Halloween 2011

We started off our 4-day Halloween extravaganza with a little pumpkin painting on Friday. Well, some of us painted pumpkins.

And others of us painted our FACES! Such a boy. 

The Saturday evening before Halloween we went to a special Halloween dance recital being put on by another dance school in town. It was terrific and everybody watched with rapt attention!

I made way too many pretzel and white chocolate ghosts for a bake sale at Sterling's school and no doubt spent more money on purchasing supplies than they made selling them. Oh well, it was for a good cause, right? 

On the Sunday night before Halloween we attended a trunk-or-treat hosted by our church. 

The kids had great fun seeing their friends and even some classmates dressed up for the festivities! 

It was a great safe way for the kids to load up on some loot. You know, in case they weren't already going to be in a sugar coma by the end of Halloween. 

Of course, there was a petting zoo with some little Shetland ponies. Or hey, that's what I think they are. I could be totally wrong. They could be overgrown dogs, I suppose.  

Sterling found another horse to sit atop. Must find therapeutic riding for that boy. 

Not to be outdone, Ella had to sit on the horse too.

Two pretty princesses in their dresses and tennis shoes. Love it.

I'm so sad I didn't get a single good picture of Ella and Sterling with their besties, Maddox and Lucy. This picture will have to do with half of my duo. 

Ugh, apple bobbing. In cold and flu season. Who thinks this is a good idea? Surely not anyone over the age of five. 

Yuck, yuck, yuck. I can just see the chills and fevers coming on. 

On stage for the annual costume contest. 

Oh my word, this may have been the funniest moment of the entire night. The church had a chili dinner for all in attendance at the trunk-or-treat. After everyone had finished eating, Sterling quietly slipped away. I watched from afar as he made his way back to the serving tables, not for more oreos, but for bags and bags of chips. We were in stitches when he came back to the table with arms loaded with chips.

On Halloween my good friend Tracy and I (I'm linking her blog because I think she should post more and enlighten the world with her humor and her kid) prepared a special Halloween snack with the kids in Sterling's class. We made Frankenstein cups with green pudding and crushed oreos. We let all the kids have at it with a meat tenderizer and a bag of cookies. A true Halloween fright, trust me. ***edited: Ugh, I was just viewing this post to make sure it looked okay, and I saw Sterling's left hand in the picture. When I describe how seizures destroy muscle tone, that's exactly what I'm talking about. Notice how the hand not being used curls up very unnaturally in an attempt to provide strength to his opposite side? I always describe his weakness and low muscle tone to people by comparing it to when you pick up a heavy suitcase you may list to the opposite side in an attempt to balance yourself. That's basically what Sterling's muscles do for even minimal tasks like coloring. Sorry to be a downer, I just wanted to make sure I noted that, so perhaps one day, when his epilepsy nightmare is nothing but a faded memory, if I look back on this blog, I'll remember my poor boy's struggles. And know just how far he's come. 

I think the finished product was a hit. 

By the time the actual evening arrived, it felt like we'd been living Halloween for months! Off we went to beg for treats from the neighbors. Such sweeties!

I love this picture. I love how the light is falling just on Sterling. 

He loved his "race car driver clothes". These pictures actually depict the fourth day in a row wearing his costume. He adored it. 

Finally, a nice picture of the foursome!

Storming the neighbor's house.

We'll take it by force if necessary! 

Onward my friends! There is more candy to be had!

After trick-or-treating our block, we joined some friends across town in their neighborhood for a group trick-or-treating. Chaos. 

They warned us that their neighborhood went all out for Halloween, and they weren't kidding! Seriously, lines for candy? What? I have never seen so many trick-or-treaters in my life! And the homeowners were insane! Seriously, we're talking sound systems, runways for costume contests, haunted house (or garages), you name it! Craziness! The kids had fun. Then they were over it. Now we have candy pouring out of our ears. Please no one offer my children anything sweet for at least another 6 months.