Happy Halloween!

From the cutest pumpkin in the patch to you and yours...



...Happy Halloween!

We had a great weekend preparing for Halloween! After our snowy surprise yesterday, we spent the day getting ready for our Halloween party.

We had a combination adults/kids party. The adults were in a "scary" room Grant set up in the garage, and the kids (and a few moms to wrangle the kids) partied upstairs. We had 11 kids here and it was NOISY!









Today was our pumpkin carving day! We look forward to this every year!












Lily only lasted a few minutes into the carving!



She woke up so happy, so we had to attempt our pumpkin pictures! She wasn't a big fan of the texture of the pumpkin, but it was worth it!





Dylan and Lexie are so proud of the pumpkins they picked out of the patch and the designs they chose!





We all had fun partying with friends, carving our pumpkins, and watching the Steelers beat the Patriots! It was a great weekend!

We can't wait for Halloween tomorrow!

Reality Check

Despite my denial, winter is on the way.

We had a big surprise when we woke up this morning!



This is a surprise, considering we don't usually see snow until the end of November! It has snowed on our around Halloween before, but it's rare!

Me? I'm not ready!

A Jolly Green Infant and Kid-Inspired Halloween Decor

My sweet pea (and I) made the front page of the local paper! The WTH look on her face? Priceless!



Moving on.

Once upon a time, my Halloween decor consisted of pumpkins and pretty Halloween decorations. I even managed to keep my house looking like Halloween vomit, despite Grant's Halloween obsession.

And then the kids arrived.

Now?

I have a bat hanging from the ceiling.



A black cat on the window.



Witches reside in my living room.




A 3 foot tall witch stands next to a pumpkin that Lexie made.



A stuffed pumpkin sits as a centerpiece on their table.



A giant pumpkin takes up space in the hallway.



Dylan's homemade ghost hangs on a door.



My counters are littered with homemade goodies.



Seasonal artwork, lovingly created and put up by my kids, hangs on the refrigerator doors.



And that's not all of it. We still have another bin of decorations that have to be put up before our Halloween party on Saturday.

My space?

One measly corner.



I better get used to it.

Because round two will be starting up soon.



For now, I'm content. The cheesy decorations make them so happy, and I love all the handmade items on display. Happy kids...happy mama!

My time for classy Halloween decorations will come again, all too soon.

Then again, who am I kidding?

I'll resort back to my kiddie decor once grandkids enter the picture!

Halloween Traditions: Baking Cookies

Now that we have a family, we have lots of traditions for each Holiday. Along with going to the pumpkin patch, carving pumpkins, roasting seeds, and going trick or treating, one of our Halloween traditions is baking cut-out cookies.

Dylan and Lexie always look forward to cookie baking day, but Lily wasn't too impressed.



The kids got to work, while Lily watched, and eventually fell asleep.







Once the cookies were cut out and put in the oven, it was time for the best part!




Just as we do every year, Dylan and I were in charge of icing the cookies, and Lexie was in charge of the sprinkles!



And, just as it happens every year, the kids decided to quit and eat cookies while I finished up the job.

That's tradition...and I wouldn't like it any other way!

Halloween Kick-Off

The kids started off their week of Halloween festivities by trick or treating at our local high school tonight!

It was a spur of the moment decision, and they had no idea! After coming home from school, Dylan and Lexie went outside to play. It wasn't long before they came in arguing. Grant was getting ready to clean the garage, and everybody was bored, so I stood up and told them to hurry and put on their costumes. The why's kept coming, but I just handed them their trick or treat bags and told them to get in the car.

They were so excited when I told them what we were doing!



I have never taken the kids trick or treating at the high school before, but we'll definitely be going back. It was such a cute event, and the high school students put a lot of time and effort into it! They were all dressed up and so nice to the kids. I was really impressed!

Lily came along, and wowed the crowd with her adorable baby-ness. It was so funny, because she got "awwww'ed" by almost everybody we passed! She even got her picture taken for the newspaper! And, true to form, she ended up falling asleep halfway through the event! Her costume was declared the "best costume ever" and she, the "cutest baby ever." I guess there's just something adorable about a pea pod!



When we were leaving, a woman walked up to me, and asked if I had a camera so she could take our picture. She commented on how this is a moment I'll want to remember, because it all goes by so fast. As I walked out of the building, it hit me like a ton of bricks. My sweet, sleeping newborn is going to toddling around when we come back next year!

I'm really glad I made the decision to take the kids trick or treating tonight. They had such a fun time and can't wait to do it again!