatter about all kinds of things while everyone worked on their pumpkins!

While chattering, it was revealed that another neighbor had asked Aidan and his friend Zach to be in the parade with him.  It was the Marines for Toys for Tots and Santa was going to be in that truck with them.  At first the boys really wanted to be in it.  But, after discussing it and realizing they would then miss the parade and huge potion of time allotted or Trick or Treating, they decided not to do it.  I was a little perturbed that this neighbor asked the children and not the parents.  They are 7 year old boys.  And I was especially perturbed when he got a little mad when the boys changed their minds.  Come on. . .

The result of carving!!

One of our pumpkins didn't make it through the carving process.  But that little greenish one is the volunteer from the garden.  Isn't that great????

My work even got into the act this year and we had a contest for decorating our office space and costumes.  We even had a special pizza and salad lunch on Halloween.  We did have to each pay for lunch as it was a fund raiser for Interfaith Relief and I have to say I am proud of the 20 of us!  The suggested donation was $10.00.  We raised $350.00!!  Which we turned into grocery store gift cards and took down to the Loudoun Interfaith Relief along with our200 pounds of box and canned goods!   We try to do this a few times a year and the people in need are not just hungry at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Anyhoo. . .

Here are some pictures from our office shindig:

The whole gang.  We had a skier, Willie Robertson, a couple of witches, scarecrows and a baseball player, and so on!

This is one of the ladies who answers the phone up front.  I came in and saw her in profile and just had to laugh all day! 

My office mate and I did a farm theme with crows and corn and she and I dressed up as scarecrows.  Hers was better, though!

And what are scarecrows without a farmer???  Another person dressed up as Old McDonald. . .like the Geico commercial!  Hilarious!

And then I came home and got Aidan dressed for his big night!  After a healthy diner of Mac and Cheese : ).  We headed up and got Aidan dressed.  While not super cold, it was a little chilly and there was rain forcast, so we had Aidan put on some sweat pants an a long sleeved Tshirt under the costume.  The costume itself was pretty flimsy, but it covered all of the under clothes.

And the big reveal. . . . . .

Pretty creepy, right???  And yes, he HAD to have this costume with the mask!!
















And here he is just BEFORE the parade started.. .about 10 minutes after the above pictures!!!

He put the mask back on for Trick or Treating. . .and that lasted about 2 houses!  Next year, NO mask!

The parade was fun as usual.  They kept all of the political mumbo jumbo to a minimum and put it all at the end of the parade, which was awesome.  And this year we had 4 High School bands in it!  It was a lot of fun.  Some of my favorites from the parade. . .

The Toys for Tots with Santa. . .at the beginning!  Aidan would have been in this truck had he been in the parade.

 

 And here is a Lawn Service. . .In addition to the Wicked Witch of the East, there was a Scarecrow and a Tin Man riding these lawn mowers.  It was great!

And we dumped out what Aidan got from the parade before he went off Trick or Treating. . .Look at this loot!!! 

We have so much candy now. . .  : /

And now Halloween is over for another year.  We're sad but we're ready to move on.  I even started my Thanksgiving Dinner menu yesterday!  : )  And other super secret lists are starting as well. . . .

Meanwhile, I also wanted to share a couple of pictures from Aidan's last football game.  I was really impressed that the boys no longer looked like bobble heads:

He really did work hard even while not liking it.  He ran a really great game on this last game and I couldn't help wondering why his coach didn't use him as a Runner Back all season instead of as a Blocker??  Ah well.  It's done now.  He got a nice trophy and a medal to go along with his growing collection!!

And I also have to share Aidan in his new Red Xtreme jersey.  He still hasn't gotten his whole uniform yet, but he was sooooo excited to get this part!!

And one final really goofy picture of Aidan ready for school but wearing these hilarious glasses he got as a prize due to the amount he sold for his school's fall fund raiser.  How cute is this???

So funny!!

And that's it!  Finally caught up on pictures and posts!!!

We have a long weekend this weekend due to the Quarter Break.  Aidan doesn't go back to school until Wednesday.  I'm off with him on Monday and then our neighbor will watch him Tuesday morning and Pat will be there Tuesday afternoon.  We only have our House game tomorrow. . .and Select practice and then a lesson on Monday morning.  But that's it!!  Nothing but family time today!!!  Woot Woot!!

Have a great weekend.  See you soon!