Trick or Treat

I have always loved Halloween.  I love the jack o' lanterns, the costumes and the candy!  Oh, how I loved going door to door as a child and gathering as much candy as I possibly could!  Before we moved to Little Rock, we would usually trick or treat in Green Forest instead of Springdale or Fayetteville.  I remember receiving treats like apples and popcorn balls...... things that I would immediately dispose of if Mk was to bring home now.  I remember trading the pieces that I didn't like with my sister for stuff that I actually did like, but not before mom inspected each piece for needles and other unwanted objects.

The first Halloween that I really remember dressing up for was when I was four.  Larkin was going to be a pumpkin, but I wanted to be a skeleton.  I remember going to Walmart and picking out my scary mask, but the challenge was to create a costume to go with the mask.  Typically kids would just buy the plastic hospital gown-ish costume set that had the matching mask, but there were no skeleton set.  So, mom purchased me a white ski cap and some white long johns.  This was my costume, and I was thrilled with it.

The next year, my dream came true.  I was allowed to pick a full costume from Walmart.  I was allowed to choose whatever I wanted, and I was so excited.  I picked Darth Vader.  He was my favorite Star Wars character, and I was thrilled that mom was letting me get this costume.  The only problem?  I didn't have a lightsaber.  Mom solved that problem by giving me a wooden stake to carry around.  This was only a minor problem for me.  The pictures from these years must still be at mom's house, but luckily Wil Wheaton uploaded an image that shows what my Darth Vader costume looked like.......minus the wooden stake and plastic orange pumpkin......and younger sister.

My grandma and papa also liked to dress up for Halloween.  I think that it was the following year that mom made us all clown costumes, and we attended a party with my grandparents.  I can't really remember where the party was, but I know that when my grandma and papa came in, I didn't recognize them.  They were wearing those creepy clear masks that have makeup on them to look like a face......but in a totally creepy way.  There was even a year when they swapped masks, and grandma went as the man and papa went as the lady.  Such fun memories.

In recent years, I've been a pregnant prom queen, a Spice Girl, a senior from Mount Saint Mary and Wonder Woman.......

Mary Katherine has been a pumpkin, lion, cat, witch, lady bug, hippie and (my favorite) a vampire.

It's been two years since I've dressed up for Halloween.  I'm not even carving a pumpkin this year.  Mk could never tell me what she wanted to be this year, so we're going to do other Halloween activities.  I offered to rent "Nightmare on Elm Street", but she didn't really show any interest.  So..... any suggestions of what to do with a kid when Halloween falls on a Sunday, and we're not going trick or treating?