Halloween: Parties and Preparations

 My Mother-In-Law thinks I am one of those "Crazy Halloween People" and I argued that point with her.  I don't have any lawn decorations up and there are actually no Halloween specific decorations in my house... no NOT a "Crazy Halloween People"... but then I realized when I had 50 pictures to post on my blog about Halloween that took place over the course of the month (as opposed to say the usual half that amount of pictures I get up at Christmas), I may have to concede that I am a Half-Crazy Halloween People... and then I realized my family all dressed up together this year with a theme for our costumes... sooooo 3/4-Crazy Halloween Person?

I have broken the Halloween posts down into 3 parts.  This part is about the preparations and party foods that went on during the month.

Tanner started off the family theme costume craziness when he decided to be Harry Potter this year.  He had gotten into the books and couldn't put them down.  This is about the first time in the history of Tanner that I can remember him actually passionately wanting to be something for Halloween, so of course I was thrilled; add in my love for Harry Potter and it soon became a family affair!

And since all of the kids wanted to be Hogwarts students, I wasn't about to spend $20 a costume, so we brainstormed and figured out how to make our own.  We took a trip to the fabric store to buy fabric for scarves and I decided that this would be a great project for teaching kids how to sew, a skill I hope will be invaluable to my boys, as well as my girls as I intend to kick them out on a mission the second their butts turn 18.  Now they can hem their own pants, sew on buttons, and sew a sweetie a skirt someday (OK, maybe not really the last one).

Tanner really got into it and did an excellent job on his scarf.

I love that my boys all stick their tongues in the side of their mouth, (or hanging out of their mouths) when they are working hard on a project.  They get that from their dad!

Ian and Ashlyn also sewed their own scarves and an additional one for a sibling.

During the month we also had some friends over and made these cute Rice Krispy pops for a snack! 

7-Layer Spider Web Dip for a Halloween Party

And Mummy Pizza Bread for dinner

And this little monster had fun sampling some of our finer concoctions.  She apparently really likes chocolate.  She is going to LOVE trick-or-treating.