Halloween!

The day started off well - festive breakfast treats devised at the last minute! Hayden liked hers, but Eliza requested that next time I not put on the candy corn. Because she has to pull it off to eat it. Such a hard life!

ingredients: whole wheat English muffin, Nutella, candy corn, marshmallows

Then we got Hayden dressed up as Fancy Nancy for school. Her school wasn't allowing Halloween costumes but the kindergarten/1st graders were doing Camp Read-A-Lot and they were supposed to dress up as their favorite book character. We found as many accessories as we could, curled her hair (she was so excited about this) and she looked awfully fancy!

so fancy!

look at that fancy hair!

The rest of the day was fairly low-key until the afternoon. Then we attacked our pumpkins since we had to have jack-o-lanterns for Halloween night. For the first time ever, Hayden jumped right into pulling out the pumpkin guts, but Eliza was not interested in touching them. Molly thought it was really fun to come check out the pumpkins and play put-the-lid on the pumpkin. Somehow I managed to keep anyone from hurting themselves on the knives and we still had some cute looking jack-o-lanterns!

checking out the pumpkins, pre-carving

pumpkin photo opportunity!

you took a pic of the trashcan, you ask? no, I took a picture of the view I had when I looked up from the pumpkin, with my hands covered in pumpkin goo.

she especially enjoyed dropping the little lid into the big pumpkin

ahh, foiled by your big sister!

love her face this! Eww!

plotting the jack-o-lantern face details

like I'm going to touch that stuff...

Cheese!

more pumpkin photo ops! (notice Molly poking the eye socket!)

We had pizza and veggies for dinner and then it was time to get dressed up. Hayden wanted to keep her 'fancy nancy' hairstyle, and otherwise dress up like a ballerina. Eliza decided on the blue princess dress (yes it's Cinderella but she wasn't that specific). We attempted some costume pictures but I think it's time for me to face the facts - I am terrible at costume pictures. The kids are super cute but somehow I cannot capture it very well. Just know that they were SO much cuter in person!

only way to get them to stay still was to get them to clap hands.

this is them NOT being still for a costume pick

look at those cute jack-o-lanterns! (at least they hold still!)

 We headed out for trick-or-treating. Popop graciously agreed to stay behind and eat hand out the candy. The girls were super excited (duh!) and did a GREAT job of walking all over, being polite and getting candy. After a few reminders about saying thank you, we gave Hayden a figurative gold star for remembering on her own. Reward-oriented as she is, Hayden got very into earning more gold stars by saying thank you and complimenting people on their Halloween decorations. "I get a gold star, don't I Daddy? I said thank you!" And our threats about trading candy for complaints, made for a mostly whine-free evening!

brrrr! let's get going!

checking out the selection of the talking candy bowl.

trick-or-treat!

Molly changed from monkey to dog midway thru the evening, and I turned into a princess!

  After making it up and down our entire street, we came inside and checked out the loot. Molly loved taking the candy out and putting it back in the pumpkin buckets. Hayden choose a peppermint patty and skittles as her two treats (mint and fruit?! uck!). I don't remember what Eliza had. Molly just got to play with the candy, not eat it! Then it was time for bath and bed and they fell asleep very quickly.

the loot!

caught ya red-handed!

did you know sock monkeys like candy?

Happy Halloween!!!!

By the way, Molly did have a back up costume. In your best Adam Sandler voice say, Look at me, I'm crazy socks hands! GIVE ME SOME CANDY!

she thinks this is HILARIOUS to have socks on her hands!