Henry had his 5th birthday party last Saturday, and he had decided a couple of months ago that he wanted to have a Halloween party. Every day for at least two weeks leading up to it, Ivy would ask “Are gwamma and gwampa coming to Henry’s Halloween birthday party?” or “Are nana and papa coming to Henry’s Halloween birthday party?” or a series of “Is so-and-so coming to Henry’s Halloween birthday party?” She seemed to be as excited as Henry was about the party.

For me, as the mom and party planner/hostess, it was exhausting, emotional, and stressful, and I do have some regrets about it. But, Henry and his guests seemed to have fun, and I have to focus on that, because that’s what’s important, not my issues.

E. Belle and I were a cat and mouse (I did a lot of explaining about my costume that night), Henry was a mummy, and Ivy was a princess (I know, big surprise…her grandma made her a very cute costume this time, though).

 There’s grandma and grandpa (one of the many sets of grandparents). I’m not sure what you would call them…homebodies? Whatever they were, there were pajamas, robes, and curlers involved…

 T. claimed his costume was authentic, because he had his work vest and hard hat on (for a little while at least), but the jean shorts and slippers were definitely NOT authentic!

The Mummy was lost in contemplation for quite some time….I think he needed a nap.

This is the only picture I have of the food (and you can’t even see it!). And that stinks, because I put a lot of work into the sweets! You’ve already seen the donut eyeballs, but there were also ghost cupcakes, ghost brownies, and peanut butter eyeballs (made by my sister-in-law). We ordered pizza and had snacks…I thought that would be easier and less stressful, and it probably was a little. But I learned a very valuable lesson…when you DO ask people to RSVP, it doesn’t seem like a big deal….a bunch of people don’t, or don’t end up showing up even when they said they were coming, but at least you get SOME idea of who will be there. When you DON’T ask for RSVPs, well….nobody tells you if they’re coming. Period. Unless you’re my grandma. So, I planned for, made, and ordered about enough food for as many came to the girls’ birthday party a few of months ago. Well, there ended up being about half of the number of guests. We have been eating leftover pizza, eyeballs, and cupcakes for almost a week. Never again.

This is Grandpa Fuji in his pirate costume, holding up the homemade pinata that a friend of theirs had made. The thing was VERY well made, as in, hard as wood almost! But it looked very cool.

And Mr. Ned….

And sweet baby Claire….

 And a pumpkin craft…