Monday, November 1, 2010

Can You Kids Just Happy-Up. It's Halloween For A Bunch of Sillys

Hannah Is Beautiful

Not Sure How Cute This Costume Is for Jake?

Utah Changed The Date of Halloween,
But The Fun Lasted A Long Time!

The Big Kids Got Into The Action
College Halloween Dance Outfit
sans ... The Spandex

Our Utah family having their
Halloween on Saturday night.

Steve and I bought candy at Walmart for Halloween, again. It's been more than 16 years and we haven't had one trick or treater here at Danger Ranch. Wellman Way, our long drive at night, is like walking in Snow White's forest with the long branched trees grabbin' at you from all directions. Actually, it's scary for any sane person. East of here is Jurassic Park and north is "The Forbidden Forest of No Return"

I always wanted to be Snow White for Halloween. I was usually a clown, like I dressed my kids. I actually thought I was Snow White. All the birdies and animals of the forest would come to me and talk. Actually, they never did... and I was forced to set traps. I set traps of all sizes and everywhere. The Forbidden Forest had traps, too. Yes, I caught a lot of animals in those days (hand at my chin, reminiscing hmm)

That all stopped when I caught my dad in a coyote trap. Yes, I know it hurts 'em. Oh, not my dad, just scared the crap outta' him. It would've hurt the animals, but I was desperate ... I wanted a wild dog. My dad told me to stop setting traps because everywhere he went he was worried about the good dogs, the horses, the steers, chickens, (himself, but wouldn't admit it) cats, loose piglets, and everything else, like my even my brothers, getting trapped and messed-up. (I way...mightly, cleaned his admonition to quit, type a' language.) And told me I wasn't Snow White, I was a French Trapper! Shock!

A very sad 6th grader had to go out in the Forbidden Forest and Jurassic Park and tell all the animals that they were free and not to be afraid anymore because I was putting all of the traps away forever. I thought that all of them would at least peek around a tree or come fly down and sit on my shoulder, but the animals were all afraid. I know that they heard me, because I saw some deer tracks about a week later. Maybe it was an elk, but I'm not sure.

Actually, I'm thinking...I could go dressed for Halloween, hangin' my grandpa's old furs on my shoulders. I even have a ferret. (the furs are more than 60 years old...we don't skin animals, except cows) Then I could grab a couple bear traps from my mom's hook just outside her back step, dress in my favorite clothes, look a little sloppy, and Voila! A French Trapper! You can be just like Grandma Frandsen's great, great, uncle.  Toussant Charbonneau,  It really burns me that my daughter's husband is actually the real Snow White. Why? That just isn't "fair!"

I am Actually Related To Toussaint Charbonneau, the French Trapper. He was my great grandmother's mother, great uncle & famous because he was married to Lewis & Clark's, Sacagawea. A real French-Canadian, like my great, great grandmother, Julia Charbonneau.

"Take-Off, eh!"
See...I know French Canadian

Halloween night Steve worked and handed-out glow-sticks (as in... rave lights) to all the little children and the parents. It was a safety donation from the Fire Fighter's Assoc. and the police helped, too by handing them out all over town. Oh, my gosh, what a different Halloween from when I was young. The cops used to pat-us-down for candy. Or was it water-balloons?

Dallin getting himself psyched-up
for a fun, fun time!

Adree wa
s suppose to be a pumpkin but she's such a tall bean pole. Maybe like the Tim Burton's Nightmare before Christmas, just because of the tall pumpkins but she really looks like the actress Milla Jovovich from the movie 5th Element. Remember, she played the part as the perfect being, called "Leeloo" with the orange hair. Adree did have a cute pumpkin dress and not what Leeloo wore through-out the movie.

Avatar, Yes..Kenna Wants to Fly Dragons

What Could Be As Cute As
A Little Jessie From Toy Story?

Sunday was Halloween in California. I did NOT want to stay home. I went to Dustin's in Ventura to see the grandkids in their "get-ups" So fun! Dustin lives in the Ventura Keys and has this party. His kids don't even want to go out "trick or treating" they want to stay for the party and hand-out and eat "his" candy.

