Haaaaapppy Haaaalloweeeeen!

Happy Halloween today!!

Any of you that have been hanging around this lil' 'ole blog for a while. .

understands that I am I am glutton for punishment!!

Well, not really. .

But you DO know that I love Halloween. .and parties!!

I've now done so many Halloween parties, that I have simply lost count of them!

At one time, we stopped just doing ONE Halloween party. .and actually did TWO Halloween parties at the same time. .on the same day. .because the age difference in the kids was just too much for everyone to enjoy the same activities!

After I surveyed my attendees on Saturday afternoon. .

I realized, that, for the first time. .

we didn't have enough big kids to warrant separating everything. .

so we threw the schedule into the wind. .and just winged it. .

Well, after this game anyway!!

Fear Factor food. .

is never a game that the little ones want to play!

And. .

sometimes the big kids PRETEND that they don't want to play either. .

but they are ALWAYS up to the challenge. .

Take note of the horrified expressions on their faces as they get a good whiff of these. .

Oysters. .renamed "Frog brains"

and Gorgonzola cheese "decayed lizard tails"

As usual, THEY were up for the challenge. .and ate them without batting an eye (when it was their turn). .
Kristi and I. .not so good! We decided to try them out after the party. .Ick!! Jeremy LOVES them. .

. .and so did his daughter. .who ate them with a fork, right out of the container. .

Double I-C-K!!

Because I am a jerm-a-phobe. .we NEVER bob for apples. .

and it has been years since we bobbed for donuts. .

But thanks to a lot of big helpers who tied them onto the string. .

This game was the hit of the party!!!

In the past we blindfolded the kids. .this time we had them cover their eyes so they couldn't see, and it reminded them that they also couldn't use their hands when they "bobbed" for their dangling donut. .

Pathetic, right??

We finally let them use their eyes. .

and it was still hard for the little guys. .

but they had a BLAST trying to do it!!

Another new game was bobbing for marshmallows using straws!!

It was intended for big kids, but we threw some small marshmallows in our water for the younger ones. .

Almost all of the kids were able to suck out a marshmallow from the water. .

and they all enjoyed trying. The fish enjoyed the leftover marshmallows that got poured into the pond!!

Abraham Lincoln showed up at the party. .Jeremy's cousin is in town for a while as he waits on final plans to go to Germany with his family to work as a missionary. He is sooooo tall!! The kids. .and adults. .loved his costume!

There were no plans to do the punkin' launcher this year. .since we didn't have any small punkins to launch!!However. .the cousins took the go-cart Friday and picked 2 1/2 5gallon buckets of little green and yellow field gourds. .which worked fabulously!!

So Uncle Chris got to tone up his biceps helping Jeremy anchor the launcher. .

Those big boys would get that sucker as tight as they possibly could. .

in an attempt to get the gourds across the highway, about 75 yards or so away from them!!

A few of them made it!

The little ones enjoyed playing catch with balloons inside while warming up. .

The day was beautiful. .but chilly. .

about 56 degrees at the time of the party. .but not a breath of wind. .

so it was really NICE!

While the finishing touches were put on spooky foods. .

these big kids got an index card, 3 toothpicks, and 4 pieces of gum to make a sculpture. .

Here's Tyra, showing off her dude.

 I was disappointed that only a few of the kids actually chewed up their gum. .

most of them made DNA model creations! But it kept them busy for a bit!

32 little spooks and their parents enjoyed the yummy punch and spooky treats!

And everyone went home on a sugar rush. .

 high enough to carry them through. .

until the mother-lode of sugar rushes hits them tonight!!

Let the seasons of treating and eating. .

BEGIN!!

Oh, and I've found lots of cool workouts to do on youtube. .

everything from zumba to tai bo. .

 to try to maintain a trim and slim figure. .

as I snack my way into the new year!!

Happy Halloween ya'll!!