Daniel & Annabel's Adventures: October 2014

Halloween 2014

It was a very cold (it actually SNOWED!!) and windy Halloween...but our two little kids sure had a great time!

After Daniel's parade this morning, we came home for lunch and spent the afternoon enduring the torturous wait for trick-or-treating time to begin! Well, it was not actually torturous, but the kids did only ask if it was time about every two minutes...long afternoon! Thanks to Grandma Cheryl for the new Halloween Tom & Jerry DVD, we kept busy for a while watching that, along with doing some new Halloween sticker books Ben and I gave them. The kids drew pictures, we played games (that new trick-or-treat game!), got the candy ready for trick-or-treaters, the kids sang songs, and we generally tried to keep busy and pass the time quickly.

Finally, our friends Delilah and Asher, their mom and dad and baby Ansel arrived to go trick-or-treating with us. We snapped some group pictures, bundled up very well either with layers or winter coats and hats and gloves and scarves and you name it we had it on!, and off we went for a very cold hour of trick-or-treating. The kids had fun and the cold didn't seem to faze them one bit! We made it all the way around our L-shaped block. The kids were pretty happy with the loot they scored!

We didn't have that many trick-or-treaters at our house this year at all (maybe two dozen), probably because it was so cold out. I never once saw a Frozen movie princess...thank goodness! But we also didn't have any little kids really- they were mostly older kids. I was bummed- I love the little ones! I don't blame them, though- it really was so cold and so windy, my cheeks were numb when we were out there! Still, we all survived and had a great Halloween night! Annabel is already making plans for her costume for next year...

Those flecks you see...that would be SNOW at 8 AM this morning! Grrr!

Annabel's latest song on video for you- Head Shoulders Knees and Toes!

Daniel happily posed with his pumpkin! Annabel was too cold.

My cute family!

Silly Annabel!

Oh- and she LOVES this hand-me-down hat from her friend Delilah!

Daniel and the shirt (and the guy in the shirt) that started it all!

No Ghosts Allowed!

Waiting at the window for Delilah and Asher to arrive!

Singing songs and spelling while they wait- got a video for you!

The "yellow" song they are singing is from a color song CD from my teaching days- they love this CD and listen to it often, of their own accord, too!

Group photo ops!

Daniel and silly Annabel!

Scary face Annabel!

The two little witches!

Let's get this party started!

Annabel was "degsausted" (exhausted)- yes, her word- by the end, but she didn't want to miss a thing!

The kids LOVED handing out candy when our doorbell rang...especially by the end when I had them handing out big handfuls of candy (I may have bought too much!)!

Checking out the loot! Annabel was tickled by this eyeball candy! And Daniel was too quick for me- he'd counted out all his candy and put it away by the time I got all unbundled!

Halloween Week Fun!

We've had a fun week before Halloween around here! I gave the kids this game I'd had my eye on forever- it's a board game of "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and is really cute. There are even costumed characters to play and you go trick-or-treating and when you have 5 pieces of candy or money, you have to go back to the pumpkin patch to share your treats with Linus. It's really fun and the kids LOVE trick-or-treating and getting "candy" with this game. We've basically been playing games non-stop for weeks, and this one's been a huge hit this week- we've played several rounds of this game!

Daniel also wanted to set up his eye cars and tell spooky stories, a la the Mater and the Ghost Light movie short (an activity he's done many times before), and since it was Halloween week, it was quite fitting. He wanted all the lights off, pumpkins and candles lit, eye cars all set up, spider web artwork and other spooky decorations nearby- he had the whole table covered with story props, it was so cute. He then proceeded to tell spooky stories about a haunted house- "and the ghosts went whoooooo!...and the door went bam (he slammed a book for this one!)...and the wind went (he rattled his foil party balloon for this one)..." and so on- he was really hamming it up and having a great time! He even crawled under the table so he could pop out with a big BOO! Annabel saw how much fun he was having and she wanted to tell stories, too. We had the best time sitting around the table making things spookier, making shadows by candlelight. It was so nice to just hang out together as a family like this- I love Daniel for getting us all together like that, he's always been so good at bringing us together, it's really special.

