Halloween 2016: Recipes and Costumes and Getting Better

Halloween came quickly this year.  

Who am I kidding?  I don't really do much for Halloween.  It isn't my favorite holiday.  Growing up, though, my mom made us the best costumes.  There wasn't anything she couldn't or wouldn't do. And, that was fun.

Fast forward to today.  I let my kids pick out what they wanted on Amazon.  Ha!  And, they'll probably continue to do that, or something of the sort, for the rest of their Halloweens here.

Ohhhhh well.  I do, however, love seeing everyone else's awesome/creative ideas.  

Instead, we make food.  This year, we did these little rice crispy pumpkins (using this recipe - the salt makes it!), and the traditional caramel apples.  And, guess who ate most of everything?  Yes, me.

Maaaybe the use of these two candy items didn't quite make them look pumpkin-like, BUT, they tasted great!

The kids love to bake, can you tell?

Caramel apples were up next...

We had a bit left over!

And, then John Paul thought it would be funny if his head were an apple.

And, our characters...3 ninjas, a strawberry (with a big head), and a pig!

I coached the kids a bit before we went out this year.  "Say thank-you."  "Don't ask for more."  "Be kind."  You know the deal.  Anyway, I'm here to tell you, things do get better.  One year you will wonder what happened to the screaming child who last year said "yuck" when someone offered him/her a popcorn ball.  You'll be amazed that even if they don't have every piece of their costume on, no one cares, and they still have fun.  You'll realize that five houses might be as good or better than going to fifteen.  And, some years by the grace of God, your kids won't wake up with the stomach bug the next day.

This year...it was a good year.  The kids loved it.  Genevieve got to cut out early.  There was no crying.  There was no rudeness.  And, only after I did this, did things go bad.  But, it might have been worth it.

Hope you had a happy Halloween!