Halloween weekend

It's no big secret at our house that Halloween is NOT my favorite holiday.  The costume dilema alone is enough to call it quits for me.  Call me Scrooge (or the halloween equivalent) but it's never been my favorite.  Even when I was younger, I didn't really like dressing up and walking around outside in the dark. Sure, I loved getting candy, but it was usually freezing, and I don't like having people jump out of nowhere just to scare me and see my reaction.  

I make weird faces when someone jumps out and scares me.......have I mentioned I'm a bit vain? 

In the neighborhood that I grew up in our neighbor would dress up as the Headless Horseman every year.  We're talking real, authentic looking costume here. Every Halloween night, he would ride his horse around the neighborhood streets. IT WAS TERRIFYING!  Seriously so so soooooo scary!!!!  I always wanted to be done trick-or-treating, home, safe and sound by the time he started doing that. 

So anyway, I'm a bit of a debbie-downer when it comes to Halloween.

BUT, my dear, sweet mom has saved just about all the dance costumes from me and my 3 sisters years of dance!  That's like 15 years worth of costumes!  It is "dress-up heaven" at her house!  The kids inevitably find something amazing to dress up in, and wwwhala! ...instant costumes!  Easy for me and the kids are happy.  2 birds. 1 stone.  This year we have:

Meagan: Joker

Lindsay: Pocahontas

Tanner: Pirate

Ellie: Cheerleader

Kaylee, my niece: Ladybug

 It was rough getting everyone to look and smile at the same time!

My sister Aimee and her family have come up to Morgan the last couple of years to do the Business Trick-or-Treat with my kids.  Its kinda tradition now.  We love having them up!  That was Friday afternoon.  The weather was perfect!  Not even a jacket needed.

Saturday was the 3A State Volleyball Tournament in Orem.  We love our Lady Trojans!  So we went to cheer and support and came home the State Champions!!  Yahoo!  The game got over about 7ish, so we took the kids trick-or-treating to a random neighborhood in Orem.  What nice people we met!  I kind of felt silly going to people's houses that we didn't know, but we promised the kids that if they'd come to the volleyball game, we'd take them trick-or-treating.  So that's what we did. 

Later that night, we met the Volleyball team as they were coming in to town.  Firetrucks, police cars, and a HUGE line of cars paraded into town with horns honking and lights flashing!  It was so much fun!  I love our small town spirit and commraderie!!!

Sunday morning came a bit early, but we did make it to church on time. :)  And after church......yum, our traditional Halloween dinner!  Pizza dip in a Pumpkin with breadsticks and Orange Halloween drink!  I started doing this about 6 or 7 years ago, and we love it!  The picture isn't the greatest, but trust me, its delicious!

Just in case you want the recipes:
Pizza Dip in a Pumpkin
1 small pumpkin (about 2 1/2 lbs.)
1/2 cup onion, diced
1/4 cup green pepper, diced
1 TBSP butter
2 1/2 cups pizza sauce (or marinara sauce)
1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated
1/2 cup ham or pepperoni (chopped)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
*Breadsticks

Scoop out pumpkin; put lid on; place on ungreased baking sheet.  Bake 350 for 20-25 minutes.

In saucepan saute onion and green pepper in butter.  Stir in pizza sauce, mozarella cheese, ham or pepperoni, parmesan cheese, and Italian Seasoning.  Heat through until cheese is melted.  Pour into hot pumpkin.  (The pumpkin doesn't change the flavor of the sauce, it just keeps it warm and looks really cute).

Orange Halloween Drink
1 can (46 oz) pineapple juice, chilled
3 cups Sprite
3 cups orange drink (I usually use Koolaid)
2 Liters GingerAle, chilled
1/2 gallon Orange Sherbet
*Mix the liquids together and serve with Orange Sherbet.....rootbeer float style!

Hope your Halloween was fun.

More fun than scary! :)