The Big Halloween Post

I have so many pictures to share from our Halloween adventures that I just had to make time to post them. Halloween was more of a success than we anticipated (partly because we go into things with very low expectations these days!) so it's fun for me to describe our adventures. Lauren decided she wanted to be Snow White this year (mainly because we had a Snow White DVD from the library the week I made her decide) and a beautiful Snow White she was. I did a mini-photo-shoot with her on the afternoon of Halloween, and here's my little model:

 

 

 

She spent most of the day in her costume, as kids were encouraged to wear a costume to Sunday school that morning. I did a little shopping with her in the afternoon, and she adored all of the attention she got from other shoppers. Halloween night, we had a quick dinner of "mummy dogs" that Lauren helped to make, and then we got ready for some trick-or-treating.

 

Jonathan wanted to have nothing to do with his costume (a hand-me-down monster costume from his cousin) and we didn't want to push the issue. I would much rather have a happy boy than a dressed-up boy. Instead, we put him in his Halloween jammies from Grandma, and we were good to go!

 

 

Lauren had been excited for weeks about trick-or-treating, so we knew she would love it. But Jon has a strong dislike of strangers (to put it nicely) and we weren't expecting much from him. At the first house, he immediately wanted me to pick him up, so I hung back with him while Lauren went to the door. But as soon as he saw the candy being passed out, he wanted to get in on the action! By the third or fourth house, he was walking up to the door all by himself and grabbing candy out of the bowl. I even had to keep him from going into the houses. ("Mom, they have giant bowls of candy in there! Why would we not go in?!")

 

 

We went to most of the houses along our street before the kids were worn out. Then we headed home for a sugar high:

 

 

Overall, a much more successful outing than anticipated. I love seeing my kids have such fun!

Before ending this post, I have a few more Halloween events to share with you. Going back in time, we spent the day before Halloween doing some fun pumpkin-related activities. Lauren adores every holiday, so I like to make the most of them! The kids helped bake a cake with me--not because we needed more sugar at our house, but mainly because we had special Halloween sprinkles that we wanted to use. Both kids now help with stirring and licking when we bake something. :) Lauren can even measure ingredients and crack the eggs on her own.

 

Our final product:

 

We also carved our pumpkins on Saturday night. Jonathan had no interest in the whole thing, but Lauren drew the face and then helped Daddy carve the pumpkin.

 

 

 

 

 

Going back in time again, the Thursday before Halloween was trick-or-treating at Farmers' Market in SLO. Many of the stores stay open late and the kids can go in and get candy from the shops. Lauren was a beautiful Snow White then, too, and Jonathan wore his pumpkin shirt. It has become a fun tradition for us, but the crowds are insane! We lasted about an hour before being totally overwhelmed.

 

 

This is the only picture I got while we were there, before the crowds took over.

 

And last but not least, I have a bunch of pictures to share from our trip to the pumpkin patch two weeks ago. (I never got to post them because strep throat hit the next day.) Thankfully, we all had fun at that outing, too, running through the corn maze, looking at the animals, and picking out pumpkins. All those photos are up at Our Photo Site--just remember the password is alittleweyel. Thanks for sharing in all of our Halloween fun!!