I know I'm not the only one who struggled to make something wonderful out of Halloween, but because our families are nearby, COVID has make our celebrations even harder. I think if we were separated by distance, it would be easier to shift our plans, but knowing that some of our favorite people are right next door makes it even more difficult sometimes. We obviously skipped out on the church sponsored Halloween parties (there were plenty) and avoided people we didn't know, but we decided that the best option for us was to Trick or Treat at the grandparents' houses, along with our aunts and uncles. Since Halloween exists mostly outside, we felt safe enough visiting for short outdoor visits, and our girls were so excited to see a few faces that we had been missing over the last several weeks ...
halloween
Halloween Snapshots
Last year was our first time trick-or-treating in my sister's neighborhood and it's my new favorite thing! With only one street of houses, we aren't committing to hours of walking, and the kids get just enough candy to tide them over until Christmas. We started early this year (because, babies), so not everyone was home from work, but we let the kids divide what candy my sister had on her porch and everyone went home happy. Polly literally never cracked a smile while wearing her costume and was perfectly content to ride in her stroller with her bucket fastened to her waist. It was a blustery 45 degrees, so I was happy she didn't insist on walking. Sophie's horns blew off with every gust of the wind, so by the time we finished, she was just adorably dressed in black and white. Oh, ...
Trunk or Treat | 2019
It looks like we have rain in the forecast for tomorrow, so our candy dreams may or may not happen. I'm thankful we went to our favorite local trunk-or-treat on Sunday and already have plenty of Halloween pictures to share! Ella only dresses up for her friends these days, but she did join us for the evening (with a little coercing from her mom) and even volunteered to help with Sophie's Maleficent makeup. They were so funny to watch and I got a few extra minutes of rest, thanks to this set up. It's pretty much impossible to expect four kids to look in the same direction, so this is the best group shot we got! Hudson was Ferdinand the Bull (maybe my favorite thing ever) and Vera was the cutest Minnie Mouse! I put these two up on a rock wall for a few more photos -- ...
Halloween Fun
Halloween was a two-day event for us this year, but that's what it took to hit all of our favorite places and wear all of our Halloween costumes (yes, there were multiple!). We were super sad that my sister and her family couldn't join us on Sunday, because we hit up a local Trunk or Treat in one of our favorite little towns. Ella indulged me with a few family photos in the costume she wore to a party the night before, but she ditched it before we left and tried to pretend she didn't like trick or treating. Sophie put her cheetah / lion getup together using an old dance costume of Ella's, some long johns to combat the weather and a fun pair of cat ears we found at Wal-Mart. Polly wore a pumpkin swaddle that I bought for Sophie's six month photos, but she clearly wasn't a fan! ...
Polly in the Pumpkin Patch
I'm loving that all of Polly's first holidays are happening in the first few months of her life, but that also presents a few problems. We debated whether or not to even take her to the pumpkin patch this year, since she's so young, but it is only a few miles from our house. Since I was still on maternity leave, Kamin and I were able to take them on a Monday afternoon, right after school. There were only a handful of families there, so we didn't have to wait for much of anything. These few photos crack me up. This is what it looks like when you try to get a photo of three kids in the sunshine. I hated that Polly wasn't old enough to sit up in the wagon with Vera, but can you even imagine how difficult this would have been with four?! I will forever be grateful for my sister ...
A Happy Halloweekend
When it comes to Halloween costumes, this was one of those perfect years. Neither girl requested a store bought costume (not that there's anything wrong with that!) and they both had strong opinions about what they wanted (or did not want) to be. Sophie was digging through a bin of old dance costumes when we cleaned their room a few weeks ago and declared that she should wear one of them for Halloween. This turquoise ballet costume was her favorite and when I asked what she thought it looked like, she yelled Tooth Fairy without a second of hesitation. We managed to pull this costume together for a steal and she was so happy with how it turned out. We had just added the crown headband to our donate pile that same day, so we decided to hang onto it for a few more weeks. We grabbed the ...
Halloween Recap
We've been in our new house for exactly one week and we've already celebrated our first holiday. How is that for exciting?! The girls and I made a big deal of taking photos on the front porch last Friday morning, since it would be our last round of marking holidays and events on those rock steps. We've joked that we're not sure where our place is at the new house just yet, but we tried a few spots for Halloween just to see how it felt. I'm guessing as we add our own personal touches to the porches and start unpacking our things, we'll start to naturally gravitate to a single spot. In case you missed it, Sophie dressed up like a unicorn this year and Ella went the simple route with this Taylor Swift idea. All I can say is that's it's a good idea we started on those costumes early, ...
DIY | Last Minute Taylor Swift Halloween Costume
I know I told you it was a one-post kind of week for me, but I hated not to share this adorable DIY costume before the weekend. It is altogether possible that we snapped photos of the finished costume on the way to school this morning and highly likely that we used makeup wipes to remove the lipstick in the carpool line. We are THAT family. When it comes to Halloween costumes, Ella always leans towards simple and comfortable. When she was younger, we often opted for a character driven birthday party that later birthed a Halloween costume. Now that she's older (ten, what?!), she prefers something a little less over-the-top. While Sophie tends to reflect on what she wants to be and I ultimately have to shove encourage her forward, Ella is pretty decisive and knows exactly what she wants! ...