Halloween Faves with the Girls of Eight By Five

Halloween 2006: (From left: Krista, Heidi, Kelley, Lesley, Jessica, and Kari)

1. Favorite Halloween Candy:

Kelley – Skittles!

Heidi – Twix or Milky Way. I'm all about the chocolate!

Lesley – Snickers, full size preferred!

Kari – I love Reese's Peanut Butter Cups! Mmmm!

Jessica – Star Burst!

Our family (there were 22 of us!) at Bishop's Pumpkin Patch, Wheatland, CA - October 2011

2. Favorite Halloween Memory: 

Kelley – The best thing about Halloween was dumping out all the candy on the floor, organizing it by chocolate and non-chocolate, and trading the chocolate candy with my friends and family.   I have never liked the cocoa bean - I know, it's weird.

Heidi – My favorite Halloweens as a kid were the ones where my sisters and I would get together with all of our cousins to go trick or treating together around our grandparent's neighborhood. We always had the BEST time! As an adult, the best Halloweens have been spent at my sister and brother-in-law's haunted house - complete with hidden video cameras to capture all the scares and reactions! After going through the haunted house ourselves we always go indoors and watch the live video feeds as everyone else gets scared!

Lesley – Running from house to house with a pillow case in elementary school. We could run the neighborhood without adults. We used be able to fill an entire pillowcase. Then running home to swap for our favorites.

Kari – The best Halloween was one where we decorated Heidi and Mitch’s entry way super creepy with neon lights, fog machines, spider webs, scary music, etc.  My husband, dressed up as a "swamp monster" sat outside really still in a chair so that people thought he was just a prop.  Then as soon as they grabbed the candy, he jumped out and scared the living day lights out of them (all caught on video too)!  Our whole family was dressed up and participated in the event.  That had to be one of my top Halloween memories.  I can thank my husband, Joe, for the Halloween enthusiasm in our family!

Jessica – The haunted walk way at Heidi's old rocklike house with everyone was so much fun! (same as Kari's answer).

(From left: Kelley, Lesley, Kari, Jessica, and Heidi)

3. Favorite Halloween Costume as an Adult:

Kelley – Two years ago I was the Orbitz Gum girl (fellow blogger and sister also pictured above as Flo - she looked awesome).  Check out the costume tutorials here for both!

Heidi - "Heidi" (from the book!)

Lesley – Jem!! Truly outrageous!

Kari – I always liked dressing up as a vampire.  I think I can thank the TV series Buffy for that one!

Jessica – An Indian.

Lesley as Jem and Stephen as Ron Burgundy - Halloween Pub Crawl 2008

4. Favorite Halloween Costume as a Child:

Kelley – As a child, I loved being a ballerina or princess - anything that involved a tutu and tights! 

Heidi – I always had such weird costumes as a kid - alien, jack-in-the-box, bride. I'm not sure that I really loved any of them, but it's always fun to dress up!

Lesley – She-Ra: Princess of Power. My mom hand made this costume for me and I wore it all the time. The cape was so sparkly and glittery, I wish we still had it!

Kari – Well, I can that it was not my ever-so-famous Star Trek costume!  Haha.  That one I’d like everyone to forget about. My favorite had to be the homemade cat costume my mom sewed. 

Jessica – Cat in the Hat.

Heidi's house decorated for neighborhood Halloween contest.  They won 2nd place!

5. What is your child going to be this year?

Kelley – Zoey is going to be an owl this year, perfect for my little "Birdie". 

Heidi – My two older boys are going to be Mario and Luigi. My toddler is going to be a scarecrow (costume tutorial here) unless his brothers convince me to make him a Toad costume at the last minute.

Lesley – A fireman and his Dalmation.

Kari – Zane will be a cowboy.  We’ve been teaching him how to hold out his pumpkin bucket and say “trick-or-treat.” Little does he know that the candy he gets will be going to mommy and daddy! 

Jessica – We are undecided at this point. Stella wants to be everything so we haven't really made a solid decision. It's a toss up between a fairy, witch, vampire, zombie, or a princess.  Maybe we will mix them all together!

