Star Wars....Again

I'm beginning to love the app Time Hop....mostly so I can laugh at the past.  I have been reminded of silly sayings, seen some pretty epic pictures of the #s that will come in handy when they are dating, but the funniest is seeing this picture....

 .....the reason that it's so funny to me is because this year, they went in these costumes....

....it never dawned on me that we've already done these outfits.  I mean, I would win "worst mother of the year" in some circles...in some neighborhoods I would be out casted for them wearing something they've already worn.  I'm just glad we got costumes earlier than two days before Halloween this year!

Now, because I have an old photo, I just HAD to recreate the photo...so I can be a little bit like everybody else.  This picture came after 30 minutes of trying to find #2's costume, not being able to find it, stuffing him into #1's old costume, #3 hitting people with light sabers while they're getting ready, #1 dressing and all of his clothes being inside out, and trying to get them calm and still enough to recreate the picture......

....after all this, I'm exhausted.


And of course, in our house, we can switch costumes any time we want because we have a room full of costumes and access to many more....so when we went to school for our Halloween parties, we looked like this.....

....I mean, we LOVE to have fun and dress up.....and I'm pretty excited that my kiddos absolutely love acting a little different from others.  It's what makes life interesting.

Now I will tell you, I've always liked Halloween.  I always liked dressing up and going door to door as people tell me how cute my outfit was.  I even liked going door to door getting candy in my grandmother's neighborhood.  I remember going to my mom's old neighborhood and people telling me stories about watching mom grow up and then seeing a stuffed dog in my other grandmother's neighborhood....and watching the lady talk to it like it was real.  I remember my parents making sure that we went through every piece of candy to make sure nothing was open and throwing out candy that looked "iffy".  I also never remember ever finishing our candy bowl.  In fact, I can't recall ever seeing our candy bowl a few days past Halloween....where DID all that candy go?!!?!?!?!?

I loved taking #1 and #2 out for trick-or-treating....it was always so wonderful to hear people talk about how cute they were in their costumes....and the candy they got for us was always a perk!  And even when #3 came along, we had a great time at first.  When people got too close for him and he'd cry, we'd just close the top of the stroller and then he'd be fine.  And then things got a little rougher once #3 could walk....like him running away from people...which also meant us....when people started to talk to him.  Or how the costumes got a little scarier and started freaking out #3.  And it doesn't help that one lady said she wouldn't give them candy unless she got their picture.  HELLO RED FLAG!!!!!  So ever since then, we've tried to come up with a different solution than going door to door to take candy from strangers.  That's when Outback Steakhouse came in the picture!!!

See....a few years ago, they would give you a free kid's meal if the kiddo was wearing a costume (and an adult purchased a meal).  YES PLEASE!!!!  So we went to Outback and then we would take them to the store and they could pick out anything in the store for $10 or less....and then we'd throw in a bag of candy that they agreed upon.....that's on top of all the candy they received at Trunk-or-Treat!  WHAT A DEAL!!!!

This year was a little different cuz we had a football game at noon.  We went out to eat with the grandparents and then we just were exhausted.  Then I saw that Outback was doing $2.99 kid meals.  WHAT!?!??!?!?  WHERE ARE MY FREE MEALS?!?!?!??!  So I did what any parent would do.....
Me:  I'll make you a deal.
#s:  Okay, what is it?
Me:  If we don't go to Outback tonight...since we JUST ate....we'll go to the store and you can pick something for $15 or less!
#s:  That's an extra $5 each!!!
......and there you have it folks...peace on earth!  I mean, look at their faces......that's happiness....

We did end up going to Outback this afternoon after church and got a coupon for 15% off.  15% sounds like a lot until you realize that your two older kiddos each got an adult meal which pretty much ends the joy of having a 15% off coupon cuz it doesn't amount to that much.

So we ended our Halloween evening with watching Indiana Jones all snuggled up as a family in the den laughing and telling the #s when to close their eyes at the gory scenes....which includes the kissing scenes.  For now, that's just as gory in our life by numbers!