TBnJ

Ok, I realize that the retailers think that Halloween began weeks ago, but around our house, we started celebrating this past weekend. I managed to finish sewing J and B's costumes on Thursday. T's was ready to go last July, thank heavens. Daddy-o and J finished gluing flowers and ribbons on J's hat and purse on Saturday before Maker Faire. I am really happy with how J's costume came out, and so is she. It looks a lot like the "real" Nellie's. I'm sure J'll get a lot of wear out of the dress, too, because she likes it as a dress, not just as a costume.

On Sunday, we had a Halloween party for many of T, B and J's friends. We had a far better turnout than any of the birthday parties this year, and as a result, the party was one step short of chaos but tons of fun. Loud would be a great way to describe it.

The weather was stunningly beautiful and almost felt like fall. It was in the 60s in the morning and 70s in the early afternoon by the time the party broke up. Occasionally there was a gust of wind that sent the crafts and paper goods flying everywhere so adults would start chasing them. We were using orange sheets as tablecloths on several picnic tables, and we had to hold those down with four rocks on each. But it was sunny and comfortable out. Today, the weather is in the 50s with rain and gusts of 30-40 mph. I'm so glad that storm front came in the day after our party!

We didn't have any structured or highly organized activities, but we had various craft stations set up (all from Oriental Trading Company, also the owner of the photos below). The kids all made paper bags decorated with Halloween stickers. They tried to make the necklaces pictured at right, but the yarn needed scotch tape (which I didn't realize or bring) to make the ends small enough to go through the beads (like on shoelaces), so that wasn't quite successful. We've got a bunch left over for next year's party. The moms had lots of fun making the pumpkin window hangings at left. They come out really cute, but they require a bit more coordination than most of the kids had. We also had foam mobiles to make. They came with really long strings that needed to be cut. I also didn't realize that and neglected to bring scissors, so creative parents were using keys to cut the threads. It's amazing how many of the folks there used to carry pocket knives on their keychains (including Daddy-o) but no longer do either due to their young kids or post 9/11 airport security.

We had the cupcakes and carrot cake pictured in the recipe entries below. We're not sure, but we think T and B had four slices of cake and/or cupcakes each. We think. J said she had two cupcakes and lots of corn chips. None of them bothered to eat the sandwiches we brought for their real lunch. They were too busy doing and crafting and playing.

We had the parachute there and that got used a bit with beach balls on it. The bean bag tosses weren't really popular this time. The scooter boards got used a lot, though. There was a girl at the party who is about T&J's age who has a twin brother. At one point, I looked over and T and this girl were using the scooter boards on a small hill like sleds. I don't think they were too successful. They came back to the pavilion and did a bunch more scooting on the concrete and under tables. Then T asked me hesitantly if they could take the scooters on the playground. I told him no, I didn't think that was a great idea. A few seconds later I went back and asked T why they wanted to take the scooters on the (rocky) playground. T said, "We want to use them on the slides." Uh, no. I told the other twin's mom about this plan, and her response was the same as mine. Not a good idea.

Overall, we had a great time. We were beyond exhausted when we got home and most of us napped or slept well last night. TBnJ look forward to continuing the Halloween celebrations next weekend at various Austin activities.

Labels: in Austin, kid sayings