Halloween 2016!

Halloween 2016....

This face sums up this child to a tee!

Because we knew we would have a busy day leading up to trick-or treating, we opted to carve pumpkins before heading to Portugal. Of course, this wonderful tradition always seems leave someone grumpy. Since we kept it simple last year and that seemed to make things go a bit more smoothly, we opted for the same approach this year.

Both girls sketched their faces and we were on to gutting. Lo dug right in scoping the goo while Annelyse was completely put-off and disgusted by the entire process. I even recall at one point, announcing in a very loving, memory-making, mom voice... "this is supposed to be fun... why are we not having fun?!?" Both of course just laugh, because I have little to no credibility and can't truly be taken seriously with pumpkin mush all over me as I try to take pictures of our precious memories.

Sticking to their God-given personalities, Lo basks in the glory of being the one who is getting lots of positive reinforcement by chucking pumpkin seeds all over creation while Anna reluctantly takes small handfuls of pumpkin squish mixed with seeds and delicately places handfuls on the table (instead of the garbage can directly in front of her) with a sour look and spite in her eyes.

Success!

"I'm a pumpkin monster!!!"

Loving every minute!

"Eww... can you do this part... it even stinks!!"

Totally disgusted... I cleaned up this little pile next to her at least a dozen times... No clue why she wouldn't chuck the seeds in the "bin" directly in front of her. Probably her way of torturing me as payback for torturing her.

Annelyse, you look like you really love carving pumpkins!!!

Me: "If this is so gross, we won't do it next year"
Annelyse: "You know we are going to carve pumpkins next year"
Me: "Watch it Sass"
Annelyse: Coy grin because she knows she is right...

The nerve... dirtying these precious hands in the name of holiday traditions.

This is so fun... I think I deleted 563 photos from this wonderful memory-making experience! At least we were able to fake it for one good one... I have found that I am beginning to like the outtakes much more through writing about our experiences.

Happy to be gooey!

Pretending to have fun for the camera and also putting the gunk in the correct place!

After lots of scoping, whining, complaining and wiping pumpkin crap off all of Mr. Hugh's furniture, we were on to carving. Of course, the girls find this the perfect opportunity to reverse roles. Lo becomes extremely frustrated because she can't get the "saw" to work right nor can she stay on the lines that we drew.

Even with lots of encouragement and letting her know it doesn't have to be perfect, they are supposed to be scary and ugly, we end with a child pouting on a chair. Annelyse on the other hand, loves the fact that we let her use a knife and goes to town on her hand-drawn design. Also secretly loving the fact that she has one-upped her sister.

"I like this part much better"

One happy, one pouting... welcome to my life.... we can't have it all!

" I can't do it... I don't like pumpkin carving"

Thank you Jesus... somehow we managed to end with two carved pumpkins and 4 smiling faces!

The school hosted a really great Halloween party this year! The girls were excited for all of us to dress up and decided on a family costume!

WhooHoo... Pinterest backfires again! While looking for Halloween costumes, the girls found a picture of a family dressed up as the characters from the movie Despicable Me.

Obviously this was hilarious and we needed to recreate it. Russ had the honor of being Gru and completed his outfit with large pillows stuffed into his coat and a long, crooked nose. The girls and I where the three orphaned sisters, Margo, Edith and Agnes. We did have fun finding all of the accessories to make the outfits as close to the characters as possible. I am now the lucky owner of Red Converse shoes, which the girls constantly ask if I want to wear out. Needless to say those will be disappearing quickly.

Agnes and Edith

"Gru"
The girls wanted him to shave his head and his beard... no such luck... they had to go with hipster Gru.

Shortly before the party, Annelyse decided she didn't want the parents dressing up with them and was afraid nobody would know who she was... Too late for Anna, we were already committed and what a surprise, people did know who we were!!!

Dancing the night away... we had as much fun as they did! The kids got a huge kick out of the parents busting a grove and a bunch of us mom's got a kick out of teaching the kids the Macarena!

Annelyse's BFF Zellie, from France

Lo's BFF Sophia from Denmark. Sophia is the youngest in the class, so Loralye being the little mother that she is, has taken to Sophia and takes really good care of her. We often have to remind her that they are the same age... to which she replies, "No, I am 4 1/2 and Sophia is only 4"

Having the time of their little lives!

Fast forward, two weeks to our return from Lisbon... after landing in Dublin we made a bee-line for home to start laundry and prepare for one of the best nights of the year!

Of course we arrived home to find our precious pumpkins had become very mushy despite the fact that I have slathered them in Vaseline to prevent rotting. BTW, that little tip didn't seem to work for us. Without any indication, the Halloween competition between the girls quickly started again unbeknownst to us...

Upon entering the veranda, with arm-fulls of suitcases, souvenirs, baby-dolls etc... Loralye begins crying hysterically. I assume she was bit by one of the cats who live across the street and are behaving as though they haven't been fed since we left. Once I can finally get her to stop crying long enough to tell me what is wrong, I learn that the reason she is crying is because her pumpkin is MORE rotten than Annelyse's and you can no longer see it's face. Seriously....

In an attempt to keep our crazy train on the tracks, I remind Lo her sweet friend Sophia would be coming over soon to go trick-or-treating, so we need to move into the house and start to get ready. Crisis mitigated... for now anyway!

At the Halloween Party a few weeks back, I got a chance to meet a lot of the parents and kids the girls always talk about daily. One little girl Lo has gotten very close with is Sophia who's family is Danish, but most recently moved from Switzerland. I had asked her mom if they did trick or treating in either of those places and she said they hadn't. I had mentioned if they were interested in going with us, they were welcome and they were in!

Annelyse has a little friend named Zellie, who recently moved from Paris and speaks very little English. Nonetheless these girls have a heck of a time together! Seeing that neither of these families have ever trick-or-treated, we figured we had a skill and experience we could share...even if it was in a country we were not native to!

Annelyse and Zellie - Zellie planned to use her purse as her trick-or-treat basket... we grabbed bigger bags just in case and sure enough, they came in handy!

After countless questions about how much longer it would be until their friends came over, everyone finally arrived and we were off. We got a bit of a slow start seeing how the houses are organized in the neighborhood, as well as, when they all got up to the door, they stood there giggling, looking at each other as if they didn't know what to do. After a little prompting and encouragement, we got the who gang into the swing of things and were on our way! By the end, the whole gang was running up to the houses shouting... so funny though, how you don't realize there is a protocol until you have newbies tagging along. Several times, we had to tell the kids not to yell at doors (or ring doorbells) of houses that didn't have the porch light on.

It was sort of funny to watch kids who have never trick-or-treated before and also were sort of unfamiliar with the concept, wander up to these houses. When they arrived, I asked if they had brought bags and Zellie showed me her little purse and Sophia had a sandwich sized zippy bag. So funny to think something that is a tradition from the first year of childhood in the US and Ireland is such a foreign concept to others. One funny story from the evening was listening to Zellie's mom explain to Annelyse that she needs to speak "normally" to Zellie so she learns proper English. Annelyse is learning French in school and is doing quite well, however whenever she speaks to Zellie, she speaks English with a French accent... "Zellie, do you like dis?" "Is zdis fun, Zellie?" While it is hysterical to listen to, much like her mom, I am not sure this is doing much for Zellie's English skills. Nonetheless, we all got a kick out of the two of them communicating in broken french/English and regardless of the language barrier, the universal language on Halloween was laughter and sweets... aka bon bons!