the blue blog archives: happy crappy halloween

I was sewing up to the final minute, but when the time came, the boys looked great for trick-or-treating. They were so excited! Wee one, on the other hand, had been napping until it was time to go out and was still quite groggy when we were all dressed and ready to go. So let's start with some pics of her wearing her costume over the weekend at a kiddie Halloween party. She was the cutest viking ever!

Hey, do you like my hat? Swedish Sockapalooza, Sandra, sent it to me all the way from Sweden to wear so I could match wee one. It was so fun being a viking mama - thanks so much Sandra!! And check out the shoes wee one wore with her costume. They were a baby shower gift from Johanna's mom (now we know how Johanna got so crafty!). They're Raggedy Ann booties and I just love 'em. They were perfect for the costume. And off we went...

Look, a viking with a binkie! Wee one stayed pretty sedate in the bjorn (hey, also from Sweden!) while we were out.

The boys got 52 and 58 pieces of candy each. Their Halloween night homework was to count their candy. Of course now that they know how much they got, that means I can't eat any of it. Darn!

Now for the crappy parts. We'd left a bowl of candy out for kids while we were out trick-or-treating. We do this every year and so do a lot of other folks who go out with their kids or don't want to come to the door all night long. S predicted that all the candy would be gone and B predicted that there would still be some candy left. Well, not only was all the candy gone but so was the bowl and my little "Happy Halloween - have some candy! :0)" sign. Grrrr.

And then to make it a really scary Halloween night, wee one decided to wake up at midnight and 2am and stay awake until 5am. She's great this morning, but I look like Hell. I haven't gotten a really good night's sleep in weeks since the Red Sox were in all those late night playoff games and I've been staying up to finish the Halloween costumes. I hope I can catch up on my sleep (not to mention my knitting, my emails, maybe clean the toilets) over the next few days. 365 days left until we do it all again!

PS - Ooooh, I've got one more happy Halloween story from this morning! At breakfast, S tells me that one of his classmates had his birthday yesterday. Apparently, when someone in class has a birthday, the teacher goes to the secret vending machine in the teacher's lounge and gets a piece of candy as a special treat for the child. But yesterday, the machine ate her dollar and so she couldn't get the 3 Musketeers bar for the birthday boy. (They were already having a Halloween party in class, so there were plenty of treats for all to eat anyway, so I think it was okay. Pretty sweet having your birthday on Halloween, huh?) Anyway, S tells me this story and then says, 'I got lots of 3 Musketeers bars last night, so I want to bring one in for him cause he didn't get his yesterday.' Isn't that sweet?! And it's a happy Halloween again!

posted by alison at 10:09 am | in halloween 2007

Comments

That's crappy... we had 5 teenagers show up at 9:45 looking for candy "or money." I was actually very nervous b/c they came around to a side door and up a flight of stairs (we have an auto porch light... so no kids all night).

Viking baby is gorgeous, twin costumes are great...

Posted by: Kate at November 1, 2007 10:35 AM

You're the parent, of course you can take some of your kids' candy! I know when we brought our candy home, my parents would automatically go through ours and take a couple of their favorites as "tax." A couple won't hurt them!

Posted by: Heather at November 1, 2007 10:57 AM

S is so sweet. I know you are very proud of his sensitivity. They all looked so cute for Halloween. Me--I'm glad it's over. I am not a Halloween lover AND I always end up eating the left over candy. Bah Halloween humbug!

Posted by: Katherine at November 1, 2007 11:02 AM

I just can't get over that hat. I love it! And your viking hat was pretty cool too...and spongebob. You gotta love spongebob. You did a great job! I didn't sew any costumes this year. I lucked out. Usually I am up just like you...finishing until the last minute. I hope you get some sleep soon!

Posted by: Stephanie at November 1, 2007 11:47 AM

Ha! My mother used to apprehend my candy and dole it out, piece by piece-no fun gorging! It lasted till Christmas.

Posted by: Cirilia at November 1, 2007 11:49 AM

Sweet story about the birthday candy, and all of the kids look great in their costumes. You did a great job. Now, I think that you could have "evened out" the boys candy stash. :-)

Posted by: hopalong682003 at November 1, 2007 11:53 AM

The candy bowl thing happened to us one year--we even saw who did it (we both were sick so we didnt want to pass on our germs)--it was a bunch of teenagers who just grabbed the bowl and ran--right in front of a bunch of little kids.

My mom's birthday is on halloween--she loves it!

Posted by: Megan at November 1, 2007 11:56 AM

Hee. Wee one looks awesome; I may steal this idea if our Bean turns out to be a girl. (I may have to steal it anyway.)

I am in awe of the fabulous sewing you did for the boys!

Posted by: Cher at November 1, 2007 12:30 PM

Everyone looks great in the costume. Congrats for the boys' costumes, turned out really nice. Wee One is the best, though. So cute!!

Posted by: may at November 1, 2007 12:34 PM

Everyone looks adorable! That is such an "aww" filled moment with the 3muskateers bar!

Posted by: Jennifer at November 1, 2007 12:34 PM

My daughter had the same homework - 80 pieces! We have a pretty steep candy tax for parents in our house. :) Your wee one and my wee one had the same kind of night. Here's to a good nap and strong coffee.

