Halloween Day 2014

Little Red Riding Hood and Werewolf Boy headed to school today before the rain started.  

 Serafina ran into her friend Bella who recently transferred from her school to Laurelwood royally screwing up my carpool.  Bella is Elsa.  It was hands down the most popular costume today.

 The principal announced they would be following the rain plan for today and not having the usual parade on the blacktop.

 Instead, classes waited in their classrooms while younger classes paraded through and then the class would join the end of the parade.  The kindergarteners came through Leo's room and they all looked at him a little worried.  It was pretty cute.

 Taking picture of the kids parading though the classrooms wasn't working out very well for me.  There were lots of parents crowded around and the lighting wasn't great.

 Here's a little video of Leo going from one class to another with his inspiration song, Thriller, playing.

Another problem with not having the proper parade is not being able to see all the costumes at school.  The older kids have especially elaborate and creative costumes.  Many of them are homemade and really awesome.

Here is a trio of Minecraft.  I'm not sure what Minecraft is beyond the fact it is a video game.

You also don't get to see all the teachers pose together.  Each grade level's teachers organize costumes around a common theme.  The first grade teachers were a sentence, but since they didn't get to line up together, all you saw were pieces.  Leo's teacher was walking around with a comma around her neck.  Forth grade teachers were all breakfast foods and this pregnant teacher made a very cute fried egg.  

 The big kids came through Leo's room and I couldn't get any decent pictures.  I did manage to at least capture this awesome cotton candy kid and the kid behind him looking like he's about to take a bite.

 Serafina very patiently spent the morning at Leo's school waiting for the parade to wrap up.  Leo wanted me to be there when it was over so I could help him change into his regular clothes.  Once that was done, we headed to Serafina's class.  She was there in time to play some Halloween bingo.

 They had some snacks.

 And posed for a class picture.

 There was a break in the rain, so they went outside for a parade with the kindergarten classes.

 Serafina's teacher dressed as Pete the Cat, which is a class favorite.

 Here's the TK class on parade.

Since there are only two kinder classes plus the TK, they were able to do another loop.

 One more group picture.

 We picked up Leo in a downpour and he had a blue tongue from a lollipop.

We are resting a bit (well, I am) before we start our evening activities.  I'm not sure if it will be raining, but we are headed to a party and then if it's dry, the kids will trick or treat.  Serafina is coming down with something but we are pretending it's not happening until after Halloween.  Nothing stands in the way of Halloween fun in this house - no rain, no swollen tonsils, nothing!

Everything Orange

The kids were happy to wake up to the news that the Giants won the World Series, so they wore their Giants shirts to school.  

 Silly faces.

 After lunch, I scooped out the pumpkins.  I hate that part.  I'm not a fan of genetically modified produce, but if they scientifically engineered a seedless, gut-free pumpkin, I would pay top dollar for it.
After swim lessons, the kids had pumpkins all prepped for carving.

 The kids did some of the carving themselves, but I did assist.  Here's Leo's.

 And Serafina's.  She included freckles and hair.

We met Tom for dinner at a new shopping center and the Giants' pride was on display.  The kids were amazed by the orange fountain.  

 When we got home, we lit up the pumpkins.

And I prepped the orange "pumpkins" for Serafina's class tomorrow.

Back to Dance

I went to help in TK today like I do every Wednesday.  Many of the kids were enjoying free choice playtime, but some were still working on a craft.  I was happy to find Serafina working on her project since some of the feedback I received from the teacher is that Serafina needs to take her time and try to do her best work.  

 I was proud of her for not rushing through the activity and the result was this cute candy corn.

 Since gymnastic is over, Serafina decided to go back to dancing.  Today was her first class a new studio.  She was very excited.

Leo had to get in on a picture.  He told me he liked gymnastics but he didn't love it and he's happy to be having a little break.  We get to hang out while she's at dance class and I'll set up some playdates for him on Wednesdays.  

 She jumped right in and did a good job of following along.

A little video of her leap.  She doesn't get too high but her legs are nice and straight.

Double playdate

Today both kids had friends over.  Leo brought Kyle home.  They came walking out of class hand-in-hand, which was very cute.  

 Serafina had Kembrie over.  She's still one of the sweetest little girls I know.

 Serving popcorn turned out to be a bad idea.

 There is usually some let down and crankiness when the guests have to go home, but today that was tempered by a little Halloween package from Auntie Sheila.  It included these retro-cool wax fangs.  The kids thought they were pretty fun.

Halloween costumes and photos

Even though Leo was thoroughly frightened of the Michael Jackson "Thriller" video after he watched it, he also became fascinated by werewolves.  He decided a while back that's what he wanted to be for Halloween.  He was unwavering.  I knew I could make most of the costume, so I hit the store for craft fur and the garage sale for clothes.  

 I bought the hat and nose because I wasn't sure I could do the make-up very well and I knew for sure I didn't have enough energy for a hat.

 It was Leo's idea to have some rips in the jeans with fur poking out.

 When we were looking at werewolf costume photos for inspiration, Serafina spotted Little Red Riding Hood and decided that's what she wanted to be.

 I bought the hood and used regular clothes for most of the costume.  I dusted off the sewing machine and made the apron though.

 Dollar bin gloves with craft fur and foam claws.

 If I never see another piece of craft fur for the rest of my life, I won't complain.

Don't they look cute?

 We've always gotten together with our friends for a pre-Halloween playdate and photo shoot.  With Katie and her kids off in Kansas (they flew out today, in fact), it was just Jenn's kids and mine.

 Leo got into his part.