Sunday, October 24, 2010

A Very Scary Thought

This is a haunting story...it starts out one day in the not so distant past...Me:"I'm thinking about maybe doing a Halloween party this year"...silence.
Me:"I'm really thinking this is the year for another Halloween party..we didn't do one last year...remember?"...sound of Jack slumping in his chair, looking the other direction, hoping I will just go away. Me:"Yup, I'm definitely doing a party and you are invited along with 100 million of our closest friends and all our relatives." You probably know this, but eye rolling and lips pursing don't make any sound. But Jack, (God love him) pitched in and along with family and friends made this year's party a huge success. We changed things a bit as far as how we set it up and it flowed great, had many, many attendees, and much, much food, and best of all, tons of fun and laughter. The night had food set up in the decorated and spookified (new word) garage, haunted house, campfire, pinatas, trunk or treat (people decorated their car trunks, opened them up and handed out candy to all the kiddos who came by)one very funny and fun donut game, and then the ending had spooky stories up in the creepy woods...with a surprise axe murderer hiding in the shadows...It was spooktakular! The following are some of the cast of characters who came and helped us celebrate a holiday that lets kids be kids and adults be ridiculously crazy! I did dress up but never got a pic on my camera. I'm hoping to see one show up on another blog!

Lexi the cute princess is with her cousin Rachael who was dressed as Lexi's Dad from years ago...it's a long story, but they both looked great!
This time of year we have the real ladybugs flying everywhere, but here was the sweetest one of the night...Addy...who didn't look at me because I was dressed up as a gypsy and she didn't believe it was YaYa...really Addy, it's me!
I'm not sure what the name of the costume character is, but the cutie inside is the one and only Zeb! He came all the way from Toledo!
Cute toy story character Leisy!
I think clowns are scary. I've never liked clowns. But who could not love this little clown? Certainly not his YaYa...Loved it Cameron! You looked Marvelous Darling!
A Star Wars Storm Trooper showed up. I didn't get a pic of Taylor's parents and baby sis...They were Han Solo, Princess Leah, and an Ewok respectively.
The retro 1950's poodle skirt girl, Katie. Nice glasses!
Not everyone dressed up, but we still had to say the obligatory "Gee Driana, that's the scariest costume ever!" gag. Yes, YaYa is a dork.
The dessert table had some cute cakes with gummy worms, and tastey chocolate brownies and of course cut-out cookies. Every year I make the witches fingers. Couldn't pass up this party!
Everyone brought a covered dish to share and there was a ton of food. It was all so yummy. But if I had to pick the most creative, it would be these two snakes full of delish sandwich fillings. Boy was it good, colorful and theme appropriate! I need the recipe for that!
We had tables set up in the yard and the girls and boys from Church carved pumpkins on Wednesday night and brought them over for us to judge. We used them as centerpieces.
We have a permanent fire ring in the backyard, but since we were having the party gathering in the front of the house this year, I had Jack make a temp ring in the front. Some folks might be nervous about digging up their yard...not me. They guys always fill it in with the dirt and sod and today you wouldn't know it was there. Good Boy Scout trick.
A good Halloween event needs a haunted house. Craig and Jack took the task of setting it up. It has lights and sounds that made it a glowing beacon for all the little kiddos to run through, scare each other and laugh like crazy. Even the "old" kids loved it. I bought it a couple of years ago and even though it's only used occasionally, I love that thing!
After the pinatas and the "Trunk or Treat" was over all the older kids, and any adults willing and able, came to this starting point...notice the red splotches on the sign? Could it be blood??? They would soon find out!
My camera doesn't take night shots too well, but up this path we had tiki torches burning a guiding light for anyone brave enough to follow. Also in the trees we had balloons with glow sticks inside and ghostly faces painted on the outside hanging from tree limbs. Very effective! I headed back down to the campfire as the storyteller weaved her bloody tale and knew my mission was complete when all of a sudden loud screams of terror blew through the night to our ears...Awesome!
You two are just to smiley to be scary and too cute to ignore..Happy Halloween everyone!

17 comments:

Midge said...

How adorable, love your parties...and you too....wish we could have been there..Good job Kath and crew.....love the balloon and glow stick idea....mmmmmm

Donna said...

Great paahhhhhty!! You have an imagination that doesn't stop! Every bit was creative and fun! Everyone loved it!! Thanks "lumber-Jack" for helping you with such a fun event!!

Hope said...

what a fun post. you obviously had a great time.
I don't like clowns either but this one was the cutest! and the witches fingers are really creepy. Great job!

I love the creepy woods idea
thank you
take care
Hope

Stacy said...

It's not Halloweeen without a fun-filled evening at the Starkey's. We had a magnificient time. And since your blogger friend forgot her camera you may never get a picture of the gypsy costume....Kyle snapped a few pics for me on his phone, but no people no even our two.

Thanks for the evening we loved it!

Anonymous said...

What a great post. It seems so amazing to me - the effort and fun put into halloween. We don't even really celebrate it here, although it is becoming more common. I think we had one set of trick or treaters last time! My american sister in law tells me that her street gets closed off for the fun on the night!

Cheryl said...

Yguys so know how to party! Love the clown - gorgeous!

Wander to the Wayside said...

Wow, dorky yaya throws one hell of a party! Fun for young and old alike, and what awesome ideas - spookified garage and everything spooktacular to the nth degree. The best part of halloween is the little ones, and you certainly had them in spades!

Susan Anderson said...

I love a good Halloween party, and this one looks primo!

Our son's birthday is October 25th (today!), and we often made his b-day party a Halloween one.

What great times we had!

=)

Karen Whittal said...

We don't celebrate halloween, but it sure looks like a whole lot of fun I think we are majorly missing out on a whole new world of fun things to do........mmmmmmm maybe I'll be the first to throw a Halloween party... problem one no pumpkins at this time of year....... maybe you can ship me some............ looks like you all had a fantastic time.

Grandma Yellow Hair said...

Donna is right you have the best imagination. Love your party and glad it was a huge success. I could just picture your hubbies face as you planned it. hahaha
Love
Maggie

Donna said...

Yea, I can picture Jack's face too...ha! But I'm commenting now because you ALWAYS make me laugh...this time it was reading your comment on Maggie's blog,....about the computer...? Ha! (me too!)

Mrs Catch said...

What a great party. Love those creepy woods and the yummy, themed food.

Halloween is being celebrated more widely in Australia now, but didn't exist when I was a child. I think it's good fun and a chance for the neighborhood to get together.

Kids start knocking at my door early in the night with their lolly bags. But we're ready. A favourite trick is for one of my kids to stand under the stairs and yell BOO as the trick-or-treaters come up to ring the door bell. Hope no-one ever falls off!

Christina said...

I LOVE this! It's super creative and, most importantly, fun! I love Halloween. I wish we could have teleported there for the day to have some spooky fun. I'm so glad Craig and Amy's family came to join in on the fun. I'm just a little jealous that's all! Happy Halloween Kathy!

Nezzy (Cow Patty Surprise) said...

I want to come!!! What a fun and creative party. You can tell everyone had a great time...just look at the smiles on those 'spooks'!!!

God bless ya'll and have a wonderful day!!!

Bernie said...

What a great post and such a wonderful blog. So glad you came to visit, it gave me the opportunity to meet you.....:-)Hugs

CHERI said...

Precious, precious costumes! Next year, invite me. It looks like tons of fun.

Rose said...

sorry just got to see your post . wild week. great photos. this is such a fun time of the year. rose