A Very "Pooky" Halloween

The girls had quite the Halloween.  They told "pooky" stories, carved a jack-o-lantern and did some serious candy collection in two neighborhoods. 

These are some of our favorite costumes yet.  Meow. 

Full size?  What, what?

Candy, candy, candy!  Give me some candy!

Trick or treat, perfectly decorated house. 

Reenactment of the green witch induced TURN and SCREAM!
After hitting up all of our new neighbors, we did our annual trick or treating with pals.

Thankfully, the Wicked Witch and Dorothy called a truce for the night. 

Stick around, childhood.  You are awesome. 

Candy Night

Halloween.  The holiday that just kept giving. 

Candy that is. 

We had a great time ending all the Halloween festivities

with our much beloved tradition of chili and trick or treating

with some of our favorite pals. 

  Spiderman, Pocahontas, Jasmine, Doc McStuffins, Lambie, Yo Gabba Gabba, and the Ingalls family hit the streets begging for some of the sweet stuff.  The littles ran as fast as their legs would take them from door to door, stopping only to squeal when someone tossed a favorite candy bar into their buckets. 

The night also included celebrating Meron, lots of trampolining and all crazy games of chase.   

These kiddos played hard,

until they crashed hard. 

Check out how much our littles have grown, just since last year!

And don't even get me started on 2010 or 2009.
Or, 2008 when Mark was not yet home from Iraq.   Oh, this momma's heart. These days of littleness are flying by. 

Halloween, Preschool Style

Halloween preschool style meant pizza, sweet treats,

a costume parade, a chilly-nilly hayride, and a "pumpkin patch".

You know, your basic sweetness.   

And doing all this with both your Halloweenie buddies AND your cousin?

Extra memorable. 

Charles, Caroline, Laura and Carrie Too

After closing the last Little House on the Prairie
novels about four months ago, the wish was made. 

What IF she could be Laura Ingalls come Halloween night? 

Better yet, how 'bout the whole Ingalls family? 

And so the quest began to

find your not so mainstream Halloween costumes

that represent the 1800s. 

Thanks to some generous and talented pals,

we had all kinds of laughs being

Pa, Ma, Laura and Carrie!

Bonnets, pinafores, hats and moustaches. 
The 1800s are so stinkin' fun y'all!

Thank you Ashley, the Capozzas, the Freuds, Mamaw and Papaw!

Becoming the Ingalls was a team effort. 

You gave us a fun family memory and
made a little reader's dream come true. 

 

And now on to endless rounds 1800s dress up...

Halloweening

With the girls getting older,

Halloweening gets more fun every year.

Thanks to Kari and Jeff,

we got to dress up, make some festive food
and have some laughs.   

Treats

Halloween just isn't Halloween without trick or treating
at our pal Jay and Angela's.

They do it up right with a chili and hot dog feast
and lots of fun finger foods. 

It was hard to convince the kiddos to eat much though with a balloon bounce nearby!

After the munching and the bouncing,
we hit the streets to beg for dessert. 

Our little Rapunzel was such a sweet trick or treater this year. 

She is a savor-er, proudly coming to us to show us
each piece of candy received. 

Not wanting the night to end,
she walked extra slowly by the last few houses. 

Seeing the kids all dressed with giant smiles was so much fun.
The biggest treat of all was being with our pals and reminiscing about how far they've come. 

Thrill Your Littles

Want to thrill your littles?

Dress up. 

Last weekend, Mark and I surprised our girls by throwing together some last minute costumes for a Halloween party. 

They.were.thrilled. 

Sophia yelled, "Oh Mommy, you can trick or treat with us!!!!!!"

The kicker?

We.loved.it.too.

Buzz, Buzz Her Cuteness

We want to choose joy in this life.

Our lives are not care free.  Not easy. 

Despite the messiness of life though, we choose joy. 

Why not pretend?

Why not make a fuss?

Why not act silly?

Our friend, Carolyn, got some fun points in my book for her
"Varsity Employee" costume.  And Joe Dirt? 
He swept the costume contest.

Thanks to Kari and family for a fun reason to dress-up!



Not sure what they were laughing at,
but these two costumed cousin cuties have our hearts!

Bobbing for apples after a bunch of kids.

Reason #567,890 to give props to the hubs.

Germs, sh-merms.  Sometimes you have to choose joy.