Sick-or-Treat

Cookies, anyone?

 It was a very unusual Halloween, to say the least.  The Little Nguyens had a day off from school.  It started out beautifully, a crisp and sunny morning complete with a trip to Dunkin Doughnuts for a Halloween sprinkle breakfast treat!  The Little Nguyens and I picked up a few last-minute things at Target for our 3rd Annual Halloween Boo Bash, and then we headed home to get ready for our friends to arrive.  The house was all decorated, the food was semi-prepared, and the games and treats were ready!



Smiling ghosts with M&M eyes and mini chocolate chip smiles -- a la Thomas.

 

Sampling his creations...



Somewhere along the way between sprinkles and Halloween candy, the First Little Nguyen spiked a fever.  He had been having some mild stomach cramps on Sunday, but didn't show any signs of discomfort when he woke up on Halloween morning.  Along with the fever, some pretty intense stomach cramps started.  Yeah...like the kind you double over with and have to sit down with in order to breath your way through them.  Hmmm...I thought.   Better make some phone calls.  It was a difficult decision to make, but our much-anticipated Boo Bash had to be cancelled.  Oh, well.  At least the games and party bags will be ready for next year!  We were all really bummed, but we had a fun day nonetheless. 

While Benjamin vegged out on the sofa with a cuddly blanket, Thomas frosted and decorated (and taste-tested!) the ghost cookies that we had made for our friends.  No point in letting tasty sugar cookies go to waste!  We also got down with our bad crafty selves, using Mod Podge and tissue paper to cover glass votives.  Benjamin even pulled himself off the warm sofa to make his cute little jack o'lantern.  I love the unique inverted lightbulb nose on his and Thomas' noseless face!



Dracula's little Halloween craft....a ghost votive.

 

Two little pumpkins sitting on the windowsill.....



In preparation for all of the hungry goblins that were coming to our Boo Bash, we had bought all sorts of fun food....the makings for mummy pizzas and Halloweenies and witches' brew.   So, of course, we put it all together and made quite a spread for lunch.  Poor Benjamin, he tried to take a few bites, but eating just made his tummy hurt worse.  At least he could drink the witches' brew -- basically an Orange Julius in an orange-sugar rimmed glass.  And I felt better because he was drinking something and staying hydrated.



My sick little goblin....trying to eat a mummy pizza.

Later in the afternoon, just as the torrential rains were moving in, we donned our costumes and headed over to do a little early trick-or-treating at Aunt Susan and Uncle John's. Susan had just finished putting together a couple of creepy treats for a Halloween party they were going to. They put my mummy pizzas to shame. Check out these yucky yummy treats!



Aunt Susan's shortbread mummy fingers....ewwwww.  But they tasted SO good!!

And her deviled egg eyeballs.  Yum!



The Little Nguyens and I headed home to settled down for a bit before trick-or-treating.  Really, the question was whether or not we would trick-or-treat at all, given the awful, cold rain.  The weather conditions weren't actually the best scenario for an evening of fun tricks or treats.  We carved our pumpkins and ate a little light supper with Dad before deciding that two of us would brave the rain and go out double-trick-or-treat-pailed for some candy.  Can you imagine which two of us were elected to do that?!



Jack o'lanterns on the porch.  A Happy Jack and a Clone Trooper.



An excited Boba Fett, a sick Ben Tennyson, and a Kitty Cat

Boba...ready for trick-or-treating...

...but then his mom made him put on a hat.

You know how bad one 9-year old had to have felt to make the choice to stay on the sofa rather than trick-or-treat.  My poor Ben Tennyson curled up in his Halloween costume and hung out at home with Dad to hand out treats to any little goblins that came to our door.  Thomas and I bundled up, boots and all, and headed out into the rain with a BIG umbrella. We took along Benjamin's trick-or-treat bag, and lots of friends and neighbors sent extra treats home for him.  We probably ended up with more candy this year than any other, mostly because trick-or-treater numbers were way down due to the rain.  That and people didn't want to be stuck with too many leftover Snickers and M&Ms!



Sick-or-treat?  :(

While it wasn't the fun party day we had planned, it turned out just fine and we had fun anyway.  Benjamin was warm in his blanket after the Motrin kicked in, Thomas got to model his costume for the neighbors, and Chi and I got to raid the treats after the Little Nguyens went to sleep!  All in all, that's a pretty tasty ending!