Halloween Sure Has Changed!

Halloween sure has changed since I was a kid! Vinny and I were talking about how we'd get done with school, come home, change into costumes, and wait until it was starting to get dark and head out trick or treating...the one thing that has not changed is the sorting of candy after the trick or treating!
Our kids have so many fun things to do around Halloween time...they started their weekend off on Friday night with a Festival at our church-lots of games and candy! Nick actually wore some of Vinny's clothes from when he was in the Marine Corp for his costume!

At our church, all corralled for a picture!

Then, on Halloween morning the kids started unwrapping the caramels for the apples...with sleep in their eyes!

They had a great time decorating and covering the apples.

The finished apples

Vinny brought this to my attention...he said there may not be many traits he passed on to Nick, but this was one of them-laying out the clothes in anticipation!

We headed to Haunted Hallways at the high school for a round of games and candy to start the festivities...this was after a "no-nap" afternoon with Dom and G- (they were supposed to be napping, but they could not fall asleep!) The high school kids do a great job running the games and activities and we appreciate them spending their time in this way!

So of course the big deal was winning fish! FISH??!!! Luckily (for the fish) we had an empty fish tank at home from a not so successful experience with a Beta!

Even Dom won one!

Next we enjoyed the candy from the Sequim Downtown Merchants! We love walking along the downtown, seeing other costumes, visiting with friends.

Still in good spirits!

A big crew to keep track of...

A Marine and Indiana Jones

The Snow Princess and the Kitty

We encountered our friend Kinzley along the way...she was an oompa-loompa (from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)

Vinny's PE teacher carved this WSU pumpkin and gave it to Nick!

After dinner at our house the dads took the whole crew out for trick or treating in our neighborhood! We ladies got to relax inside and indulge in a little guilty pleasure called "Tim Riggins" (as in Friday Night Lights!) Heaven...

They did the first round by walking, and then they came back and all the kids hopped in the back of Vinny's truck (which was the highlight for them!) and headed out for the last round of the night!

Finally...the sorting and counting of the goodies to end the evening! This was just one room of sorters!

As I stated before-this was not my Halloween experience!

Houk's Halloween Bash

We dressed in our finest for the Houk Halloween Bash! We were soooooo excited to be able to make it this year. What a fun party- fun games, good eats, bonfire, midnight quad rides, dancing, dancing, dancing-my fave!!! I actually stayed up until 3 am- BECAUSE of the dancing! (and great company of course!)

All the girls! The first time we have all made it to the party! Cruella Deville, 80's girls, dirty street sign, Mario, pirate and beer can...what a wide-span of ideas!

Yeah- I got down with my husband!

Seriously-too much fun was happening!

The face-off! In the game of "Cups" (at least I think it was called that!) our team faced off against Marissa! (I think she actually picked us off one by one, and won the game!)

So happy Toni came to hang out!

As the night wore on, the costumes started dropping!

Loved dancing with Jared and Toni!

Nick, the Quarterback

This year Nick has really gotten into Flag Football- at his school in Shelton he plays on the JV team as the quarterback. He has even gotten in on some Varsity games and ran for a touchdown!
At this game his coach encouraged him to call his own plays-he did great!

Nick also plays in the NFL Flag league here in Sequim. We are lucky that he can participate when he misses half the games due to being in Shelton during the week.

This year, much to the disappointment of Nick and Payton they are on different teams- the Dads are coaching their teams. In the past Nick and Payton have been on every team together,with the dads switching off on coaching duty! Here they face off in a play- can you see Nick cracking up?

Well this picture just cracked me up- look at the hair!

All our boys-best buddies!

Pumpkin Carving Night 2009

Our three "pumpkins!"

Pumpkin head!

Just a small portion of our pumpkin seed/guts collection!

Ready to carve...Daddy is such a big help! Dom and G did do quite a bit of the cleaning out and carving by themselves this year though.

Carving away...the "old-timers"

Gooey hands!

Peace out pumpkin carvers!

Nick made a plan for his 30 pound pumpkin and it took quite a while to just clean out the inside! But he did it all by himself!

G's finished pumpkin

Dominic holding his pumpkin up for the "unveiling." With the lights off, each of the kids stood on the steps of the garage, holding up their pumpkin with a candle in it, showing their glowing pumpkin face for all to see! It was a fun moment for each one-while everyone cheered!

Hope took it upon herself to "organize" the guts from the seeds...thanks Hopie!

All of the pumpkin carvers

This night is one of our most treasured traditions with the Glassers and Langston clans! Our Fall would not be complete without this night. The kids added a new component to the night this year- The Haunted Bonus Room! OOOOOHHHH! The four older boys had us walk through the bonus room in the dark while they grabbed at our legs, arms...anything they could get and screamed spooky screams!

Such fun! Taco soup is always on the dinner menu and one of Kim's delicious desserts-she used apples that Hope had picked from a local orchard and it was soooo yummy!

We just got these cute letter blocks in on an order for the Barn Girl's Boutique...couldn't resist putting them up AS SOON AS I GOT HOME!