Halloween 2014

It's not Thanksgiving yet, so these pictures are totally still relevant, right? 

This year for Halloween we tried to go for "classic scary". It took much deliberation and there was a little bit of flip flopping involved to get it all worked out, but in the end I think they made for a fantastic and frightening bunch.

Harlow was, of course, around for last Halloween, but this was her first REAL Halloween. It was so fun to watch her figure out what this crazy holiday is all about. She was the picture of  cuteness in her witch costume that I very proudly threw together at the last minute.

We got plenty of these scowls before we got the smiles. Oh, how I love this little girl's personality. 

This was my secret weapon for getting cooperation from my little witch. A helpful phantom and a roll of smarties seemed to do the trick.

I couldn't get enough of her.

As I was figuring out what I wanted to do to make a "cute which" costume the one things I knew I wanted was a feathery hat. I was thrilled when I found a Halloween boa on clearance (definitely one of the perks of waiting for the last minute!) that was perfect for gluing onto her hat. I loved how it looked but I was unsure of how she would feel about such an imposing hat. To my surprise, not only did she tolerate it, but she insisted on it. The only fussing she did was when it would accidentally fall off. She must have known how adorable she looked in it. 

From cute to creepy. Reed insisted on being something truly scary this year. Some of his suggestions were a little too disturbing for me and I really don't like masks, so this was our compromise. I personally think he nailed it.

I made him smile for at least one picture.

He definitely enjoyed playing the part.

Reed wasn't the only one who enjoy playing the part. Ruby amazes me. She was going to be something else (I can't actually remember what.) but on a whim I suggested that she be the Bride of Frankenstein instead. I showed her some picture online and she was sold. I was actually quite surprised at how willing she was, especially after I showed her the wig she would have to wear.
I'm so glad I did suggest it, because I loved everything about her costume and was pretty proud that I was able to pull it off without making her look like a ghost.

Have a mentioned how much Ruby enjoys having her picture taken?

Max was back and forth on his costume the most. He really wanted to be something like Reed, but decided to be true to the animal-lover that he is. I personally think a bat is plenty scary.  This costume was all Sam. We were last minute getting everything ready this year and I already felt overwhelmed getting the other three together so I was super grateful that Sam took care of this one on his own. Once again I am amazed at Sam's sewing skills, given he only uses the sewing machine at Halloween. He even made button holes on the wings for Max to slip his thumbs through, What!??

Max desperately wanted a "flying" picture, but this was the best we were able to do.

We do a lot of fun things to celebrate Halloween throughout the month but for me, taking pictures of my kids in their Halloween costumes in my favorite. This year, Sam wasn't going to be around to help me wrangle them before trick or treating, so I had to count on Reed instead and boy did he come through. I was so proud of how helpful he was during what can sometimes be a frustrating endevor. Nothing like getting kids to cooperate and pose while you take "just one more" picture before they get to head out for trick of treating. They were all champs actually. (I'm sure that little prayer we said helped too.) 

One might think taking a billion pictures of my kids before trick-or treating would satisfy my need to taken any during the candy collecting festivities, but that would be false. I have more pictures from trick-or-treating, but those will have to wait for another night....hopefully before Christmas.