The Most Wonderful time of the Year

HALLOWEEN

My favorite holiday has come and gone. This is how it went down this year:

I threw a little Halloween party for Oliver and his preschool group.
We tagged along with some of our friends to go trick-or-treating
Gabby was Dorothy (again, I got to remember how much I really hate sewing as I once again made her costume)
the group:
I'm throwing these next two pictures in of Oliver as Dwight (from the Office), even though he was Charlie Brown on Halloween (we dressed the poor boy up as Dwight for a party earlier in the month)
Gabby as Dorothy:
Alex as a Star Wars bobble head:
And here's one of Oliver's Charlie Brown costume (which Noah made!)

Why Hello October

October is my favorite month, simply because Halloween is my favorite holiday. And this year, I'm really getting into it, and it's only just begun.

To start out, over the weekend, we ventured into the middle of nowhere to find this creepy stone head (an entire town was named after this--look it up: Stone Head, Indiana). On our arrival, Noah's truck tire went flat. sPoOky.
statue etiquette: always mimic statue poses for photo ops.
When we were finally able to get the spare tire on the truck, we ventured into the woods for a spooky hike to a run down house. This is the only picture I got during our hike:
Our timing was a little off, so on our way back from the "house" (a tree had demolished what was left of it), it got dark. Thankfully, I had been a smart mother, investing in those glow bracelets and necklaces (it's a rare thing that I'm the prepared parent) so we didn't lose a single kid!

The terrain was super rough; we had to scale ravines with kids in tow, slide down (or fall down) steep slopes. And Gabby was absolutely petrified--of everything! First it was mountain lions, then after seeing the house collapsed with the fallen tree, Gabby became convinced that a tree would fall on her at any second and crush her, then it was the fear of lime disease (tick territory, you know), and at last when we reached the cars in complete darkness, Noah honked the horn using his remote and Gabby nearly fainted with worry, assuming the truck would plow through the forest and run her over (never mind the fact that no one was in the truck).
But we made it. With dirt on our bums, we lived to tell the tale!
In other news, I've decorated my house! I kind of went all out this year (something I've always wanted to do, but never have). I finally feel at home in my house: the trim is painted, the walls have color, and now the bats are up!

Happy Halloween month!

Hallow's Eve '09

Yesterday was perhaps the funnest Halloween of my adult life. Why you ask? Because I got to relive my childhood and trick-or-treat with the same person I trick-or-treated with when I was a young'un--Adrea (better pictures to come when Adrea emails me her pix hint hint). And Gabby's costume was a success. She wore it to school on Friday and told me how "annoying" it was that everyone kept saying, "oh Gabby, you look so beautiful. . ." and "Wow, I love your dress." Gabby's teacher took her around to all the teachers, office workers and even the school nurse, telling everyone that Gabby's mom MADE the dress. In reality, Gabby loved every ounce of attention, she just likes playing it cool.

In Alex's enthusiasm, he jumped out of the stroller to ring each doorbell, frequently forgetting his trick-or-treat bag.

Oliver wore my favorite chicken costume (the one both Gabby and Alex have worn). Henry (Josh and Adrea's son) was Max from "Where the Wild Things Are."

And Ari (Alex's favorite baby in the whole world) was a Wild Thing.

Adrea made both costumes so she beat me out for mother of the month since I only made Gabby's. There's always next year though. . .
For dinner, we had eyeball soup, sandWITCHES, smokin' cider and pumpkin pie while the kids watched a movie (Noah permitted them to eat when we were all done).

Best holiday EVER!

Costume Peak

I remember more Halloween costumes than I remember Christmas gifts. Maybe that's why I tortured myself making another costume for Gabby--because I want her to love Halloween just as much as I did and do.

That said, I have finally finished Gabby's costume with 5 days to spare!
It took me one weekend of staying up until 2 AM so she better remember it forever and be a good teenager, otherwise I take back all the late nights.

Aren't you just dying to see what Gabby looks like in the dress? Well you'll just have to wait...