Jimmy's Quote of the Day

Jimmy: "Mom, can we go to the place with the yucky food (aka: McDonald's) and play?"
Me: "No, not today honey."
Jimmy: "No mom, we won't eat anything there, we just want to play in the play structure."
Me: "I know, just we can't go there today."
Jimmy: "Well mom, maybe we can go there for dinner and you can eat there but we will just play."


Got to love the reasoning!

Halloween 2011

Halloween this year was a blast! We had a small party to go to on Saturday afternoon and it was really fun. Our main focus this year was Monday! First we started off with the Halloween party and parade at school. It is so cute to see all the kids dressed up in their costumes and my kids just love that I can be a part of it. Even my mom comes to join the festivities and they get even more excited to have Grandma be a part of things! All the kids parade around the school, into the district office and then around the block. Some of the neighbors were even dressed up and ready with treats to hand out to the kids. We headed back to school to get the kids ready for a group photo, then out of costumes and ready for lunch.

This was the best picture I could get from them.

After lunch, we headed home to wind down and get ready for the big night. During Alyssa's nap, Paige, Jimmy and I carved our pumpkins.

Paige working on her jack-o-lantern.

Jimmy working on his jack-o-lantern.

Cleaning out the pumpkins. Both were very eager to get their hands dirty this year!

Paige showing off her final product.

My only complaint this year was that I did not get very good pictures. I was having a too much of a good time, that in most cases I didn't whip out the camera. Like, I didn't get all 3 kids with their Jack-o-lanterns because Jimmy lost interest about halfway through the project and Alyssa was sleeping. By the time she woke up, it was time to get ready for the big evening and I completely forgot to take the picture.

For the big night this year, we hosted a get together with our friends. Even my brother and his wife came to enjoy the festivities. We had a pot luck dinner and we all got into costume to trick or treat. I managed a few group shots but didn't get enough of all the kids. Fortunately my sister-in-law took over my camera during trick or treating, so there were a few good shots there.

David, Dana & Izzi

Tom & Melissa

Lorraine, Seamus & Shayla

Rapunzel, Mother Gothel, Wolverine, Spider Man and a wee little Pumpkin.

My brother came over dressed as a zombie and Paige was deathly afraid of him. She would not come out of my bedroom and she was screaming and crying hysterically. We got her out to the living room and Uncle Tom was not allowed to look at her let alone even be in the same room as her. Nothing we could do would calm her down. She knew it was him, but was really afraid of his make-up. So we squeezed in all our photos and he washed off all his make-up. Then Paige was fine.

Making amends.

Uncle Tom was her best friend for the rest of the night. He even had to rescue poor Rapunzel from a few of the scary houses.

The kids had an absolute blast trick or treating. They were so gung ho this year. Especially Jimmy, who was always a house ahead of the pack. We kept having to tell him to slow down and wait for the rest of the group. We went around our block and hit both sides of the street. By the time we got back around to our house, Jimmy looked at me and said, "I am done. I want to go home now." It was so cute how matter-of-fact he said it. The surprise this year, was Alyssa. That little pumpkin hit three-quarters of the house before she tired out. Once she figured out that people would put candy into her little pumpkin bucket, she was charging the doors with the rest of the gang. Of course she doesn't talk, so she would just look up, with her little pacifier in her mouth and hold out her bucket. It was priceless.

It was an awesome night spent with our wonderful friends and family. Until next year...