Scooby Doo Halloween

Unlike other years, Halloween was here and gone.  We got back from Mexico just in time to dig through the storage bins to find our costumes.  The same ones we wore 8 years ago when Jack, Ryan, Hadley and Morgan were all little.  Figured it was good to get two uses out of them and the kids were excited to dress up as Scooby Doo and the gang.   

Morgan doesn’t like to have anything extra on her face or body.  Won’t wear jewelry, hats, hair clips/headbands, etc.  So I wasn’t sure how dressing up as Velma would work for her with glasses and a wig.  She put up a fight until she saw how cute she looked in the mirror then she was excited and kept telling everyone “I be Velma”.  She wasn’t happy when she saw me get in my costume and that I was stealing her thunder with also dressing up as Velma.  “Mom, I be Velma!!!”

The excitement of the glasses and wig didn’t last long.  About 15 minutes into the ward Trunk-or-Treat she took off the glasses, then the wig and said, “I just be MORGAN!”  And that is exactly who she was for the rest of the night.  My cute Morgan!

Griffin loved his costume and made the cutest Scooby Doo!

Mia’s wig didn’t hold up too well in the storage bin but she didn’t mind.  She loved her costume and dressing up as “Daph-a-ny”.

Hadley didn’t want to be part of the family theme since she had already dressed up as Daphne when she was 3 years old.  She decided on this cute costume (Thank you Jenni!)  Spaghetti and meatballs.

Ryan tried to quickly throw something together a few minutes before trick-or-treating.  Utah Jazz jerseys with his friends.

The kids got to wear their costumes to school for the Halloween parade.  Griffin walked the entire time with his arms folded until he saw me, then he posed for my camera, then immediately re-folded his arms and continued in the parade.

Morgan with her amazing teacher, Mrs. McBee

Hadley and her friends from her 6th grade class

Morgan with her team--her teacher and morning/afternoon aides.  She loves this group of teachers!

Mia had a Halloween party at her preschool too.  

Mrs. Wilkinson and her friends all dressed up.

I borrowed a few things on Halloween night to throw together a Shaggy costume for me.   That way Morgan could shine as the one and only Velma in the gang.  Not sure if you can tell but Scooby Doo was mad and didn’t want to be part of the group picture.

Morgan and her friend Paxton.  He asked if Morgan would trick-or-treat with him earlier that day at school.  He was so cute and ran right up to her, as we parked our car, and asked her if she still wanted to go trick-or-treating with him.  They stuck together the whole night, going house to house together.  Things like that melt this mama’s heart.  Some kids just get “it”--inclusion, acceptance, love, friendship, differences--and Paxton and his family have always gone out of their way to look out for Morgan.

We started the night off with the traditional neighborhood hot dog roast and hot chocolate around the bonfires.  We didn’t really even need the bonfires this year.  It stayed warm enough that no one needed coats and many were in shorts.

Jack and his friends didn’t dress up this year.  First year for one of my kids to not wear a costume.  He went to a Halloween party at his friend’s house.  I’m hoping he’ll dress up next year since it doesn’t really feel like Halloween without the costume.

We were able to fit a few things “fall-ish” in between the trip to Mexico.  We made it to Hee Haw farms with United Angels Foundation (UAF).  This is always such a fun family night.  Morgan’s favorite wasn’t the slide this year but was the big box full of corn.

Pumpkin carving and a few frustrations when some designs didn’t quite work out (Hadley and Ryan).  Jack stuck with the Batman theme from his birthday.  Ryan wavered between carving the Utah Jazz logo or BYU.  Of course his loyalty to BYU won.  Hadley attempted the most difficult pattern of a cemetery but after an hour of carving switched to a pumpkin face.  Morgan, once again, enjoyed putting the seeds back into the pumpkin more than taking them out.  Griffin wanted a “Gryphon”--a flying dragon.  And Mia loved her kitty cat pumpkin.  She sat next to it and said, over and over, “Oh I love you buddy cat!  You’re my best buddy, I love you so much! You’re a punky punkin!"

And all of the cousins made popcorn balls with Grandma!

Happy Halloween 2012!