Halloween Weekend!!

We had a super Halloween weekend this year! I think Halloween has gotten more fun each year for Kris and I as parents, and it will continue to do so as each of our children get older and more excited about costumes, candy, and trick-or-treating!! I'm a little sad October is over though. I think it's probably my favorite month out of the whole year.

Friday evening Kris had to work. We hadn't had a chance yet to clean and carve Brody's pumpkin, so that's just what he and I did that evening after Kris went to work. I found this idea for an "OH NO!" pumpkin, and I loved it because you actually trace and then carve out your child's hands. Brody got a big kick out of it. I thought next year if we can find a big-enough pumpkin we can make a family pumpkin and carve out all of our hands!

Here he is cleaning out his pumpkin.

These next two pictures crack me up!!

Then we went outside to light the candle. It was actually much darker out, but you can't tell because of the camera flash.

Finally that evening we had some creepy eyeball cookies and apple cider. This recipe called for Lifesavers, but I decided Froot Loops would be better suited for a 2 year old.

Halloween morning we made pumpkin pancakes, and I used bananas to create a jack-o-lantern face for Brody. The stem is a piece of sausage.

Here he's checking it out before I cut the pancakes for him.

Then after Brody's nap we headed to Luckey for my niece's first birthday party!! I can't believe she's a year old already. Her party was a ladybug theme, and she also dressed up as a ladybug later in the evening for Halloween. Check out the cakes...

And this is seriously the cutest!! Cupcakes all around and Josie's little cake in the center.

She was quite a mess but thoroughly enjoyed it!

Here's my favorite shot of the day...the twins with their cousin, Tae. It looks like they're all holding hands. SO SWEET!

My Grandma and Grandpa Hipp were at the birthday party too, and they got to meet and hold the babies for the first time. They are old pros at this...they have 8 children, 22 grandchildren, and now 6 great-grandchildren. How cool is that??

Then on to the Halloween festivities! We decided to just stay at my brother's house in Luckey for Brody to go trick-or-treating. This was really his first real experience trick-or-treating because he was just a month old in 2007, and last year we went to a get-together at my uncle's house and he dressed up and only trick-or-treated at his house.

What a difference a year makes! From one silly monkey...

...to a cute elephant and two lil peanuts!!!

Here's Emersyn and Jaxson in their peanut costumes that Daddy made for them. Didn't he do a great job? Surprised the heck outta me :)

Here's a couple trick-or-treat shots. I was holding Emersyn when Kris and Brody left, and I didn't want to go along in case someone needed to eat, but I had to get some pictures!! So I handed Em off to my cousin Chris and ran out to snap a few pics before coming back to the house. It was freezing, and I, naturally, wasn't wearing a coat. This next picture is so sweet because you can see Brody reaching in his bucket to give those ladies something. One of them said, "Oh sweetie, you don't have to give me anything--we give YOU something." LOL!

Here is Jordan and Brody. At EVERY house she would say, "This is my cousin, Brody. He's an elephant." She is hilarious, I love her so much!

After coming back to the house he was so excited to show me his bucket, and he really wanted this sucker!

Kris and I with the peanuts!

This is Sunday morning before heading to church. Let me tell ya, we needed every second of that extra hour to get ready and out the door.

Hope everyone reading had a great Halloween also!!