Thursday, November 01, 2012

Happy Halloween 2012

This is our 5th Halloween as parents and each year it gets more fun and exciting seeing the kids get into it so much more every year.  A look back at previous Halloweens make me laugh to myself seeing their costumes and little itty bitty faces and transport myself back to that day each year I remember so vividly.

Lily's first Halloween as our little peanut which was her nickname while she was in my tummy tum tum.  She was about 6 months old here and David and I were pinching ourselves with excitement that we could finally do all the kid stuff we longed to do for so many years.


Lily second Halloween at a year and a half looking adorable as Minnie and it almost seems odd that she doesn't have her partner in crime Grady with her.


Then we finally were a family of 4 for our third halloween...Grady was weeks old and Lily was a ripe 2.5 wondering what just happened when her world was rocked with this new little dude who kept hanging around.


Then last year which was our fourth Halloween, Grady just turned 1 and Lily was 3.5..Molly mentioned months before Halloween  how much Grady resembled Charlie Brown with his big pumpkin head and I raced to my phone to google Charlie Brown and Snoopy costumes.  I think they were ordered and en route to my house within an hour of her passing comment.  David nicknames me IGK for 'Instant Gratification Kelly' because when I want something, it's hard for me to be patient and I jump at it full force and the wheels start turning where I want it right away.  Case in point to their Halloween costumes ordered months before the big day an hour after Molly said Grady reminded her of good ole Chuck.


Leaving the time machine away we head into 2012 for one of my favorite costume pairs they've worn yet.  Granted... there's only been 3 of them together, but still.  Lily said she wanted to be Dora for months so we thought Grady should be Boots, but the more we brainstormed, his personality is more like Swiper the Fox.  Sly, cute, and swipes your heart just with his smile.  I found a lady who could make a Boots or Swiper costume so we had a family meeting at Hurricanes and decided Swiper would be her Halloween-Mate.




he has never been one to wear hats and always took them off seconds after trying them on, but he never touched this hoodie which blew me away.  He cracked me up the way he carried on like he wasn't dressed up with a tail and ski mask.  It's kinda like he didn't want to break the Halloween dress code.


oh that tail gets me every time.


and a duo was set.  Lily's costume makes me laugh and I don't know my favorite part.


Of course the wig is hilarious, but then the big shoes, back pack, high shorts, and map she drew cracks me up.  Then for some reason Dora is a little Hoochie momma because her costume of shirt/shorts is one piece and no matter how I put it on her, repositioned, loosened it, it is made just so that Dora show off her belly.  What is the reason for this?  I looked at every doll and cartoon and there's Dora showing off her 6 pack abs.  So we played along.  Hoochie sounds a lot like Hutchie these days.



just as cute from behind.

dig in...


every trunk or house or bucket of candy that  Lily visited, we told her to just choose one piece, but she would get an extra piece of candy...at first I thought she was being greedy, but when questioned she told me she had to get an extra one for Grady every single time.  be still my heart.



They were turning some heads and we heard many Dora taglines and songs on our travels...and lots of stares.



and Lily fit in like one of the girls. (notice the wig malfunction...we had it down to a science by the big night)


Lil and G's parents tried to look cute like them, but we failed miserably for the annual pumpkin patch picture


Halloween isn't just one night anymore...leading up to it, there are Halloween parties to go to, Halloween events at the mall, at the church,  at the local park,  at the zoo, at the pumpkin patch and I was desperately trying to balance between going crazy with costume parties every other day not wanting to miss anything then to chill and not being frazzled once 10/31 actually happened.  We hit a lot of them and one of them was at the mall.  We were gonna skip it because Lily's soccer game conflicted, but once we heard that Cinderella and Elmo were going to be there, it was a no brainer.  So we managed to do both.  Nothing better than doing a costume change in the back of the car.  Said no one ever. (credit ecard for that joke)


I think Uncle Dan did a better job, but we played along.  This was the most matted Elmo I'd ever seen.  Elmo needs a root conditioner treatment or something.


Let's throw Spidey and fist pumping in for good measure.


So the big day arrived and Lil kept asking what we were going to be like it was assumed we were going to dress up.  She'd "Mommy, I wonder what you and daddy are gonna dress up as...maybe you could be Cinderella and daddy could be Boots." like it was really stumping her.  It was very cute how she kept asking and brainstorming with me so my friend Katie let me borrow some her cute costumes for us.  I was  a goddess of course and D was peace man.  We brought along Dora and Swiper too so we'd fit in.


Lil was in a major funk when the games began and I was about to whip the Dora wig off her head and call it a night, but once she realized only happy kids got the goods, she (not so) quickly snapped out of it.  This pic is mid-funk.  I'm hiding behind Grady which I thought was pretty clever of me.  Can you spot the Goddess?  How about my tiara I borrowed from Lily.  Lily looks like a Dora doll.  A Dora doll who is mad and doesn't know why.  Hilarious to see Grace striking a super cute pose right next to her.



I wanted a cousins picture so badly, but this is the best I could get.  Are my kids the only moody ones on the planet?  Sure feels like it sometimes.  Sheez louise.


Grace is feeling no funk here... that's for sure!  She's 6 going on 16.



A random pickup truck honking wildly through the neighborhood with every character imaginable on it was like a Halloween mirage.




The funk was lifted magically and we tricked and treated longer than we planned because the kids were happy.  Nothing better than seeing them happy.  I think I've mentioned that sentiment before. About a gabillion times.



Life is good!

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