Trick or Treat!

Whoa! Halloween on a military installation is darn fun! We have never before lived in a place where we felt safe enough to trick or treat in. Although I've handed candy out in the past, there were always only a few kids trickling down the street. We always went to our church party anyway, so the kids didn't feel like they were missing anything.

But, trick or treating here on post is a big deal. Thankfully, the post puts a time frame on things so you don't have kids ringing your doorbell regardless of the time and whether or not your porch light is on--I may have gone all mama bear on some clueless teens a few years ago after I'd finally gotten my little ones to sleep. Ahem.

Casey took the kids out and I stayed home to man the candy. I sat outside the door on a stool--there was no sense even going back in the house as I had a steady stream of kids, it was so fun! Sooooo many kids! I bought over 300 pieces of candy, gave only one to each kid and ran out within an hour and a half. The best part was making the teenagers explain their "costumes" to me ;) Hey, you have to earn candy around here!

Army guys on foot, bikes and four wheelers patrolled the streets the whole time. It's just cool. So now ya know where the best trick or treating is and you can find an in for next year.

On to costumes!! I am too lazy to go look for these patterns in my stash and link them all, but I'm pretty sure they are all Simplicity. Maybe a McCall's or two. If anyone's desperate to know, I'll go check :)

This is a lot of pics. And they're all mixed together ... it's Friday and I told you, I'm lazy today.

I only made Kelby's hat, the rest I ordered on Amazon. The pattern for the Mario costume was so cheesy--it was elastic pants and then the top "overall" part was stitched onto a weird red top and it all Vel-croed together in the back. Dumb when you can just get real overalls. The hat instructions were wonky too, I did my own thing and it's cute :)

 Natalie was a Renaissance Princess. She took forever to make up her mind, but once Layla's costume and cape were done, she definitely wanted a twirly long dress too. I made her the cape from the Simplicity Merida pattern. This pattern is worth a buck just for the cape--we had some friends visit and Layla's brown cape got lots of play time by the boys and the girls!

 Layla somehow looks so grown up in these pics! What a beauty.

 The woods were perfect for her costume, haha. We made the bow out of a stick, obviously. I was not about to spend $27 for the Toys R' Us one that is sure to break. She was very understanding.

 I pulled out the clown costume I made a few years ago. The kids get so thrilled that I dress up every Halloween, it's so cute. I wanted to make a Cinderella costume, but my Christmas sewing list snagged my attention instead. Next year!

Now, what to do with all the candy? There's an orthodontist in town paying $2 a pound on Monday, but I really don't even want it around that long! Although, Casey hid it somewhere good this morning and so far, no one's asked for it.