With the work we're having done on our front entrance, we weren't sure if we'd even have steps for Halloween this year. As many of you know, Halloween is my favourite holiday (yes, I consider it a holiday) and I was disappointed at the thought of missing it. I'm actually a little crazy for Halloween and Corey often compares me to Claire Dunphy from Modern Family. Figuring we had nothing to lose, we asked our contractors to make a big push so we could greet kids at the door.
We really didn't know if they'd be able to finish and we were totally unprepared. We hadn't even bought a pumpkin this year and had planned to just leave a bowl of treats on the driveway with some glow sticks around it and a little sign! We arrived home from visiting friends at 6:00 and were pleasantly surprised to find steps leading up to our new door! We're still waiting in the railings but this was enough to give us a proper Halloween.
We hastily threw up some spiderwebs (Which we got from friends last minute) and dug out our strobe light, some scary music, a black light and our fog machine. I almost teared up when Corey even found Maurice (our skeleton) in the basement. It's not Halloween without Maurice!
It wasn't bad for a quick last-minute job. Next year, we're turning the mudroom into a haunted house!
We sat outside so that kids didn't have to go up the steps because I was nervous about the railing. Once again, we were one of the scary houses and I loved hearing the kids working up the nerve to walk up the driveway through all the fog! I love being the scary house because I always feel like when people make Halloween too tame for the little ones, we take away some of the magic from the older kids. When really young kids hesitate at the bottom of our driveway, I usually call out to them "Don't worry. We're not scary" and usually, they walk up to us looking so brave and proud of themselves! We also make sure to give out good treats to make their efforts worthwhile. ;)
Although we didn't get a teal pumpkin this year (Check out the Teal Pumpkin Project if you're not familiar with it), I'm a big fan of handing out non-food treats. This year, we gave out play-dough, glow sticks, stickers, temporary tattoos and nut-free treats. This was the first Halloween in years that hasn't been freezing cold and raining hard and we thoroughly enjoyed it! Rudy was pooped after visiting friends so she didn't visit any houses. We'll see... Maybe next year. I know lots of people take babies out but Rudy really needs to be in bed early or she gets cranky! There were a couple of babies her age who came to the door and I even managed not to laugh when a mom asked me if she could take a couple of treats for a VERY young baby in a stroller. ;)
I really enjoyed seeing all the kids in costumes and even the teens in regular clothes who collected treats in backpacks. I always remind Corey that if I can love Halloween this much at 33, it is perfectly reasonable for a teen to want some free treats! What a fun night! What did you do?
