Halloween - Wizard of Oz Style

It all started with Dorothy -

In September Lacey announced that she wanted to be Dorothy because she wanted to buy some red sparkly shoes. I thought this sounded like a lot of fun, because we've never had a Dorothy in our house before. With 3 girls, I know this is hard to believe, but it is true. So, we took Lacey's idea and used it to come up with everyone else's costume as well.

Ben is a natural lion, don't you think?

I was glad that he left the hood of his costume on for a portion of the evening. He was not particularly fond of it and shied away from having his picture taken for most of the night. However, he did develop a mighty fierce "roar" that he would do for anyone who asked.

Add a little "Good Witch - Glinda"

Madi went thrift store shopping with her friend Taylor to find an old prom dress, worthy of Glinda. She found this one & it worked perfectly! All she needed was a crown & her magic wand, and she was ready to help Dorothy click her heels 3 times to send her home!

And of course, a "glamorized" Wicked Witch

I wish I could tell you why I didn't get a picture of Katie by herself prior to returning home from trick-or-treating, but I didn't. So - there's one of her with Meredith & Lacey & one when she's back home sorting & counting her loot! Katie did not want to be the ugly, green-faced Wicked Witch of the West - so she was "Spiderella" instead - or, I think of her as a glamorized wicked witch.

Mom & dad could have been the tin man & scarecrow, but we were too lazy to come up with a costume! Maybe next year . . .

We spent the evening with our friends & neighbors just up the street, the Gallaghers. Here's a picture of the group before they started out on their trek to get as much candy as they possibly could. Kim fed us a delicious dinner & then the dads & kids set out in search of candy while the moms handed out candy to the neighborhood kids. Our neighborhood is not overflowing with children, so the amount of trick-or-treaters was definitely on the light side.



One highlight of the evening was driving to Kim's parents house to see the way their neighbor decorates for Halloween. This is in a 55+ community & her house was the only one in the neighborhood decorated. Kim's mom told us that she gets all excited for Halloween & then gets a little mad that no kids come to trick-or-treat. I guess she doesn't entirely understand living in a 55+ community! Anyway, our kids being there helped make her night. Her entire front yard was lit up & then the inside, oh, I just cannot describe the inside. Every room was decorated for Halloween, though not in a scary, gory sort of way, but a more fun & festive style. I wish I could describe everything to you, but there is just too much to try to describe. There was a witch display, there was a parade of Cherished Teddies all dressed in Halloween costumes. The chandeliers had pumpkins on them. Fall garland was hung everywhere. It was like a little Halloween Disneyland, and actually a bit magical. Marcia, the neighbor was also decked out herself from head to toe in black, with this big black hat with a scarfy, netty, thing over her face. Ben was a little wary of her. Marcia had bowls of candy absolutely everywhere, & she told the girls to empty the bowls, so empty they did! I tried to slow them down, with little success. These pictures are a very small sampling of her decorating. I hear Marcia does the same thing at Christmastime - we're definitely going back!

What a fun, fun night, with such a dear family. Oh how we love the Gallaghers!