Happy Halloween!!!

Happy Halloween everyone! How was everyone's day? Are you already all "Halloween'd out?" We're not. And we've been at it since Thursday! Yes, Thursday. Logan had his Preschool, Halloween Day. Since he only goes to school Tuesday-Thursday, Thursday was our day to celebrate. Logan, Daniella, and I dressed up. We packed up our Halloween cookies, that we made and decorated. And all those bags for the class. It was such a fun day. Daniella got to be in the parade too. She was loving it! Getting to hangout with all the big kids.

Friday was also a crazy day! We all headed to the hospital, right after Ethan and Madelyn were out of school. Dressed up. To hangout with some of the kiddos and their families. There were lots of crafts, cookie and cupcake decorating, and some fun movies. We had a blast! It didn't hurt that Patrick came out, dressed up like Dracula. The kids loved it!

Friday night, we all "vegged out." Ordered pizza, and watched 3 Halloween movies. Patrick worked. Secretly, I can bet, that he's been looking forward to this week. You'd be surprised by the people you will see in the hospital. Crazy!

Saturday night, Patrick and I headed to the Halloween Ball. It's a fundraiser for the hospital. That I've been slaving at for months! It turned out great. And Patrick and I had an incredible time! Lots of good food, fun friends, raising money, and dancing the night away.

By Sunday, I didn't want to get out of bed. But the 2nd of the hospital fundraisers was Sunday. A Family Event. A Halloween Carnival and Trunk-or-Treating. So much fun! All the hospital staff came, dressed up, and with their families. A lot of money was raised. The hospital is trying to add another "Playground" for the kids. And they're so expensive!

And today hasn't disappointed either! Ethan and Madelyn had their Halloween parties at school. Oh ya! More Halloween treats. The 5 of us dressed up. The entire school was so fun! It was a like a Halloween Carnival. The different booths had fun Halloween games, that were educated. So fun! Patrick came by, during his lunch break. Dressed up! So that we could all enjoy a "Goblin Lunch" together. :)

After school, we came home. The kids were so excited! We made a yummy, Halloween inspired dinner. It was a special dinner too. Patrick was able to join us. Honestly, from Monday-Friday, we rarely have dinner as a family. My hubby usually doesn't come home until the kids' bedtime. Sad. But true. Tonight, was definitely a treat!

Our regular babysitter came by. She handed out candy for us. I didn't want to miss the trick-or-treating. But I also didn't want to be the only neighbor, not handing out candy. And our family went trick-or-treating. I've never seen so much candy in my life! Tomorrow, our kids are going to pick out their favorites. Then, we're going to donate the rest. To the troops. I'd rather that they have our candy. And it not go to waste. Yes, our family had a great time! I can't wait until next year. Now I'm  going to go enjoy some chocolate...

Our Sons and Lights

Let me start off by saying this, in our family, we LOVE the holidays! All of them. We try to make every holiday so special. But the one thing, that Patrick and I have never been really good at, is putting up lights outside. I just don't know where to start. And Patrick is always working.

We never decorated outside our home, small apartment, or house, until Ethan was born. Then we bought some lights. When we lived in the SW, and had 2 small children, we paid the interns to hang our lights. And usually, we had them over for dinner too. It was great! And then, after the holidays, they'd come back, take them down, and put them all away. Bless them!

When we moved out here, we had a little more money, and a lot more home. We invested in some new lights. Previously, we'd been using Christmas lights, that had been my in-laws. We loved them! But couldn't find enough to cover our new home. Because those lights were from the 1960s. Patrick and I decided on clear lights. And we bought so many!

Nowadays, we pay a group of guys to come put them up. Yes, I still have no clue where to begin. And Patrick is still working over 100 hours a week! So our wonderful gardening buddies come help us out. Over the last few years, we've added some cute Christmas signs. And a few fun characters. Including a Santa. But nothing too crazy. No music. No blinking lights.

But recently, the "Halloween House," has been all over the news! My sons are so into it. Every time it comes on the TV, they have to watch it. The other night, Patrick looked up the video on YouTube. And my sons were in heaven! Then they noticed, there were other songs. For over 2 hours, Patrick and the boys watched these videos. This is their favorite!



Now our sons are begging Patrick, to decorate our house. To add some music. Get lots of fun lights. Oh, I think we're in trouble! I found some papers this morning, for "plans." For this Christmas. And next Halloween. I think Patrick needs to start studying holiday lights...

Dressing Up

Halloween costumes. Usually, they're an easy subject around here. We order Halloween costumes in early September. That way we get, what we want. Oh, and with my first 2 kiddos, I got to pick out their costumes, until they were 5. Yes, when they started school, they wanted to pick out their costumes.

But this year was a whole other issue! Life got busy, and before I knew it, it was mid September. OK, it was only 2 weeks off schedule. Not too bad. I sat each one of our kids down, and we searched for their perfect costumes. Logan and Daniella knew exactly what they wanted to be. Months ago!