And Thursday afternoon, after Annabel's costume parade and after checking out the goodies Annabel got from school and the goodies they both got from Grandma Cheryl, the kids were quite inspired to play trick-or-treating in our house- they raided the pantry and put snacks at each doorway upstairs, found buckets, put on "costumes" (Daniel wore his new pilot costume, Annabel declared herself a "heart-maker" since wearing her new sweater with hearts all over it), and they trick-or-treated at each doorway, even saying Thank you. It was so fun. And then we played Halloween Party in Daniel's room- he made decorations, put up our pumpkin lights, and he made a pin-the-tail game and we had snacks and stories...it was a fun party, the three of us. The kids just really love Halloween, can you tell?! I remember when Daniel was little, he pretended to go trick-or-treating for months after Halloween was over. So we're pretty excited Halloween is upon us!

Playing our new trick-or-treat game- It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

Daniel telling spooky stories!

Annabel makes Daniel's pumpkin go "BOOO!"- Love her scary face!

Pitch black in the house- except for glowing pumpkins, glowing ghosts, and a candle.

Annabel was making scary faces by putting the fake tea lights up to her chin and mouth- she's funny!

Preschool & Kindergarten Halloween Parades!

The kids have been waiting and waiting for the days of their costume parades (Annabel's was yesterday- on her day of preschool, Daniel's was today- Halloween day). Annabel asked every day for about two weeks if it was the day of her costume parade. She also knew it was on a Thursday, so when it was last Thursday she got real excited because it was finally Thursday, but I had to burst her bubble and say it was the next Thursday, not that day- she was so bummed and I felt so bad! BUT, the day finally came and she couldn't have been happier! And Daniel couldn't wait for his parade because that meant it was actually Halloween day!!

Annabel was THE cutest little witch ever! She was SO proud of her costume and so excited to be in her own parade. Mrs. Stevens said Annabel must have been super excited for Halloween because she talked the most she's ever talked before- so cute! The preschool parade is always super cute to watch. Annabel did a great job of parading around! She was very excited that Grandma Cheryl came to watch. Even Daniel's Kindergarten class came out to watch the preschoolers- he was excited that he would get to see Annabel, too. The preschoolers even sang the song "Five Little Pumpkins" which was super cute.

Grandma Cheryl took us all out for lunch at Red Robin after the parade, which thrilled the kids. They got some fun stuff in their goody bags from her- they spent all afternoon drawing with the stencils and checking out all the fun things. Grandma had also read them the books she gave them while we waited for our food and it was the sweetest thing ever to see my two little ones propped up or snuggled right up to Grandma as she read their books. Loved that.

Daniel's parade was today, Halloween day and he was pretty excited, too! He sure looked great in his awesome Ghostbuster costume and was all smiles during the parade. I think I got more smiles out of this kid today than ever before! Annabel was invited by both Daniel's teacher and her own preschool teacher to join their parades (she wore her costume today, too) but she wasn't having it- I think she was all "been there done that" as far as parading went. We had a lot of fun watching Daniel's parade. He really did a great job! So fun to watch and I got some great pictures!

Annabel's Parade Time!

Cutest little witch!!

Annabel shows off her Witch's Stew trick-or-treating bucket, which she helped me make!

She also had a broom (her one major request to go along with her costume, but we decided not to use it in the parade- too much!)

There's our little witch!

Preschool group photo op! (Annabel is on the very left end.)

Annabel sings "Five Little Pumpkins!"

Parading back to class!

Snuggling up to Grandma for stories...Annabel was resting her head on Grandma's shoulder.

And Daniel had propped his elbow on Grandma's shoulder, too. So sweet.

Daniel's Parade Time!
Daniel's friend Landen asked if I'd like to take a picture of the "three boys"- too cute! Daniel and Annabel happily agreed to pose! Chase N. is the green ninja on the very left and Landen is the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle next to Daniel. I had hoped to get Cole in the picture, too, but he wasn't having it! Oh well. This is such a great picture, though!