Halloween

There is something wonderful about this time of year with all the leaves ablaze.  I always look forward to the season changes, but especially Fall and Spring. October was filled with some happy memories, oh, and lots of sickness too.  This year, Leo and Amy really got into celebrating Halloween.  It was fun to watch them eat the candy, and participate in all the holiday activities.

Leo was Captain America.  This has got to be my favorite picture of the year of Leo.  We bought the costume way back in the summer, because when you find the right thing at the right price, you buy it!  He gets a swagger when he wears it.

This may be my all time favorite picture of Leo

Amy was a cat.   When we went to the fabric store for supplies, I drew a little picture of a cat and she carried all around and said, "cat."  She was not a huge fan of the costume however and didn't always want to wear it.  She never did wear the darling tutu we made to go with it.  Oh toddlers.

Leo's preschool class goes to the Belvedere Plantation for pumpkin picking and all sorts of harvest fun.  It happened to be on a day that Dad and Granny Lori could join.  Our favorite was the huge slide.  Leo insisted on riding himself and by the time I'd get to the bottom, he was already half way up the hill again.

 

 

We tried out the Air and Space Museum Halloween activity with some friends.  It was wild.  People everywhere.  I'm not sure we'll go back but Leo liked the planes.

What Amy did pretty much the whole time.  The toddler angst, I tell ya. 

We attended the ward party and all dressed up.  I'm not usually one to dress up but I didn't want to be the only party pooper so I threw a costume together.  The cake walk was the favorite activity.

The Swedish Chef, Cat, Captain America and Rosie the Riveter

We attend a little class on Fridays called toddler time with Jesus.  It's at a small Lutheran Church and they put on fun crafts, scensory activities, and talk about the Bible.  We had a little Halloween celebration there.  I tried to get Amy to wear her costume but she wasn't having it so I grabbed one out of the costume bin and put it on her.  Leo decided that he wanted to be a monkey and threw it on.  It's somewhat comical to me because when Leo was two, he was supposed to be a monkey for Halloween and would not wear it.  Oh the twos.  We all went over to the library Halloween parade afterward together. 

One of the mom's in our mom's group threw a Halloween party.  They have been hosting this party for several years and it's so cute to look back and see how much the kids have grown up together. 

  

My mom came into town for just over a week and it was a welcome change to see her. We so looked forward to her visit.  The kids warmed right up to her, which is a big deal for Amy.

My most favorite part of all was the night before Halloween.  I was feeling a little blue because all of my extended family was celebrating at a party together in Utah and then attending a baptism of my nephew.  I long to attend family events.  So, I decided that I'd throw a little party for our family.  Usually, I think that things need to be big and elaborate with a big group of people to make it feel like a holiday (I blame that on growing up with a large extended family) but I decided to keep it simple.  We made mummy hotdogs for dinner.  I looked everywhere for dry ice for Root Beer but didn't have any luck so instead we had A and W root beer floats.  We wrapped the kids up as mummies which turned into everybody running around and throwing toilet paper.  This was one of the most fun nights we've had together in a long time.  We laughed and played together and just genuinely enjoyed being together.  We carved up our pumpkins and lit them up on the porch.  Amy, who has been talking a lot more lately, went through and named them all.  I am going to treasure that memory as one of the happiest from this last year. 

 

We did a bit of trick or treating on Halloween with some friends.  This is the first year that Leo has really gotten into trick or treating. 

 

So there you have it.  One HUGE October post.  Forgive me, I'm too tired to break them down.   

The Monster Halloween Post

This is what our Halloween looked like last year.

We were packing up our house in Lorton, VA and finished with just a few minutes to trick or treat at about two houses.   I was exhausted, physically and emotionally. Can you believe that was only a year ago?

Here we are one year later.   Oh, what a year it has been and I am still reeling from it all.  However, I'm hopeful about our life here.  We celebrated Halloween big with all sorts of activities.  We pumpkin patched, we made "blue" cookies for Leo, we pumpkin carved and had the cutest little owl and fireman I've ever seen.

We attended the Ward Trunk or Treat

I even turned over a new leaf and put together a costume for myself this year.  My costume was "That Girl is on Fire," you know, like the song.  It was inspired by the glass artist Chihuli.  Have you ever seen the sculpture in Symphony Hall in Salt Lake?  That's a Chihuli. 

One of the Moms threw a Halloween party.  The kids were so cute and I couldn't help but reminisce about our little Leo the owl.  He is growing up so fast.

Some moms with our second babies.  Amy has some new little friends.

My sweet little Amy Owl.

We've been enjoying the fall colors.

Hanging out at a local nursery

Here we are making the requested "blue cookies"

 

Can I fit any more pictures into one post?  No.  There you have it, Halloween 2014.

"Who's" Ready for Halloween?

We are!!  So many more pictures to come.  Happy Halloween!

Head Banging and Pumpkin Booming

The Halloween season ended with a bang this weekend. Not a headbang as it would appear here but a real bang.

I've got to throw in a few pictures from Halloween before all the stuff from this weekend. Yes, we actually dressed up. Here we are.

Notice the nose ring. So hot.

Me with the Owls. Carly and her new babe.


A truly excited trick or treater.

and the whole crowd of darling niece and nephews, with some friends.

Now on to this weekend. Since winter is so long here, we had to do something to celebrate the end of fall and we did it with a bang on Saturday. I finally visited Weston Idaho, the neighbor of Napoleon Dynamite's hometown. How have I gone my whole life not visiting?

Our friends from the ward invited us up to witness the annual pumpkin blow. I'm not sure if that is it's technical name but we sure enjoyed ourselves. Here we are with the pile before.

And here we are after a case of dynamite has done it's work.

Here's the video. Yes, I am so happy I caught this on tape. Heb is the one laughing at the end. You can tell he loved it. Is this not the coolest tradition ever!!

Thank you for letting us join the other hundred people to witness this great event. Could we please come back next year?

The Truth About Halloween...

Halloween is not my favorite holiday. I'd say it ranks behind pretty much everything. It seems odd, I love sugar and candy of all varieties. I love a good holiday but I just can't seem to get into it.

Perhaps it's the decor. I've never been a fan of orange or creepy crawly things. I don't get into tomb stones or skeletons. I don't even like a good spiders web. Come to my house in October and you will see a colorful leaf wreath, pumpkins and one measly little sign that I don't think really counts as halloween decor.



I like the leaves, the autumn colors, the pumpkins but black and purple together topped with a leaky cauldron, really? I see people's yards and houses decked out and I can't seem to get into it. Come around at Christmas and that's another matter.

When I was little, I loved dressing up as Scarlet O'Hara or Cinderella. I loved the year of the pink bunny and the tooth fairy too. You should have seen my sisters as Rupunzel or Mermaids and the Astronaut year. But now that I'm older it just seems like such a hassle to pull together a costume for myself in the midst of school. Does anyone else feel this way? Am I a cheapy for not wanting to spend so much time and money on something I would wear once? Or even, not wanting to look really creepy?

In all of this, I thought I should include at least one picture of me dressed up. The last big one was back in my single days. I was a snow storm.

I've been really making an effort this year. We went down to the Pumpkin Walk - great time. The family went to the pumpkin patch to pick their perfect pumpkin and I'm planning some great seasonal treats, but...I just don't love it.

So, what gets you really excited about Halloween? Am I missing the big picture here? Any ideas for an easy costume? You can see I really need it!