Logan wanted to be Mr. Potato Head. It had been talked about, since the summer. My son is only 3! But he knew exactly what he wanted. And we were OK with that. Until, we couldn't find the costume anywhere! He hid under his bed for 2 hours, before finally agreeing to find something else. Too bad I'm not crafty. It doesn't look like a hard costume to make. Maybe I should really invest in a sewing machine...

We compromised on a Train Conductor. "Just like Thomas' friend." I don't know. Logan said it. I just went with it. And he was happy. When the costume came in the mail, he was over the moon! But the Mr. Potato Head, he's still asking about it. We'll get to that in another post...

Daniella was easy as pie! Since we went to Disney World, and honestly, before that, she's been all about Minnie Mouse. This costume happened to be on the front page. Although, there were cuter ones, she was hooked on this one. I also picked up some tights and cute shoes. Let's just say this, our baby knows exactly what she wants. Exactly! I'm starting to believe, our 2 youngest are going to be more opinionated, than our oldest 2. :)

Costume picking took a little more time than I thought. Especially when it came to Madelyn. She couldn't decide what she wanted to be. There were some pondering and searching going on. Lots of talking involved. Asking of friends, what are they dressing up as. Changing our minds. And finally settling on a Gypsy. I don't think Madelyn was 100% sure, when we ordered it. But now that she has it, I'm positive, that she's so happy with her choice. And all the gold jewelry that we bought too! Pretty fancy for my 1st grader...

I've said it at least a hundred times before, Ethan is so easy going! He's just like Patrick. When we visited NASA this summer, he was over the moon. My son, is totally a science and math kid. OK, he likes sports too. But you know what I mean. On the ride from NASA to our hotel, he turned and told me, "Mom, I want to be an astronaut for Halloween. Because I want to work for NASA when I grow up." Really? Easy as that. It took us all of 2 seconds, to decide on which costume he wanted.

And that left Patrick and I. We need to dress up for this "Halloween Ball" that we're going to attend. We don't usually dress up as a couple. But we thought it would be fun. And we don't have to worry about warmth. We're going to be wearing these costumes to the ball. And our costumes from last year when we take the kids trick-or-treating. Dracula and a witch. After lots of talking, dying with the prices, and negotiating, we settled on Cleopatra and Mark Anthony. Isn't that fun? I can't wait until Halloween! It's going to be fun. The makeup and jewelry are going to be so fun too!

And honestly, I can't wait to see my hubs dressed up! I'm telling you, this is going to be a fun Halloween. It's going to be so busy. But I'm positive that we're going to enjoy ourselves. And for next year, I need to remember, to get our order in earlier. It was a little stressful this year. I'm sure Logan would appreciate that. Did I mention? He's still talking about Mr. Potato Head...

Wickedly Cute Pillows!

I think I've mentioned on here, a time or two, that I really enjoy the Etsy shop, Little Miss Momma. Have you checked out Ashley's blog? It's also a must see! But I recently came across some of her Halloween pillows, and I'm struggling not to go and buy them all! They'd definitely add some fun to our house.

How about a little trick or treat fun? I think these would be perfect in a chair. Looking outside. Something fun to greet visitors.

Or these cuties! I'd love to put a dozen of these, on our couch. In the family room. Because they're so fun and playful!

Maybe you're feeling a little wicked. This would be a fun pillow to add into the mix. Definitely a conversation starter!

But my favorites are these "Wicked Witch" pillows. Perfect! And do you notice how cute, all these pillows look together?

Yes, I've been dreaming about adding these beauties, to our house. And our Halloween decor. What do you think? Something you like too? Do you have any other fun, and festive ideas for me? I'd love to hear about them. I'd also love to find some new Etsy shops, to fall in love with. :)

Halloween Wreath

I was just searching, for a fun Halloween wreath idea. I want something really fun, for our side door. The one that our family uses, to come in and go out through. As a family, we rarely use the front doors. Those doors, are used for company. And they already have gorgeous wreaths on them.

I've been searching and searching. I seen some black wreaths at Target. But they're pretty pricey, for what they are. Nothing fancy. And honestly, nothing too fun. Basically, they're wreaths made out of black flowers. And they were $40 a piece. Not too fun. Now you know why, I was so excited, when I saw this picture.

Let me start out by saying, I'm not a "crafty person." Not at all! I want to be. I'm just not there. Yet. I'm trying to be more and more crafty. This might just be the project, that turns me into a "Crafty Maven." :) This wreath looks like it's made out of a wire ring, some tulle, and some ribbon. Possibly, the tulle is just tied on? I can handle this!

Looks like Daniella and I have to take a shopping trip. I want to make a big wreath like this. I'm pretty sure, we'll all enjoy it. Just something fun. To make the whole family smile.