Halloween Festivities

Halloween really crept up on me this year, especially with our travels to Utah. But we had a lot of fun and managed to fit in lots of things. On Friday, the girls enjoyed Hallween parties at school. I'm actually surprised given the strict nature of our school's environment, they still manage to have a very fun Halloween celebration each year! The parade is my favorite part for sure, and this year we even had decent weather! I loved being able to visit each of the girl's classrooms...we made homemade twix on a stick for Ashton's class- so yummy. In Jordan's classroom, Cole cashed in on the snacks and even jumped in the class picture. Regan also had fun at preschool- she just kept talking about how they played musical chairs.

Friday evening was spent eating chili and carving pumpkins with the Garner clan. We had 7 kids and 7 pumpkins to carve, and it was actually a pretty calm affair. The kids had a great time and we even learned some new carving techniques from the Garners. After the last pumpkin was carved, we took some photos on the porch. It made me think of how we have spent much of our Iowa journey with these special friends- when they moved to Iowa, their youngest was just a baby and Cole and Regan weren't even born. Our numbers have grown, but our friendship has remained strong. It is always fun to get together. We always do a lot of laughing.

Last night was trick or treating and as I have said before, we have the best trick or treat neighborhood! People go all out with decorating and treats. It is a lot of fun. The best moment of the night was when a fake spider dropped down on the side of a house right by Ashton's ear. She screamed so loud- classic!

Just a note about the costumes:

Ashton decided to be Dorothy after seeing Wizard of Oz this summer. Her Grandma Cindy made the costume and it was beautiful. I could not get over how well it turned out. Of course, Ashton wanted all the details down to the braids and red shoes.

Jordan chose to be a witch, and she wore the witch costume my mom had made for me when I was just her age. That was pretty cool. Seeing Jordan in that costume was like looking at my self 28 years ago. Wow.

Regan picked her costume out at Target over a month ago. She spotted that ladybug and that was it. She made it perfectly clear though, she wasn't a lady bug, she was Ladybug Girl, who is a character in a favorite book we read.

What is there to say about Cole? Ashton so wanted him to be her dog Toto. We bought him a dog costume and I knew there would be no way he would wear it. We tried several different times over the last few weeks and he freaked out everytime he even saw the thing. Last night I forced it on him for pictures but he wouldn't even wear it down the street. He trick or treated in his white shirt and jeans. One guy said he went as "the boy next door". That works. Cole was funny to watch because he insisted on walking and he tried to give the people handing out the treats the candy.

All in all, we have had a very fun-filled few days. Let the candy-eating begin!