Halloween monsters

I secretly suspect Halloween was created by dentists.  Something so they can afford their BMW or whatever.  And why does it have to be candy?  Why can't it be apples?  Apples are a fall fruit and would be a perfect thing to give out for a fall holiday.  Okay, yeah, it wouldn't be much fun lugging a big bag of apples all over the neighborhood.  And it wouldn't be as much fun comparing the different kinds of apples as different kinds of candy.  "Hey, what did you get?"  "I got a red one."  "Uh, yeah, me too."  But I, as a parent, would like it better. As it is, we dump everyone's candy into a communal candy bowl, and Curtis and I pick out the really sticky candy.  Like Laffy Taffy.  And gum, because we don't want to see it in our carpet.  And the Ghiradelli White Chocolate.  Because we care about our kids.

Without further ado here are the little monsters:

Peter was a tiger.  Peter doesn't care what costume he wears, so he gets a hand-me-down.  All he cares about is the candy.  He especially likes the "Kitty-Kat" bars.

Isaac was a dragon purchased from Kmart at 50% off.

Michael was going to be a fireman, also a hand-me-down costume.  But Michael liked Isaac's costume so much I got this dinosaur one for him.  I didn't capture it in this picture, but it has horns on the top of the head.  Good for goring his brothers.

And Jesse was Thor.  I forgot to get/make him a hammer.  Oops.  So he was a hammer-less Thor.

 Not like he minded much.  He needed both hands to hold his candy bag.  My sister Michelle makes custom embroidery products as a side business, so she sent us these:

jack-o-lantern bag

raven bag

cat in front of spooky fence

 Each one has the child's name on the back of the bag (in orange thread so it's not visible from a distance).  They're pretty cool, and take up way less space in storage.  (Michelle has them for sale here).

There was another Halloween monster that I came across yesterday.  I had bought a shrub (Mountain Laurel) at an end-of-the-season sale and found a space for it, dug a hole and dang it! there was a pipe in the way.  A big, heavy, four-foot long pipe, full of (we hope) dirt.  It was a leftover from when we had our sewer line replaced.  I was able to (barely) remove it and, after amending the soil with aluminum sulfate and compost, plant my shrub.

Now the monster is resting on the little strip between the sidewalk and street.  I've delegated the responsibility of removing it to Curtis.  He doesn't know yet.  He'll be thrilled.