Halloween 2006: (From left: Krista, Heidi, Kelley, Lesley, Jessica, and Kari)

1. Favorite Halloween Candy:

Kelley – Skittles!

Heidi – Twix or Milky Way. I'm all about the chocolate!

Lesley – Snickers, full size preferred!

Kari – I love Reese's Peanut Butter Cups! Mmmm!

Jessica – Star Burst!

Our family (there were 22 of us!) at Bishop's Pumpkin Patch, Wheatland, CA - October 2011

2. Favorite Halloween Memory: 

Kelley – The best thing about Halloween was dumping out all the candy on the floor, organizing it by chocolate and non-chocolate, and trading the chocolate candy with my friends and family.   I have never liked the cocoa bean - I know, it's weird.

Heidi – My favorite Halloweens as a kid were the ones where my sisters and I would get together with all of our cousins to go trick or treating together around our grandparent's neighborhood. We always had the BEST time! As an adult, the best Halloweens have been spent at my sister and brother-in-law's haunted house - complete with hidden video cameras to capture all the scares and reactions! After going through the haunted house ourselves we always go indoors and watch the live video feeds as everyone else gets scared!

Lesley – Running from house to house with a pillow case in elementary school. We could run the neighborhood without adults. We used be able to fill an entire pillowcase. Then running home to swap for our favorites.

Kari – The best Halloween was one where we decorated Heidi and Mitch’s entry way super creepy with neon lights, fog machines, spider webs, scary music, etc.  My husband, dressed up as a "swamp monster" sat outside really still in a chair so that people thought he was just a prop.  Then as soon as they grabbed the candy, he jumped out and scared the living day lights out of them (all caught on video too)!  Our whole family was dressed up and participated in the event.  That had to be one of my top Halloween memories.  I can thank my husband, Joe, for the Halloween enthusiasm in our family!

Jessica – The haunted walk way at Heidi's old rocklike house with everyone was so much fun! (same as Kari's answer).

(From left: Kelley, Lesley, Kari, Jessica, and Heidi)

3. Favorite Halloween Costume as an Adult:

Kelley – Two years ago I was the Orbitz Gum girl (fellow blogger and sister also pictured above as Flo - she looked awesome).  Check out the costume tutorials here for both!

Heidi - "Heidi" (from the book!)

Lesley – Jem!! Truly outrageous!

Kari – I always liked dressing up as a vampire.  I think I can thank the TV series Buffy for that one!

Jessica – An Indian.

Lesley as Jem and Stephen as Ron Burgundy - Halloween Pub Crawl 2008

4. Favorite Halloween Costume as a Child:

Kelley – As a child, I loved being a ballerina or princess - anything that involved a tutu and tights! 

Heidi – I always had such weird costumes as a kid - alien, jack-in-the-box, bride. I'm not sure that I really loved any of them, but it's always fun to dress up!

Lesley – She-Ra: Princess of Power. My mom hand made this costume for me and I wore it all the time. The cape was so sparkly and glittery, I wish we still had it!

Kari – Well, I can that it was not my ever-so-famous Star Trek costume!  Haha.  That one I’d like everyone to forget about. My favorite had to be the homemade cat costume my mom sewed. 

Jessica – Cat in the Hat.

Heidi's house decorated for neighborhood Halloween contest.  They won 2nd place!

5. What is your child going to be this year?

Kelley – Zoey is going to be an owl this year, perfect for my little "Birdie". 

Heidi – My two older boys are going to be Mario and Luigi. My toddler is going to be a scarecrow (costume tutorial here) unless his brothers convince me to make him a Toad costume at the last minute.

Lesley – A fireman and his Dalmation.

Kari – Zane will be a cowboy.  We’ve been teaching him how to hold out his pumpkin bucket and say “trick-or-treat.” Little does he know that the candy he gets will be going to mommy and daddy! 

Jessica – We are undecided at this point. Stella wants to be everything so we haven't really made a solid decision. It's a toss up between a fairy, witch, vampire, zombie, or a princess.  Maybe we will mix them all together!