Christmas Card Photo Shoot

Merry EARLY Christmas, Y'all!!

Just a couple of pictures from our FREEZING Christmas card photo shoot. Trying to get my whole family dressed, ready and together for a photo at 7am is challenging. Trying to get a baby, a toddler and a husband suffering from photo-phobia to smile for the camera is down right impossible! Add in an ARCTIC BLAST from the north (27 degrees Fahrenheit) in November and you have a recipe for disaster! Somehow, Auntie Alyssa spun some magic, and we ended up with some GREAT family shots!! Thank you Auntie!! You are amazing and gifted!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

October 19-31st: BOO at the ZOO/ Trunk-or-Treat/ PRESCHOOL PARTY SNACKS/ Trick-or-Treating

BOO at the ZOO

We had always wanted to make it to Boo at the Zoo, and this year we FINALLY made it!! It was definitely worth the wait. Blakely and Banks had an absolute BLAST!!

2014 Halloween costumes: Scarecrows

Banks as Maverick was killing me! Loved his costume.

Everyone came out to Boo at the Zoo with the kids. Great family atmosphere.

Singing pumpkins.

Blakely loves all things Halloween: pumpkins, costumes, twinkly lights, jack-o-lanterns, scarecrows, mums, candy, etc. She is really understanding and enjoying holidays this year! Such a fun age.

Blakely LOVES Curious George, and especially his Halloween special. We have only watched it EVERYDAY in the month of October! HA! There is a character in the show that is a scarecrow without a head called "No Noggin." She kept calling herself "No Noggin" all night.

 

Both of these kiddos were so sweet and always said "Trick-or-treat please" and "thank you." (Even when the booth just gave them a handout about their dental clinic! Boo!)

PopPop and the cutest little scarecrow ever!

Admittedly this is a little gross and redneck, but Blakely and Banks absolutely loved Frankenstein's Foam Zone.

Why yes this does remind me of Myrtle Beach circa 1999. HAHAHA!

Next time, we will bring some spare shoes and a towel! HA!

Blakely is dressed as a scarecrow, but in this "snow" she looks like one of Santa's elves!

So fun!

Trying to photograph babies and toddler is challenging. Trying to put all threes of them in the same picture is particularly comical! HAHAHAHA!

You can't see the kiddos, but these sweet daddies are leading them through a corn maze!

Candy Tester

Toddler dance party to "Let It Go!" This DJ knows what the people want!! "Come on PopPop! Dance party! Come on PopPop!"

This girl loves her GG and PopPop!!

Capping off an amazing night with a Carousel ride with her PopPop! Such a fun night, and one that will definitely become a holiday tradition for our family!

TRUNK-OR-TREAT

This year we met up with some family friends at the LBC Light up the Night. It was a little crazy (SO MANY PEOPLE) but also really fun! Blakely had a great time, but her favorite part was definitely the STRAWBERRIES!

My two little scarecrows ready for a night of Halloween fun!

We waited for 1/2 an hour to ride these crazy Strawberries, and it was totally worth it!

Does Rich look a little Green? We are definitely getting old... neither of us can ride the spinning rides anymore. HA! Poor Ricky!

HOLIDAY PRESCHOOL CRAFTS

I had signed up to bring sweets to Blakely and Banks preschool class for their Halloween party, and I thought it would be really fun to have the kids help me make something!! To the Pinterest!!

We made two snacks that both kids LOVED making!! Donut spiders and Rice Krispy Pumpkins! Super easy, and I highly recommend trying these with your toddler.

Spider Snacks: Mini Chocolate donuts with Pretzel legs and Reese's Pieces glued on with frosting for eyes!

Blakely's first spider...

...it might not have made it to the classroom. HA!

Rice Krispy Pumpkins: Rice Krispy treats recipe with orange food coloring rolled into balls with tootsie roll stems!

...again this one did NOT make it to the class!

Not beautiful, but they definitely look like pumpkins! My little chefs had the best time making treats for their friends!

HALLOWEEN NIGHT: TRICK-OR-TREAT

 

Halloween night we had GG and PopPop over for pizza and dress up. We had already done A LOT of Halloween adventures with the girls, so Rich and I were thrilled when GG and PopPop asked if they could take the girls trick-or-treating! This meant a BONUS mini-date night for me and Richard hanging out on our porch giving out candy! It's the little things!

 

That night I gave her the option to either go as a scarecrow or wear a princess dress from her dress up box. She was like.. WHAT??!?! I could have been dressing up as a princess all week?? OH YEAH!! PRINCESS!!!

That was a no brainer! HA! GG let her wear a special Fairy Princess costume that lights up!! She was so, so excited!!

GG gave Blakely this hilarious spider that was motion censored. It scared our trick-or-treaters so badly!!

It was very chilly that night, so we had to bundle up!! This crew was all set and ready to trick-or-treat!

End of the night, Blakely returned with a huge bag of candy and nursing a ring pop!! She had a blast!!

GG and PopPop dropped Blakely back off at 8, but we let this little party animal stay up to 9pm (practically an all nighter for a toddler!) giving out candy!!

 

 

She loved seeing all the teenage girls dressed up as princesses! She would say "Oh, you so beautiful! Pretty dress." She had as much fun giving out candy as getting it!

Happy Halloween!! This little pumpkins loved Halloween this year, can't wait to see her response to CHRISTMAS!!! AHHH!!

My Little Helper

October 2014: Little Chef Blakely

Blakely LOVES to help with any house hold chore, so I knew she would love helping me cook. She also really loves liking the spoon and testing out our baked goods. HA! It is so much fun to start this tradition with Blakely. I have so many great memories of cooking holiday meals and baked goods with my mom and sister. Can't wait to have two "little helpers" in the kitchen in the years to come.

She loved helping with every step. She even measured out the floor and leveled it. She especially loves turning on the mixer.

While cooking and cleaning together, I call Blakely "my little helper." The day after we baked these cookies I was putting on Blakely's shoes, and she told me "Thanks little helper!!" I was laughing so hard I was crying! Mwahahahaha!!

Love my "little helper!"