Posted by: Dana at November 1, 2007 1:04 PM

Aaawww. Cute baby viking!

But honestly - SWEEDISH??!!!

Posted by: Helene at November 1, 2007 1:14 PM

The children in their costumes are darling!

You are gorgeous in that hat!

Posted by: Miz Booshay at November 1, 2007 1:28 PM

That's the cutest viking ever!!

Posted by: casey at November 1, 2007 1:30 PM

i LOVE the viking hat...i want one for myself! is there a pattern somewhere?

Posted by: Shannon at November 1, 2007 1:37 PM

You and I are clearly leading parallel lives - I have also been on a no sleep jag with the BoSox and late night costume sewing for my two. My own wee one (who is only a few days older then your wee one in fact) has also decided in the past few weeks that 2:30 is time to par-tay! Um, no. I don't think so. Last night's Halloween voodoo must have done something though, cause she slept all night. Here's hoping wee one gets back on program.

The boys' costumes are great, and wee one's Viking hat is way to cute. Kudos Mom!

Posted by: porpoise at November 1, 2007 2:52 PM

The boys look so cute & tall - they look much taller than my peanut of a grandson whose 6th birthday is today (a real binary baby - born 11/01/01!). Children can be so sweet, thoughtful & generous - thinking of his classmate's BD disappointment & doing something to make him feel better. Part of my BD present to B was $30 to spend on books at his school book fair. He let his little brother E (recently turned 4) have $10 of the $30 to spend on books for himself! Love your Viking helmet & the Viking with a binkie is priceless! WE handed out candy at my daughter's house so both Mommy & Daddy could go trick or treating with the little ones. Last year Halloween was the night before garbage pick up day (they live a 70's subdivision where you have to wheel your trash bins to the foot of the driveway & your mailbox is right next to the driveway at the curb). DSiL (forgetting the day) put the trash out the night before (as do most folks). Well come the morning of Nov 1, there was trash strewn all over the neighborhood (many had forgotten the day) & all the mailboxes had been knocked off their posts (requiring new ones in most cases). No one saw them but teenagers are suspected. (Her town, Naperville, has been cited as the best place to raise kids by the Census Bureau,)

Posted by: Donna at November 1, 2007 3:05 PM

Wee one looks soooooo adorable in that hat!

Whoops... I just noticed your spiders only have six legs!

Stupid kids for stealing the bowl and sign! :(

Posted by: Andrea at November 1, 2007 3:15 PM

Great costumes all around! The "Crusty Crab" hat is particularly inspired! :)

Posted by: Sarah at November 1, 2007 5:28 PM

Oh, that's so sweet of S! I'm sorry that so much of the rest of it was not fun. I can't believe that someone stole the bowl! That's so rotten. I always figure that rotten people will get their own behavior back at them - when they least expect it. I hope that they meet someone as mean as them and they realize that they were wrong. Meanies!

Posted by: Chelsea at November 1, 2007 9:41 PM

What a great bunch of kiddos! I love the little viking hat :)

One year I put a bowl of candy out while we were gone. I was afraid it would go fast so I wrote up a little diddy saying there was a camera recording them. Wouldn't you know it, when I got home 2 hrs. later my bowl still had more than half of what it started at. Haha :)

Posted by: Liz at November 1, 2007 10:07 PM

Aren't you so proud when your kids are sweet to other kids, without being prompted? It's a nice reassurance that you're doing something right! At least, it is for me!

Posted by: Dorothy at November 2, 2007 8:59 AM

Ha ha, Helene, I was wondering what you'd say about the Swedish thing! ;0)

Everyone, Helene is the Viking expert. She's from Norway, if you hadn't guessed. Wink, wink. If you want to learn about Vikings check out some of the really cool Viking things she does and makes on her blog! I asked her about the baby Viking hat when I first thought of the idea of making it for wee one's costume and she helped me get some ideas for what the rest of her outfit should look like. By the way, I didn't make the dress she wore - it was a hand-me-down that seemed to fit the style well.

Thanks Helene for helping out with my silly idea of a Viking Halloween! Sorry about the Sweden thing. Hee hee. :D

Posted by: ALISON at November 2, 2007 10:14 AM

DARLING Viking!!

Posted by: PainterWoman at November 2, 2007 8:14 PM

DARLING Viking!!

Posted by: PainterWoman at November 2, 2007 8:14 PM

Those pictures produced the highest squeal ever on the cute-o-meter! I think Mom deserves some of that candy!

Posted by: Dava at November 3, 2007 10:56 AM

Hey, what's wrong with Sweden??? I think you look lovely and some of the Vikings came from Gotland in Sweden... 8P (this coming from and American of German ancestry who just lives in Sweden).

Posted by: Sandy at November 5, 2007 3:34 PM

Love, Sweden, love Norway, love all those crazy Scandinavians! Just having a little joke with Helene is all. ;0)

Posted by: ALISON at November 5, 2007 4:48 PM

Your little girl looks really cute with that viking hat! It's a great idea!

Posted by: Noémie at November 6, 2007 6:39 AM