The Ventura Keys is the most popular place in Ventura to go "trick or treating" The Keys is just up from Pierpont and on the harbor. It has more children bused-in than any place I have ever seen. Parents even dress-up and women? They actually open their purses for you to put candy in them! Unbelievable! Too funny.... and the "Beach People" love it. They're all are very, very generous with the candy. Dustin didn't buy sacks of candy, he bought pounds. It is the "candy lode" this side of the Rio Grande. Ahhh. I guess....I should "sack" that phrase and just say, "On this side of the Golden West"

Dustin does have all my decorations. I only have one small decoration .. .boo-hoo, and that was made by my sister. It's a bride and groom cake-topper that she pasted-on skeleton faces and painted. I keep having a weird shivers when I see them, jus' standin' there. I bought 50 of those cake-toppers in July for Kiely's wedding and my daughter is still just a newlywed. Creepy, Oh well. Halloween - Day of the Dead.

I did convince my husband to get the Skittle candy bags. He knows we don't have anyone come here. I told him maybe this year. He went for the Skittles because they weren't chocolate and they wouldn't disappear before Halloween started. I really was going to take the bag to Dustin's house. OOPS! Forgot. I did run outta' candy real fast anyway. Everyone saw the bag that visited me and took a handful of those little sacks of delicious morsels of fruit bursts. They make me kinda' cough, but I still eat 'em. I had a few interesting looks from my dear husband when the sack started becoming depleted and I told him everyone was just helping themselves. I didn't include myself, and that stashed about a third of them in the cupboard. Skittles do come with a warning: Beware FDA Skittles are laced with cocaine and Starburst may have...Oh, dear! The bag is torn right there.

Dustin has a huge big screen on his front window and he projects a scary show from the inside of his house. Like this huge horror show is projected on his lawn and it's even perfect from clear-out across the street. Halloweeners came and sat on his lawn after getting loads of candy and just watched the show. Most of Dustin's candy ran-out in just two hours into the witching hours and he sent all the grandkids out to round-up candy for his bowl. It's shopping Mormons...Dustin would just yell, "Candy Run" and they would all take-off and bring tons back to him for his bowl. I think they had to do that at least twice, maybe more.

Other than the "Candy Runs" the grandkids happily stayed at the house with all the cousins. I worked hard trying to take pictures of all the kids with my camera application. Camera Zoom has this app with Halloween characters and movie people. So you take a picture in the dark, like a blue can see the "buddy" that
is on the app, but you can't see the person you are photographing. Had to imagine or explain, it's just blindly taking a picture and you're lucky if the kid's in it. Every picture is a challenge to place the child in the right spot and not behind the "buddy" My way was to take a burst of photos with a flash and that way I could place my subject-person next to the "buddy" and just say, "look-up, look-down, look sideways" It would have been easier if they had ever seen the Brady Bunch TV show. I told them to look scared or make faces, but the surprise was when the pictures popped into my picture gallery and my grandson's "buddies" were famous girls. I got through three of them and made everyone change to goofy or scary stuff.

No more of that boy/girl stuff ..I tell you!

Okay, I'm sharing because you all need to learn to use this app.

Hannah, I got rid of Johnny Depp! This is Darth Vader!

It does have a great use and can make a sad child very happy when they see themselves with Dora the Explorers or that dang monkey that hangs-out with her on the cartoon. The candy-sick little ones even hap-pied-up for a picture!

My oldest daughter and her twin, 16 years younger are the only of my kids that still love dressing-up. Party poopers! was it the clown pics that seems to be the crazy ideas of the early 80's or was it my outfit. Sorry, I had to give you such a gentle reminder of what it was like when I was growning up. I made the clown outfits, as anyone can see! I remember I DIDN'T WANT TO be a clown, but what you have is what you got.

Me At My Grandparents on Laurel Rd.
1954. My Children Were Doomed
With The Clown Outfit. Me Below.

I posted Bree picture just little late, added Nov. 16th, 2010. She sickie from a new pregnancy and was trying to keep it all together by putting a fragrant softner sheet on her face. What a silly. Here's her darling children just below!

Studio Portrait of My Grandchildren in Arkansas
No They Aren't In Costume, That's Just Arkansas
Country Sweet & I love It!

Grandmother and Grandfathers probably know what a blessing it is to not deal with the "candy hangovers" the next day. Four of the kids threw-up in the night. Almost all of them stayed home on Monday, missing school. I'm glad my camera was a success and I was a source of entertainment for everyone with my "buddy app" So, I wasn't a lumberjack and still had on my church dress, like a good grandma. Now, next year...I'm gonna' be a French Trapper. I could rub black on my cheeks, right here and right here. NOOOOO! Wait, I think I am growing a stinkin' mustache like Great Grandma McKean. Grrooosss!

1 comment:

Breeda said...

Thank you for the fun post Mom!! Dustin's looked like FUN!!! Sorry I didn't get any of my kids in costume. I am a dud....but the portrait worked ok!! :) Love it!