Halloween!

On Thursday we had a fun Joy School Halloween Party. We invited lots of other kids, so there was a great turn out and everyone had a lot of fun. Above is Cinderella with a couple of her good little buddies - Tinkerbell and Jedi.


Greg stayed home with Julia while she napped and to my surprise they showed up to the party later - Julia all dressed up! William was admiring her little costume...or maybe just admiring her :-) (His mom and I think they'll make a cute couple someday.)

Bean bag toss and apple bobbing...





The kids did some fun crafts in addition to the bean bag toss and bobbing for apples, and just plain had fun playing outside in the beautiful weather. I wasn't surprised that Molly dipped her face right in for the apple bobbing. She didn't get the apple, but I thought she made a great effort! Elizabeth, on the other hand, decided that she didn't want to do it because, as she said, "There would be too many people looking at me, Mom." (This is a common fear of hers.)


Cinderella, Tinkerbell, Peter Pan, Ariel, and the little cheetah.


The weather was absolutely perfect for Trick or Treating! We had our friends come with us and the dads and kids had so much fun collecting candy throughout the neighborhood. I enjoyed passing out the little trinkets (play-doh, bouncy balls, bubbles, pop-up toys) and seeing all the kids get excited to get the toys. Afterwards we had a yummy dinner. It was quite the pleasant evening! (Except for that we missed you, Katie!)

The next morning we dumped out the pumpkins to look at the candy (as is our ritual now). The girls are very curious and like to look at all the different shapes and sizes of loot they collect - even though they don't desire to eat it. Dad collected a bag of candy to keep for later, and we packed up the rest to give away. The girls excitedly talked about the toy they were going to get in exchange for their candy. Then they set off to Costco with Dad to get their Princess and Pony set that we had previously decided would be THE Halloween toy. When they got home we were about to head back out the door to Greg's sister's house for the day, so they patiently kept the toys in their boxes until we arrived. The whole way, everytime Greg and I looked in the rearview mirror, the girls were just sitting there with the big boxes in their hands, their faces barely peeping over the top. Just waiting to open them. Their grandma, aunt, uncle, and cousins, were more than happy to join in the fun and help them open the toys. It was so much fun to watch. And I love how we have been able to create traditions that work better for us, that don't revolve around the food and candy.