What are you going to be for Halloween?

Emmanuel and Reese were both stumped by that question this year.  You see, my boys are used to dressing up; in fact, they dress up about 4 days a week.  As I have written before, they take it to the next level.  They are constantly adding realistic accessories to their dress-up costumes.  So, the thought of choosing just one character to be on Halloween was unheard of...and so began the drama of Halloween.  For about three weeks prior to Halloween, I would start the day and say, "Who are you going to be today?  What do you think you want to be for Halloween?"  Everyday, they were somebody different.  

Thankfully, we had lots of Halloween playdates and festivals so that they could try out different costumes.  Playdate/Festival #1:   They both chose to be Army Men.  

Notice in the first picture they have on different rainboots.  We got them both Camo Rainboots and Umbrellas as a part of their Christmas present, but when I saw them in all of their camo for the playdate...I couldn't resist giving them the camo boots.  They definitely completed their little Army outfits. Notice that Reese has on a medal...they told me it's because he saved someone from danger.

This picture below was not a playdate or a festival...this is simply how we like to spend our Saturday mornings (Yes, he was definitely born in Nashville!)

Playdate/Festival #2:  Reese couldn't quite decide who he wanted to be...so he ended up being a combination Spiderman--Buzz Lightyear--Batman.  

Playdate/Festival #3:  They were joined by their youngest two cousins for this one.  Reese decided to be Buzz and Emmanuel was an Army Man again.  

I can't ever get them all to smile at the same time! 

This festival was a lot of fun because it was a trunk or treat!  In addition to all of the candy and games, we participated in a Foster Family 1st...roasting marshmallows over an open fire and making s'mores!  The cousins did this too, and really liked it.  YAY for firsts!  

Baby Girl was thinking to herself:  Why do my parents take me to all of these places where everybody is dressed up?  What is wrong with these people? 

So, the next day after church, Reese decided to include MG in the dress up action.  Notice the hat to the side...

She was a knight...

 And a cowgirl!

For our 4th Playdate/Festival, Emmanuel decided to be a SWAT Police and Reese was a knight. 

Finally, Halloween Day arrived, and they had one more playdate party before the big night of trick-or-treating.  So, for the Playdate/Festival #5, Reese was Buzz and Emmanuel was Bob the Builder.  (We also went and surprised Eli at lunch at work on this day.)

For Halloween Night, after a lot of deliberations that afternoon (and costume changes by Emmanuel), Reese decided to stay with the Buzz costume...and Emmanuel was an (drumroll, please) Army Man, again!  

We had the most fun yet trick-or-treating this year.  Our neighborhood has gotten so big, and there are so many young families in it.  We thought we would trick-or-treat for about an hour, but we stayed out almost for 3!  

The boys got way too much candy, and I was eating way too much candy, so we decided to donate 3/4s of it to Eli's class.  Emmanuel said, "Daddy, I want you to give this candy to the boys and girls in your class when they do a good job."  

I must say that season of costume changes on top of all the other dress up is exhausting!  Each year, I say that I'm going to make it easy on myself and buy one costume and they can't change their minds.  For instance, I went to Target and their costumes were 75% off...they each chose a clearance costume for next year that will be stored until September 2013...that is, unless, anybody decides to be Iron Man or a Ninja before then.