Halloween 2012

I'm not sure what it is, but I think every time a holiday rolls around I find myself saying, "This is my favorite holiday". I've enjoyed every minute of fall this year and we've been keeping busy doing all things fall related!

 

This year we didn't really have a great plan for our costumes. Eleanor wanted to be a black cat so I thought we could all just be traditional Halloween icons. John was a white ghost, I was a vampire, Eleanor the black cat, Amelia a witch (and a princess) and our little Jude was Frankenstein.

We started the day at Eleanor's school for the little parade.  I think both John and I embarrassed her because she would not look at us! It was actually pretty dang funny!

The weather was so nice today and John is on his two week vacation so we started putting up Christmas lights. Amelia and Jude loved being outside. Jude discovered Amelia's motorcycle and I couldn't get him off it! Amelia couldn't put her "baby" down all day.

Amelia is one stubborn little girl. She refused to wear her witch costume to the ward halloween party last week and had no plans of wearing tonight. She threw a huge fit because she only wanted to be a princess. Finally after a lot of bribes she decided to be a witch.

 I wanted Jude to be Frankenstein because he still kind of walks pretty funny. He was a pretty good sport about his makeup and even wore the little headband with bolts for a little bit of the night. The kid LOVED trick-or-treating! He totally knew what was going on. When we passed a house he would throw a fit and try going back to the house. He waved to everyone who answered the door and every trick-or-treater we passed. When he got home he was pretty proud of his loot and carried it around all night.

 Eleanor was totally into Halloween this year, and I loved it!! She and Lilly had the time of their lives running around our neighborhood. After knocking all the doors in lower part of our neighborhood with the littles, John took them to the upper part alone. Previous years we have gotten away with just doing the lower loop but this year she wanted more! While John took Eleanor and Lilly I stayed behind and passed out candy. I love dressing up and scarring the kids when I open the door.  For some reason the kids were extra jumpy this year!

 Of course, we had our traditional dinner in a pumpkin. I don't think my kids really like this, but I do and I have no plans of not continuing this fun tradition.

Last year I took the kids to their dentist the day after Halloween to sell their candy. The office buys it for $2 a pound and my kids think this is pretty awesome! So, I've decided to let them eat what they want on Halloween night and then the next morning I let them pick out 5 pieces of candy before we sell it. Honestly, I think I really do this so I'm not the one eating all the candy!

Little Amelia went a little overboard on eating candy! The girl loves her candy and I just pray she doesn't puke later tonight!

Overall, it was a very successful Halloween and I guess it's time to start switching into the Holiday mode. Bring it on!

Pumpkins and Ghost

This year we decided to forego carving pumpkins and just went with stickers. The girls loved it and I loved not having to clean up any mess! We also enjoyed some really cute and yummy smores! I think we are all going to be sad when the Halloween festivities come to an end.

This Little Stink Is Three

This crazy little stink turned three and I only wish the saying "terrible two's" was true. That would mean we would be leaving the "terribles" behind but sadly, we are just entering into the terrible threes! Amelia has always been easy going from day one. For example, at just four and five months old I was able to travel transatlantic without having to stand up ONCE! She has always been super easy, sweet and loving...until recently. She's developed quite a stubborn streak and is constantly pushing every one's buttons! She is still her usual sweet and easy going kid about 50% of time and she switches at the drop of a hat (or a tap from her brother or sister!).  I know this is totally normal for three year olds and I need to remember to just enjoy her and not get too frustrated with her! She really is such a fun little girl! She was away for two nights and I missed her like crazy (at the same time I also enjoyed the quiet).

Some of my favorite things about this three year old:

* She is really into rings right now. She got 5 little ones the first few hours into our Disneyland trip and she didn't loose one of them during our entire week in CA.

* She loves her long hair! She just recently started combing or playing with it all the time.When she gets mad at me or Eleanor she is quick to let us know we don't have long hair like her.

* She loves to go on play dates and spend the night at people's house. She is always asking me to "leave me at ________ house".

* When ever she is being babysat she'll tell the person she wishes they were her mom/dad. (Yeah, makes me feel real special!)

* She loves to copy her sister and will do anything she does. Right now she is always asking me how to spell or write certain words.

* She is LOUD. I don't really love this, but I appreciate it.

* She has one major sweet tooth and she loves my diet pepsi!

* She can spend all day outside and does if the weather permits.

* She plays with her kitten like it's a baby.

* She is pretty athletic. Loves riding bikes, scooters and jumping on the tramp.

* She loves Peter Pan and Cinderella

* She loves baby dolls.

* She'll stop or do anything if you threaten to call Santa.

* She does not like to be sung Happy Birthday to.

* She loves hording things and carrying collections of things in little bags.

* She's always a mess!

* She only likes her hair in "piggy tails" not "pony tails"

* She is quick to give a hug and kiss if she thinks you are crying.

* She is very good to apologize.

* She has to BEST smile.

* If she doesn't like someone she'll say, "they aren't my cousin".

* She is very loyal to Eleanor and Amelia.

* She loves Henry and thinks she's his mom.
 
* She loves going to dance class and always has to wear a sweater.

* She says really embarrassing things out in public and remember she's loud.

* When she likes what I make for dinner she'll say, "this is delicious".

I'm sure there's about a million other little things I love about this girl! She really is such a fun little person to have around and we all love her to death!!

Amelia's Birthday Lunch

Our last day in Disneyland was the day before Amelia's birthday but we thought it would be fun to just let her believe it was her actual birthday. We surprised the girls with new dresses and lunch with all the princess at Ariel's Grotto. Amelia was so cute with each princess. Cinderella is her favorite and she couldn't stop hugging and talking to her.  I love how much she loved all the princesses. It was so magical for her! It was such a fun birthday lunch!