Halloween

Because we had done costume pictures early, Halloween could be a lot less hassle and more fun. Ethan wore his costume to school and later in the day I went an helped during their class party. I helped the kids make spider hats with lots of eye balls. They had a good time.

When we got home, we waited for Mart to get home and then got all dressed up and headed to Lee's for their store trick or treating. We met my mom and my brother and his family over there. After Lee's we went to Macey's for some more store trick or treating.

Knowing my kids as well as I do, I insisted at that point that we go home, take a little break, eat some real food (to balance out all the treats they would eat during the course of the night) and then get ready and head back out for some neighborhood trick or treating.

We went around our block to see all of Ethan's friends and when we were finished, we headed up to my Grandma's neighborhood like we usually do.

Because Lincoln is FINALLY potty trained (thank the heavens above), in the middle we had to take a quick little break for him. :) Thankfully he can just go on a tree.

My Grandma's used to be the place to go, but this year it seemed like at least half of the houses were dark and nobody was home. I think next year we'll just go around our own neighborhood instead.

Once we got home and out of costumes, the boys sorted and traded their treats.

I think they had a great time! Happy Halloween!

Costumes and Pre-Halloween Photo Shoot

I love Halloween. Mart loves Halloween. It is our holiday. In fact, 10 years ago we got engaged ... on Halloween! :) It's been a little more stressful with very small children, but is starting to get more fun the bigger they are getting.

When I am able, my goal is homemade costumes for Halloween. It's not always possible, but when it is, I want it done right. One night when I was needing a break from home, Ber and I headed to Joann's to pick out costume fabric. She is always fun to go fabric shopping with and has great ideas and input. 

What I came home with:

I always get excited about the pile of fabric I bring home and excited to see the finished product. And then, I get really nervous that I'm not going to be able to pull it off the way I see it in my head. 

I had some major problems with my serger and after many hours of trying to solve the problem, threw that idea out the window and had to just rely on my sewing machine and double stitching everything.

 

Every year I have the plan to go take Halloween pictures somewhere fun before Halloween so we aren't stressed and rushed for cute photos on the actual day. It never works out, but this year it did! The day before, my mom and I headed up the canyon for a pre-Halloween photo shoot. In no particular order, I introduce you to Sir Knight (with helmet), The King Knight, and the little Princess.

The boys loved their costumes and I think they turned out great! Everything fit perfectly and nothing fell apart. Success! Bring on Halloween!

Pumpkin Carving

Every year we go to Kace's house for some pumpkin carving fun. The last few years, I have either had a new baby or an exhausted baby or something going on and I wasn't able to help carve the pumpkins. This year, I was elbow deep in pumpkin guts this year and forgot to stop and take some pictures of the actual pumpkin carving.

My boys were super excited this year to carve pumpkins and were counting down for a couple of weeks. We ended up buying pumpkins from a guy Mart works with that has a farm, so they were huge! It meant a lot of guts scraping. I have been so out of practice, it took me forever to get Lincoln's cleaned out, but in the end, he really liked it.

Mart's pumpkin:

Ethan's pumpkin:

Lincoln's pumpkin:

Happy almost Halloween!