THE ADVENTURES OF TEAM DANGER: Ninja Halloween

My floors are done. But the inside of my house is still in disarray, so we'll keep your suspense for a few more days and bring you an update on Team Danger's Halloween, circa 2011.

The boys were Ninjas this year. It wasn't my costume of choice, but considering Alex wanted to be the Scream ghost, an all black Ninja was an improvement. More than a few tears were shed by me at the realization that Alex has officially entered the age where Halloween is known as a scary event, and not a fun, pumpkin and scarecrow filled festival. Where did my little boy go?!

Ryan also wanted to be a Ninja. But he wanted to be a blue ninja, and the blue ninja costumes we found were not to his liking. So he ended up picking a Blue Power Ranger costume, and decided he would be a Samurai "ninja" Power Ranger.

On to the past ten days of Halloween celebrations...

We went to a Halloween party in our hood, at the house of one of Ryan's classmates. She also has a second grade older brother, and I have to say, I love how we have so many friends with kids the exact ages as ours. Beau and I grew up four years apart (plus the whole boy-girl division) and rarely had any overlay in friends, so this is nice for the boys.

Ryan was especially pleased to find his kindergarten BFF, Giles, at the party. Giles was there with his second-grade sister, as well. We've already had playdates with Giles, and Ryan talks about him all the time. The boys had fun bobbing for apples, and going on the Haunted Trail that comprised their entire backyard.

I made these oreo spiders to take to the party. I had gotten the idea from Pinterest, and it looked nice easy. Turns out that its hard to find the little licorice legs I needed, and that Twizzlers don't break apart very well. So it took me over an hour to produce twenty of these babies.

On Friday, the boys had Dress as your Favorite Storybook Character Day at school (since apparently Halloween is not an approved upon school holiday. Kinda sad.) Against all my great advice and suggestions, Alex went dressed as a Jedi Knight, and Ryan went dressed as a soccer player.

And yes, if you are counting, this is the second time this year he has gone dressed up in 'costume' as a soccer player to school.

Friday was also the day we had trick or treating at work. Team Danger didn't come down this year (since they were on their way to Waco for the Zoo Snooze campout with the Cub Scouts). But I was vastly entertained by one of our investigators and his Star Wars family.

And I have his official 501st Legion business card should I ever need a storm trooper or Darth Vader to appear at a birthday party. :)

On Sunday, we finally carved our pumpkin.

We usually carve more than one pumpkin, but with all the home renovating going on, we've been way short on time and I'm sad to say Halloween has taken a back seat this year. So at 6:30 pm on Sunday night, we carved out an hour of time.

Monday evening, the extended Swanson family came over to join us for trick or treating. Alex's friend Travis and his mom, Carolyn, also joined us, injecting some missing Star Wars into our Ninja Halloween.

Grandma Chris was a big blue LEGO. It was a very cute costume, and I know it meant a lot to the boys - especially Ryan - that she dressed up as their favorite toy.

Elaine and family were pirates,and Baby Matthew was a parrot.

I am not a big costume person, so I went with Cat in the Hat. Simple, and I got to wear jeans, a black t-shirt, white gloves, a pinned on tail, a red Christmas bow, and of course, the hat, which meant I didn't need to do anything for my hair. Bonus points all around. The cat nose I had made my glasses fog whenever I breathed, so it was quickly discarded in exchange for some eyeliner whiskers.

Carl and his dad stayed behind to hand out candy to the trick or treaters while I headed out with everyone else. I just adore our neighborhood on Halloween evening. We have our resident haunted house about two blocks down, and the trick or treaters just flock to our streets. There are so many kids running around, its like I'm living in the middle of a Norman Rockwell painting. Pure happiness.