First Halloween party in this big old house....

As always, after a party I'm all wound up--- just as much from the cleaning-up as from the setting-up and the actual fun during the party. Who can sleep when there's so much to write about?!

We all had a great time tonight........ the costumes were all very good, very imaginative........ Miss C was a shark-- she dressed all in gray, right down to her gray sparkling shoes.... she made a shark's head out of poster board that she painted, complete with that pointed fin that sticks up out of the ocean..... she cut out an opening, filled it with paper teeth..... and when she put the shark's head over her own, her face was there right in the opening of the shark's jaws and she looked like she had either been eaten by the shark or was just about to attack a smaller fish.

I did my City Witch thing, complete with feathered hat and lots of rhinestones.... my husband was a pirate-- two weeks' worth of not shaving, pirate jewelry on his ears and around his neck, and a great hat with long hair attached that looks very real. S came with an orange blouse and black slacks, holding an orange sign that said "Nudist On Strike." That 'costume' made everyone laugh, so we gave her a ribbon for 'Most Original Costume." JD came as a ghoul (scary black make-up all over his face) and wife J was a witch's hat--- all black from head to toe, and she had to put on the costume after she had eaten because once that head-to-toe witch's hat was over her, she couldn't sit down, couldn't eat or drink, could hardly walk with that hat-brim all around her feet. We gave them the ribbon/prize for "Scariest Costumes."

J & L came as a Pimp and a Prom Queen--- the Pimp's costume was covered in jingly-jangly coin belts, a leopard-trimmed hat complete with purple lights, and he had on a white-haired, white-faced skeleton sort of mask that was hard to look at. L was in a long gown with a tiara and a Prom Queen sash....... we gave them the ribbon for "Sexiest Costumes." L & G came as a scarecrow and a farmer...... M was a Hollywood starlet, holding an Oscar statuette-- she was decked out in a sparkling skirt, sequined top, lots of bracelets and necklaces.

JS was a blond-haired, pig-tailed cowgirl..... every time she talked or moved her head, the little blond pigtails would be bouncing on the side of her head. Hysterically funny. B&G came as playing cards... B was the Ace of Spades, G was the King of Hearts-- they had huge playing cards attached to both sides of their bodies-- like those sandwich signs that stores use for advertising.... plus they had velvet and gold hats to match the colors on their cards. C's friend M came in his Camp Counselor uniform-- he couldn't stay for the whole party because he is working at the camp this weekend, but he was able to join us for dinner.

We had the "Guess how many candy corn are in the vase" game.....(327). I've done that for all of our parties...... people will start groaning after a while, but I think they all love the guessing, and how can you have Halloween without candy corn? I also did "Guess how many pumpkins are around the house."--everyone either tried to count every single pumpkin (152) all they just looked around and wrote down a high number. I'll have to think of another guessing game for next year's party-- unless I either buy a lot more pumpkins (which I don't need) or take away a bunch (which I don't want to do).

My husband and I weren't sure about the Charades game..... we didn't know if our friends here would want to play...... but we asked after the prizes were given out for the guessing game and the best costumes.... and more people than not seemed to want to play. It always amazes me how much fun Charades can be...... the guessing, the acting-out, the jokes, the laughs.... everyone, whether they're acting-out or just guessing.... everyone just ends up screaming and laughing so hard that you would think we had the world's best comedian standing in the middle of the living room.

We did a potluck dinner for the party (as we've always done) and the array of food was outstanding..... all kinds of fresh fruit, boiled shrimp, deviled eggs (always deviled eggs because just about everyone has chickens), vegetable salads, dips and chips (Miss C made a killer-guacamole), sausages with onions & mushrooms, pasta salads, Brownies, fudge, pumpkin bread, apple-caramel cupcakes........ and I know I'm leaving out some things because there was so much food that it had to be spread out on two long counters, plus the desserts went on the table in the breakfast room.

For the past couple of years, we didn't have a Halloween party because we didn't think anyone up here was remotely interested in such a party. Well, we stand corrected. Everyone came in the spirit of Halloween, intent on enjoying this holiday for what it is-- a chance to let your creativity and imagination run wild. This may have been our first Halloween party in this big old 'new' house of ours, but it certainly won't be the last.

Happy Halloween...... may The Great Pumpkin smile on you and yours!