We had a blast leading up to Halloween. Of course all the Halloween food. Yum! I need to get more creative with the other holidays, but I really can't help it this time of year! I also found out I might be a bit obsessed with pumpkin spice products. Hi, my name is Melanie and I'm a pumpkin spice-aholic.
We were going to carve pumpkins with the Elders, but it's been so snowy and cold, our pumpkins were completely frozen. We brought them in and they were seeping pumpkin juice all over and so wrinkly we couldn't carve them. Bummer! We painted a few from the pumpkin patch we left inside. Sydnie painted one and put foam shapes as a face on the other, Covey made a Frankenstein pickle pumpkin, and Lucy did some pretty designs on hers. We threw the rest away. Can't win them all. Squashy pumpkins!
Halloween morning, we woke up and got all dressed and had a mummy breakfast wrap full of scrambled eggs, cheese and bacon. Then we sent them off to school and I went to preschool. I had a fun time with our preschool class party! These kids are adorable. We did stations where we played a bunch of games, went over to the nursing home to trick-or-treat and then gave them the kitty pumpkin craft we made and sang songs for them, and then had some treats, a special Halloween story time, and made a craft. Sydnie got to go with her group downtown to a Halloween party. She dressed as a pink poodle for that one and wasn't too fond of getting a picture in it for me. ;)
I was able to go to the parade at the Elementary school. So many fun costumes, but in my opinion, our kids were the cutest! The teachers all dressed up as Care Bears, awesome! The kids had some great parties at school. Then Sydnie and I came home to make dinner and put a few finishing touches on things.
When the kids came home, we got everyone ready and went out on the town. We dressed up as the Presidents of the United States, past, present, and future. We did our Main Street trick or treat event but made it late by the time everyone was ready and only hit a few. We went over to the hospital and visited a few neighbors and friends. Then we had Ryerse award winning chili for dinner - lol! When Dave and I were first married and so busy working FT and going to school FT, we had a chili cook of with our ward and we had no time, so we threw some Stagg chili, a can of corn, and some pepper in the slow cooker. And we won! So that's our funny story and something we do from time to time now. Then Emma and Callahan went out with the Vanek kids, Alyssa and Liam and trick-or-treated the night away. The three youngers and I went to a local church for their harvest festival, which was so much fun! Lots of a games, a good atmosphere and tons of treats and prizes. Dave stayed home to pass out candy and had quite a few customers this year. We were surprised especially since it was pretty cold! We got home and read some Halloween books, checked out our goods, Emma and Cal traded candy (lots of peanut candy from Cal to trade), had scriptures and prayers and went to bed with sweet dreams. It was a great Halloween!
Dave dressed up as Richard Nixon. "If you take no risk, you suffer no defeat. But if you take no risks, you win no victories." His costume was the easiest. He already had his suit ready, we got a couple small American flags from our July decor box, and used a little baby powder to make his hair gray at the bottom and boom! Ready! No scandals here tough. Dave made a fun Nixon.
I dressed as one of my personal favorite presidents, Ronald Reagan. I wore Dave's cowboy hat, made a button that said "Reagen, Bush 84", wore a bandana and boots and pants we already had, and thrifted a cowboy type shirt. As I was putting on some "wrinkles" with black eye liner to get those signature wrinkle lines, Cov came in and said "Mom, why are you doing that? You have enough wrinkles already!" "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same." "Government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem." And how can we forget "Gorbachev - tear down this wall." Reagan tore down more walls than that during his presidency. He tore down stereotypes, he tore down poverty, he tore down divisions in governments. I hope I can tear down walls of hate, divisions, indifference, poverty, and sadness by the way I live and help others.
Emma was excited to dress up for Donald Trump. We found a set on Amazon for a wig, tie and hat for $12! Then we thrifted a cheap navy suit and she wore one of dad's white shirts. Of course we had to add the fake looking tan with cheap dollar store foundation. Worked great! Emma said a lot of people as she was out trick-or-treating wanted to take a picture of/with her. Some said things like "Yes! Trump 2020!" while others said things like "boo Trump!" Love him or hate him, he is doing some things to "make America Great again!" He is also doing other things that aren't so great, but so it goes. "Let's build this wall!"
Cal knew right away he wanted to be one of his heroes, Abraham Lincoln. We bought his set with the beard, hat and shirt, because it was super cheap and since my sewing machine was out of commission for most of the month. He really liked it! "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
Lucy at first wasn't big on this and was actually going to dress as a chicken but once she tried on her George Washington costume, she was so happy and said "Our founding fathers would be proud!" We made her powder wig together out of an old hat, felt and quilting batting. She also had the idea to make the US Constitution into a scroll as they had then. I recently listened to a podcast about George Washington. It is amazing what he did against all odds. God was truly with him and all during that revolutionary period to establish this country. Lucy has a fighting, feisty spirit and perseveres. “Perseverance and spirit have done wonders in all ages.”
Covey has loved learning about Theodore Roosevelt since we went to Teddy Roosevelt National Park a couple of years ago. We have gotten more than one books at the library about him and have watched Night at the Museum and he loves seeing him on that. For Cov's costume, we grabbed an old hat out of our dress up box and glued the one side up, thrifted an old Scout shirt (RIP Scouts) and cut it down to size and sewed it and added navy arm cuffs and glued on ornaments, and added gold buttons. Then we found some gold glasses and mustache for cheap. Roosevelt was a good man with a good heart and an adventuring spirit which is fitting for Cov. “Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.”
Sydnie is the future lady president. "Vote for me 2052!" We made campaign signs that read. This would be the year she will be 35 and eligible to run for POTUS. I made her a patriotic blazer out of fabric we already had, and we just threw clothes under she already had, a necklace she had, and we bought her some fake glasses from Claires, which was my favorite touch. We also made a ballot box and put our emergency stuff in there (duct tape, Emma's foundation, etc.). She told some people excitedly "I be lady president!" But she mostly cared about the candy and couldn't get enough. I sure hope the future belongs to good kids like her! With the way the Church Children and Youth programs are going, I am seeing how much faith the Lord has in the uprising generations. He has saved his best and they are going to do incredible things in their time.
Happy Halloween, and God bless America!
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