Halloween Fun '12

What a fun Halloween we had this year!  We did several fun things to get in the spirit.  As you may have read in a previous post, we did our annual outing to Puckett's and Gentry's...I sure love that tradition!  Our friends Tanja and Nick had a Halloween party - we were running late, so I just took Katie with me.  And it was a surprise!  She thought she was going to bed, but in fact she was changing clothes to go to the party.  I think she had a great time.  Here we are at the party!

And here we are with Tanja!  It was the only one we took and of course Katie was mid-blink :)

Last Sunday, Cat and Tyler and came over and we carved pumpkins and had some BBQ!  I have to admit...it was the first time I had carved a pumpkin all by myself.  Pretty crazy huh!  Katie was not a huge fan of the goop on the inside of the pumpkin, so she used the scooper that came with the kit!

And here we are still working on getting the yucky stuff out!

The finished product!  Katie wanted me to carve a face into her pumpkin from Gentry's, so we did just that!

Cat and Tyler worked on their pumpkin too!

I let Jack play with his little pumpkin again.  He thought it was the best thing ever!

Later that night, Brad worked on the big pumpkin.  I suggested doing the three stars like on the Tennessee state flag - and he did it!

Here they are, folks!  Pretty awesome if you ask me :)

I channeled my inner Martha Stewart and made ghost cookies (thanks, Pinterest!) for Katie's class on Halloween!  I love how they turned out!

And they had a Fall party and had to wear orange on Halloween - so here she is!  That was the only orange shirt I could find!

And once we got home from school, it was time to relax and then get ready for some trick or treating!  I put Jack in his costume for some pictures, and I have to say he was not a big fan of the pea pod.  But it was so cute!  He started pretty happy...

...and then it went straight downhill from there.

Once I took the hat part off, he was a-okay though!

But then I pushed it and put it back on...not a happy camper.

I love this picture.  His eyes look so clear (even though he had been screaming at me)...I bet he is just happy that I took the hat off :)

Then I helped Katie get ready!  She was the cutest Strawberry Shortcake I think I've ever seen!  And she thought so too - she was so proud!

We headed to the neighbors' house to eat some chili before we headed out trick or treating.  It was so fun and the girls were SO excited!  Can't you just see the energy they have from this picture?? And it was before they even had any candy!

And here is a full body view...cute Strawberry Shortcake and Indian!

This may be the favorite of the year...my two cuties all dressed up.  And they even coordinated (which was totally not planned)!  Love them so much!

And here are the little brothers...Hank and Jack looked so cute as a mouse and peapod!

Grandma stayed home and handed out candy once we headed out to the houses...and she took the peapod with her! It was pretty chilly and we didn't think he'd last very long.

Me and Katie before heading out to the neighborhood!

Best buddies...

Brad was escorting the little ladies across the street.

Since there are lots of kids in the neighborhood, there were lots of baskets on porches.  We tried teaching the girls that they only take one piece of candy when there is a bowl out.  We will see if they remember that over the years...

Katie and her loot!  She was so excited about all her candy.  We let her pick two pieces out to eat.

She had Smarties and a sucker...here they are with their suckers.

It is safe to say that Halloween 2012 was a success!  Can't wait to see what Katie decides she wants to be! Gone are the days of me picking out her costume...but she made a good choice this year!