We had a
very busy Halloween weekend at our house this year! With Ben having been gone and not one but TWO birthday parties to attend this past weekend, we crammed a LOT into our Halloween day. We were pretty exhausted by the time night time rolled around!
We started our day by decorating our pumpkins. Daniel had been talking about this for weeks and we waited until Daddy came home to help us. Saturday Daddy came home late in the afternoon, Sunday we had a party in the morning followed by naps and then dinner at Grandma's as usual...SOoo, pumpkins had to wait until Monday. Daniel got really into pumpkin carving this year. He wouldn't hardly touch the stuff of course (you know he hates messy hands!), but he loved scooping out the pulp as long as he had a spoon. And he kept giving us "tend" (pretend) spoons so we could all "come along and help." The pumpkin was so big (30 lbs!) that Daniel practically had his head in the pumpkin trying to scoop all the pulp out! That was pretty funny. And Daniel talked the ENTIRE time- he was so chatty as always, it was just so cute to listen to him. Annabel happily watched from nearby, but not too close because she would just grab everything! She practiced her scooting, she practiced stretching and reaching and trying to climb into my lap, but mostly she just watched.
When all the scooping was done, we took a break, had lunch, Annabel took a GREAT long nap after lunch (this is not her usual nap time, but this worked out great because then she was rested for the afternoon!), during which time Daniel got to paint his little pumpkin while Ben carved Minnie into our big pumpkin. I picked Minnie out in honor of Annabel's 1st Halloween! Ben did a great job!
Then it was another break, some play time, and then we got the kids into their costumes. They looked SO cute! Daniel was a race car driver and Annabel was a duck (it's NOT a chicken!). I LOVED their costumes- it was so easy to decide what they would be once I saw these. I had no idea until then, and just like every other year, it just worked out wonderfully! And both of their costumes kept them plenty warm enough, too, which was a good thing since it was pretty chilly out. Like I said, it all worked out great.
We were invited to go trick-or-treating with our friends Delilah (Daniel's age) and Asher (Annabel's age), in their subdivision not far from ours (on the other side of the park basically). We had a great time! The kids all did great. Annabel sat in the stroller for the first time, all bundled up with a blanket and some toys handy, and she actually did really well in there- she lasted longer in there than I thought she would. And Daniel- he had a TON of fun! He had so much energy and was so eager to go trick-or-treating. It was so cute to watch him. He lasted longer than I thought he would, too. We trick-or-treated for a little over an hour before heading back to our friend's house. Daniel probably could have kept going, but Delilah was starting to get tired and she was anxious to eat her treats, so of course Daniel wanted to eat, too. And anyway, my parents were coming over to see the kids in their costumes so we headed home. Daniel got plenty of candy as it was! I had hoped to maybe go back out in our neighborhood, too, to see the people we know, but by then, Daniel was a little hyper. Understandably so!
Watching Daniel trick-or-treat was a lot of fun. He was chatty as always. He loved knocking on all the doors- couldn't reach any of the doorbells of course, but I helped him a few times, and Delilah did some, too. And Daniel always waved an eager "bye" or "Happy Halloween". It was just so cute to see him interact with others and get into the whole thing. He kept saying his bucket was "not full yet" (he was parroting a popular book/video we've been reading/watching called
Trashy Town- about a garbage truck who's not full yet and keeps stopping for more garbage). Daniel also practically ran from house to house the whole time, he was so excited. Anyway, we had a great time and it was fun to join some friends, too!
My parents came over shortly after we got home, and of course they thought the kids looked adorable. It was fun to show Daniel and Annabel off! They didn't stay too long, because we were very busy with trick-or-treaters and Daniel was already starting to get a little overexcited. Daniel LOVED handing out the candy almost as much as getting it! He even said trick-or-treat to every one of them...we kept telling him
they had to say it this time, but that didn't stop him. He was just so cute to watch. We loved it. At some point, Daniel finally just wanted to sit down in the front hallway and wait for more trick-or-treaters, with candy in hand for them. That was just the cutest thing. Our last trick-or-treater for the night was....wait for it...Daddy and Annabel!!! Ben knew Daniel would enjoy one last trick-or-treater for the night, so he slipped out the back door with Annabel, came around the side of the house, and rang our doorbell. I'll never forget how excited Daniel was- he hopped up quick as he could and exclaimed "more trick-or-treaters" and hurriedly grabbed some candy as I opened the door. Daniel was so confused at first, but he got a kick out of Daddy being there! And apparently Daddy didn't count- Daniel didn't give him any candy! We sat in the front hall then and I gave the kids our Halloween goodies for them- a few Halloween books, which we read right away. Bed time followed not much longer after all that busy-ness! We were all very tired after such a super FUN and very busy Halloween! I loved every minute of it!
Daniel is ready to carve our 30+ lb. pumpkin!
Chatty Annabel sitting next to our "hugest pumpkin."
My "boo-tiful" little girl!
Annabel got to check out the pumpkin, too!
Annabel watched Daniel scoop out the pumpkin.
Checking out the window decorations!
(NO, she's not standing on her own- I've got her!)
It's hard work to empty out the pumpkin!
You can see Annabel sitting and watching nearby...and lion and kitty cat, too!
Such a big pumpkin...Daniel had to reach all the way in...and he practically disappeared doing so!
Mommy and Annabel
Daniel pushed the pulp off of his spoon into a bowl.
We saved the seeds so we could toast them- Daniel's favorite toasted seeds were the ones with sugar and spice of course! (I also made buttered ones.) He's sure got my sweet tooth!
Annabel was happily bouncing away in her exersaucer!
Time to paint the little pumpkin!
All done!
Daddy's all done, too- What a great Minnie, Daddy!
Sitting in front of our friend's house- ready for trick-or-treating!
All the kiddos...Delilah (3 yrs. old- it was her birthday on Sunday!), Asher (8 mos.), and Annabel and Daniel.
Knock-knock!
Annabel was happy to hang out in her stroller with her trick-or-treat basket!
Daniel shows Joe (Delilah's dad) that his bucket is "not full yet!"
I wasn't sure Daniel was going to go through here...
but he did, with me right behind him!
So excited!
Our happy little duck!
Daniel checks out his loot!
Annabel loves to hug me- she puts both arms around my neck a lot these days!
I call that a hug!
Daniel is telling this lady that he's going to eat this big sucker at home! And it was the first thing he asked for!
Daniel and Delilah waiting at the door...
Daddy and his little duck!
Daniel gave me the biggest hug! I loved it!
Daniel said to this lady, "Wow, these are NEW vitamins!" upon shaking the box of candy (they were milk duds). We all cracked up!
Annabel was super smiley for Grandma and Grandpa as always!
Daniel hands out candy. He was very excited to do this job- this was HIS job, he said!
My two kiddos!
And no, I couldn't pick just one.
Side view of my little duck!
She was quite well padded and even had a bit of a tail.
Could she BE any cuter?!
We always take the opportunity at Halloween to take our screen door out (since we're about to put in the glass door for winter anyway!) and we leave it out for the night so we don't have to open that door each time we hand out candy. My husband is so clever. Anyway, my little Daniel became a mime for the night...
he's pretending there's a screen there now!
Daniel is waiting in the front hallway, candy in hand, ready for more trick-or-treaters!
At last, we can breathe a little...enjoy (some) quiet, relax, read some books, and head to bed!
What a great Halloween we had! My two kids just make it so much fun!
Happy 1st Halloween, Annabel! I'm sure Daniel will help show you just how much fun Halloween can really be next year!
