Halloween Party

Football finals, sickness, and even rain didn't keep a good bunch of kids from enjoying the annual Halloween bash Sunday afternoon. As I was planning the dates and activities a few weeks ago for our Halloween party, this little nagging inside my head kept saying "what if it rains, what if the weather is bad" I tried stifling it by reassuring the voice that in 6 years, the weather had always been perfect--maybe a little wind here and there, but usually a beautiful afternoon! But because God's little voice had made me think (in the back of my mind) what I might do if the weather was bad--I found myself completely unsurprised by the cold, windy, totally rainy day that we got. As our luck also had it, about 15 kids that usually come had to miss out because of some pee wee football finals, and some because of sickness. So the 33 kids and 15 adults that made it fit into the house fine, and we were still able to carry on the festivities. We did many of the usual games--a worm eating contest, pumpkin launchin', balloon popping race and a few other races and relays. I had found some new games to try out this year, but we had to revert to the old stand-bys because we simply didn't have enough room in the house--and I didn't want to drag things back and forth between the shop and the house.

Even the adults get to participate in the races to help even up the numbers! We have never had to help them get up off the ground after popping the balloons with their butts before nabbing the cool candies inside!

Miss Camille was an angel. She quickly got rid of the sparkly head band. The wings HAD to go. She pulled the bottom of her dress up to her belly button, looked me square in the eyes and said "OFF!" But I won that one. She consented to keep her dress on since I pulled the wings off. She enjoyed running around checking on all the other little brothers and sisters, ate a few powdered donuts from the food eating race and savored every bit of her punch!!

I believe that this game is hands down the most popular one we do. The first few years we played it like you see in the pictures--around a table. The kids have to sit on their hands and using only their mouths must eat two gummy worms buried under a mound of whipped cream. They LOVE it! Even the girls. A few years ago we started putting a little twist into it and the kids did a wheel barrow race to get their partner to the end of the field to eat their worms while lying on the grass. They seemed to like that active-style a little more. Now a bit of a funny story. I had forgotten to get the whipped cream in town on Friday. We had gone to Wichita to see Wicked Saturday and I didn't want to drive back to town just to get whipped topping on Sunday--I knew I had too many things to prepare in too short of a time frame. Couldn't find any in Sam's, so my plan was to stop at Walmart in Pratt to get a tub. Well, we were talking and I forgot, till after we passed Walmart. It was nearly 10:00 so we headed for Dillions before they closed. There was one poor checker and a young cowboy couple checking out at 9:58 pm when I darted in. I hurried to the freezer, grabbed my HUGE tub of topping and blasted over to the checkout line. The checker had just handed the cowboy his change, looking out of the corner of his eye he says to me "Whipped topping the only thing you need tonight ma'am?" The cowboy's eye got really large and his lady was trying to hide a big grin. Me?? I had to laugh out loud, as I realized how obnoxious this whole scene was going down! I replied that I had no intention of mis-using my food product--just needed it for a little Halloween party the NEXT day. I laughed all the way out to the car, and then half the way home.

Another favorite is a punkin launchin! We saw this on TV several years ago and decided to try it out. The first year Jeremy made an apparatus to fling the little pumpkins and gourds. It worked OK, but then broke. I found this little device in a boating catalog. It is supposed to be used to launch water balloons--but it does a marvelous job for this trick! The first year we used it, they did it from the west edge of our yard, by our pine trees. The bigger kids could actually

get the gourds across the highway, so rather than taking a chance of hitting a car that we didn't see coming, we took them into the south pasture. This year we had to launch them off the west

deck--We were truly blessed that the wind wasn't blowing rain right onto the deck, so it was chilly, but dry--and most of the kids didn't even mind the chill. J's friend Tim helped him hold the shooter for the kids to wind it up--you can see how far Grant gets the thing back--the guys are just cut off on the right side of the photo. Oh, and the only picture of me this year--the witch in the back :-)

Food races or Fear Factor Foods is another one that the kids like. We had two teams and then the kids race to eat several foods. This year we did powdered donuts, dried apricots, and some peanut butter crackers that I found (we hadn't planned on doing this one) It takes a lot of spit to get those down in a hurry. A few crumbs shot out the mouths with the giggles, but nothing out of any noses! We had planned to bob for donuts (they are blind-folded and try to find and eat donuts that are suspended from a string above their heads using only their mouths) but didn't have a good location for that in the rain!

And of course we always eat!! That's the best part. We send them on a sugar high!! The moms make all kinds of spooky desserts and stuff like bloody sausages and mummy dogs. And it wouldn't be complete without Halloween colored punch!!

How do you beat a deal like that?? I am usually exhausted after the two hour party, but so satisfied that everyone has enjoyed themselves--dressed up in their best costumes playing silly games and eating more sugar than they are usually allowed in a

day!! It doesn't get ANY better!! Happy Halloween everyone--be safe and have fun!