Spooks!

I don't remember having a scary costume for Halloween, ever.  What I do remember is Halloween being a creative and silly holiday, for which my family would choose absurd costumes and create them out of cellophane and duct tape.  My mom never disappointed, and everyone pitched in.  We painted pictures and cut boxes to make a bar of soap, drop of water, grocery bag full of food, or lollipop princess, to name a few.  Naturally, I was set on creating this same kind of memory for my own kids.  The homemade costume, while unappealing to some ages (I distinctly remember certain years wishing I could have a plastic mask and poncho like all the other kids), is an art.  

Needless to say, I have embraced the custom fully.  I did not, however, anticipate having such an exacting child to please.  Abigail is serious about Halloween.  Both at the age of two and three she decided the day after Halloween what she would be for the following Halloween.  At two she was Princess Aurora…but that's the year she came to understand that Halloween is for scaring.

Her favorite part of the pumpkin patch 2012

Fully covered in candy with her best friend, Bruce the clown, who pulls his own head off while cackling

So the next year she decided to be Ursula, the villain from her favorite Disney movie.  She took the job very seriously.

Holding Ariel's voice in her necklace 2013

That year Elijah was a shark, I was Vanessa (Ursula's human alter ego), and Jake was Flotsam and Jetsam (her henchmen).  Jake's favorite quote from the night is Abigail saying to me, "Come on, Vanessa, let's go kill Ariel".

 So I knew that Abigail wanted to be Maleficent long before the Angelina Jolie movie came out, and despite the current popularity, there were no costumes on the market that would please my little actress, even if I did want to buy one.  She told me that her dress needed to be super long, with three collars, horns, a scepter, red finger nails, and a ring that is gold and black.  No tutu in purple and black with horns on a headband would do.

First costumed outing--the block party down the street--an event Abigail anticipates all year

 The week before Halloween Abigail called her Aunt Michele and begged her to come and see her costume and Halloween decorations.  Of course, she was not denied, and seeing as Michele drove 6 hours to fulfill this request, she decided to go all out.

They went out to dinner and ice cream dressed like this on October 30th -- the Queen and Maleficent

Heading to the park to see if they could scare some kids 

Walking to Abigail's school for the morning costume parade 

 I actually did not want to dress Elijah as Maleficent's crow.  I did not envision it as a very cute costume, and he shouldn't have a second-rate costume just because she wanted him to be her sidekick.  I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to make an adorable little bird out of my adorable little man.

Cutest crow ever

All the kids were fascinated by Abigail's horns 

Happy on Halloween

Always running, or in this case flying

 By the time evening arrived Abigail was done being Maleficent.  She didn't want to paint her face again, and she considered going door to door as Elsa, like her two best friends from school (and half the population of little girls in the USA, I'm sure).

But I convinced her to give it one more go, mostly because I didn't have the opportunity to get even one photo of the two of them together.   Later that night she told me it was "the best Halloween ever", but I think she was just referring to all the candy she had in her bucket.

Elijah is very afraid of this witch decoration -- Abigail hugs and kisses her goodnight

Keeping his distance

He's not afraid of this witch!

While I put a good amount of thought and effort into the small costumes, I usually scrounge around for the adults the day before Halloween.  I'll need to do better next year.  She wanted me to be Maleficent as a dragon, which would have been cool, since we were two forms of the same villain the previous year, but I did not have it in me to build a purple and black dragon for myself.  We settled on the half human/half animal minions that help Maleficent capture Prince Philip.  She calls them "yucky pigs".

Sincere happiness, trick-or-treating next door neighbors

Elijah tried to trade candy with those who were trying to give it to him

I knew at least a month before Halloween that my younger sister, Debi, would be hosting a day-after Halloween party in Redlands.  I kept making mental excuses not to go…it's a 2 hour drive, the kids will be tired after staying up late, the weekend will be over before I get a chance to clean my house.  Then I realized that I truly missed my big family and decided to send out a family SOS.  Come to Redlands before the party to have a family party, pretty please.  It worked.

Cousins having fun

Who wouldn't drive 4 hours to see this face

 The kids dressed up and paraded down the street, which is a classic mom Neff activity.  She loves to organize kids and create memorable moments.

Sharing her scepter with her cousin Miles, who is wearing a homemade oompa loompa outfit

I love that Ethan, at 10, walked in the parade (even if he didn't have his costume)

Thanks to Debi (or should I say Varuca Salt) and Dan for letting us crash at their house all day despite the fact that they were preparing to have 70 people over that evening

My baby did not want to parade--he was after the photographer

And here they are--the young crew of cousins (5 older ones missing, though 2 were inside with the adults)

Make a scary face 

Make a silly face 

Put your hands in the air (and little David's expression says, ok, but why?)

Elijah hanging with the Neff men 

My sweet parents

 Drea and Debi put a lot of effort into games and fun activities for the kids.  Here are some fun pictures of Abigail guessing what she was touching inside the box (noodles were worms, olives were eye balls…that kind of thing)

Then the last box had my brother David's hand in it, to grab the kids.  Abigail was so NOT scared.  Love my girl.  She just looks him in the eye, as if to say, why are you grabbing me.

Vincent was also not fooled, and even said, "there's nothing in this one"

But Eveline got a little scare

Happy Halloween!!!