The Barri (more than one Barrus): October 2014

We had just a wonderful holiday season. I know, I should be saying those words at the end of December, not the end of October, but there you have it. We've had a fun Halloween. Here are the highlights.

We got booed not once but twice in the same evening. We hadn't even had time to put out the sign that said we'd had treats. The kids were both delighted with two plates of goodies. Turns out we were booed by Ava and the Dudes, and then by somebody in the neighborhood. And I have a terrible confession. Although Brandt and Blythe were both very keen on booing others, we never actually got a treat put together and over to someone else. Seems cheap somehow. Two treats and no treating in return. I'm going to get over that guilt quickly. Done.

As usual, we had a DeMartini Cousin Party with all cousins in attendance and in costume. It was a beautiful day and we were able to be outside for several activities. We ate donuts off a string, and sort of off the ground too. The string kept coming untied or breaking, and the donuts kept plunging to the ground. No one seemed to mind enough not to eat their donut. What's a little grass when you have a glazed raised donut before you? Absolutely nothing, says Katherine unnecessarily.

We also did a goofy craft (I was in charge--not the best choice), played pumpkin bowling until the bowling pumpkin began to disintegrate, bobbed for apples, and had yummy/spooky treats. We took pictures of all the kids and enjoyed running around becostumed, and then went home on a sugar high. WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

It's Harry Potter

(less the glasses which he wouldn't wear and the scar which he wouldn't let me pencil on his forehead.)

Elsa

"Let it go! Let it go! Can't hold it back anymore!"

Luke as the ninja and Crew as Hulk.

Otherwise, everyone is recognizable.

I love that we have both Anna and Else.

Here with the addition of Thing One and Thing Two,

Milianna left and Victoria right.

Things are breaking down.

Even I can not pass up a glazed raised donut with a bit of grass.

The past four years, the Primary has sponsored a Halloween party for the children of the ward. With my presidency, we decorated the cultural hall, had many carnival type games, a cake walk, homemade root beer, and other fun stuff. The new Primary presidency was not going to do the party which made me sad. The kids LOVED it. But the second counselor in our bishopric is a party guy (and has four kids) and didn't want to see such a fun tradition die. So it became a ward activity organized by the Elder's Quorum. I had been lobbying for it to be a ward activity for several years, but our previous bishopric wasn't quite as party oriented. So, this year, everyone came (many in costume), we had a chili cook-off, lots of games and activities for the kids, and cupcake treats. It was really a fun activity, many people without children came, and I was happy to see the tradition we began carry on. Brandt, however, was not thrilled with the activity. Too many people in masks, not looking like themselves, and roaming around at large, far too easy to bump into. He spent most of the time sitting next to me and Kent at the table, trying to avoid people large and small dressed up. Halloween is not his thing.

Now follows several not very good pictures. I'm not sure I should bother posting them, but they do show the scope of the activity, so perhaps I'll leave them.

Here's our cute Blythe.

Halloween fell on a Friday this year, and there was much merry making (although it should probably be spookiness making) at school. Brandt and Blythe went in their costumes, both had class parties, and there was the every popular costume parade. Kent and I were at BYU salvaging some shelving we are putting in the garage (pictures to come later), but I dashed over in my grubbies for the parade.

Harry and Elsa on their way to school.

It was an incredibly warm day which made no one sad at all.

Costume parade pictures to follow.

Blythe as Elsa (there were 31 Elsas total).

Maggie as Snow White and Kassi as a cat.

I'm going to try and remember everyone.

Ms Medaris in the back

Back row: Felipe, Thomas, Daniel, William, Tagg, Cooper, Blythe, Summer, Ellen, Ryan, Lauren, Lexi, and Kina

Front row: Eli, Dax, Garrison, Evan, Maggie, Brooklyn, Elisha, Kassi

This was their scary picture.

I don't know everyone in Brandt's class.

Standing: Mrs. Lee, Joseph behind Abbie, Mateo behind Evelyn, Brighton, Josie, Avlee, David, Nicoli, Myra, Rowan, Jacob, and Kylie

Kneeling: Izaiah, Britton (the frog), Josh, Bridger, Kate, Umato, Abram, and Brandt

Sitting: Melissa, Greta (big G on her sweater), Julia, Ash (pink hat), Nuno, Anna (can't see very well), with Avery in the Batman shirt, Louisa, Dante (in front of Brandt), and Lisa in the very front

Their scary.

This morning when I went to rec center for spin, there was a sign that said certain parts of the rec center would be closed from 2:00 until late because of the Halloween party they were throwing. I misunderstood a bit and thought that meant that the Halloween party would begin at 2:00. This, in my mind, was perfect timing. We could get home from school, have a healthy snack, and then head down to the rec center for lots of fun Halloween activities, and we could count it as our field trip Friday. Turns out the activity didn't start until 5:00pm. We went down, I got wristbands and we got ready to go have fun with virtually no one there, only to be told that we were three hours early. Dang it! And of course, because the activity was presented as an option, it became a requirement in the children's minds.

So we went back. Right at 5:00 we arrived, and largely beat the teeming masses. There were still lots of people, but we did a craft, played some games, got a bunch of treats in a little bag, and spent about an hour. That was just enough time to kill before trick or treating.

Cake walk

The kids did a minion toss game and Blythe made all three shots.

She won Cheetos.

Blythe bravely agreed to participate in a food eating contest, not realizing entirely what that entailed. She ended up having to try to eat a small cupful of "eyeballs" as fast as she could. She was game until she put the first eyeball in her mouth and realized it was an olive. She rushed over to me asking where she could spit it out.

"Ew, gross," said Blythe.

The kids had their fortunes read.

Nothing too exciting to look forward to.

And then there was trick or treating. Our across the street neighbors, the Hills, do a hot dog roast every year, so we always stop and have a hot dog. Our contribution this year was ten gallons of homemade root beer. Remarkably, ten gallons was not enough. Brother Hill wanted one of us to stand around policing the cooler of brewsky, but that wasn't going to happen. If lots of root beer got spilled, so be it. Kent stayed home and distributed candy while I went around with the kids. It was warm enough that no one needed a jacket, and both kids lasted two culdesacs longer than they did last year. Strangely, even though they are getting free candy just for knocking on the door, they aren't super keen on the whole thing. Brandt was far more interested in joining Kent on the front porch and handing out candy.