Trick-or-Treating

Karis was a puppy fairy for her school parade but wanted to be a "friendly witch" for Halloween night. She changed her mind and then changed it again (after I returned the witch hat)... and then decided to be a trick-or-treating fairy. Her costume consisted of the parts of her fairy costume she liked best, a halloween shirt, and the striped tights I bought for her witch costume. 

It was a little mixed up looking but I loved that she made it up herself and she loved it!

 

Makena wore her horse costume. It was nice and warm but her mane was so heavy her hood wouldn't stay on!

 

Both of the girls' teachers invited their students to trick-or-treat at their houses. How sweet is that? The girls were so excited to see their teachers. First stop was Ms. Carlton's friend's house. 

We then went to Mrs. Taylor's house. Karis even got a special treat for visiting. 

We dropped our car off at home and then walked to our friends' house where we were having our church's Light the Night event. Daddy, Kyle and Ryder were already there. On the way, we

 made a quick stop to see one of Karis' friends.  

We finally made it to our friends' house where we hung out and passed out candy with the church's information. 

Just like last year, Kyle didn't want to dress up. In the weeks leading up to Halloween, I tried to talk him into so many different costumes. He didn't take to any of them. The only thing he (sort of) wanted to be was Izzy from Jake and the Neverland Pirates. I couldn't get myself to dress him up as a girl (tho Derek thought we should for good black mail material later). I finally gave up. I realized if Kyle didn't think it was fun to dress up, why was I trying to make him? He happily wore a sweatshirt that said Boo! He kept saying, "My shirt says Boo! so I say boo to you -- BOO!" And not surprisingly, no one denied a 3-year old candy for not dressing up!

It was a fun night visiting with friends and collecting candy!

Halloween

The kids have had lots of fun this past week at local Halloween/Fall family-friendly events. I took the kids to several events prior to Halloween. I would have taken them to more if I wasn't sick and sleep-deprived from the past couple weeks. 

Thankfully, our kids were well enough to enjoy Halloween. Our family had a rough 2+ weeks. Karis and Makena had a rash that flared up in the middle of the night. Kyle had a cold that led to a wet cough and a low-grade fever. We put him on antibiotics and finally after two weeks, he was feeling better. But in the middle of his sickness, two molars started coming in. He was waking up multiple times each night and cranky during the day. A few days after he was over his cold, he threw up in the middle of the night. He's been acting fine during the day but not eating much. His diet the last few days have been graham crackers, applesauce and milk. And to add to the middle-of-the-night-wakings, Makena had some bad dreams. Can you tell how little sleep Derek and I have gotten these past two weeks??  As a result, Derek and I are both fighting off colds as well.  

But we're all on the mend and we've made it through this rough patch.  Let's get back to Halloween...

The girls love to get their face painted.  I always try to arrive early to an event that offers face painting because there's always a long line that moves painfully slow. I did just that at our local mall's Halloween festival. The girls looked at the selection of drawings and picked the kitty cat. The picture showed a black cat so I asked the girls if they wanted a pink one instead. Karis went back and forth and then decided on a black cat. Makena wanted a pink one. 

There were two face painters so to save time, I sent the girls to the two different artists. BAD MISTAKE. Makena had the female artist and she was quick and artsy. Karis went to the male artist who painted the cat exactly like the picture. While Karis was getting finished up, Makena stood in front of her to watch. Karis was expecting the same cat and when she looked at herself in the mirror, she was so disappointed. 

  

Poor thing. By this time, the line for the face painting was really long. Going back to get another one wasn't an option. Karis chose the black cat and it looked just like picture. After trying to explain to her how she needed to accept the decision she made and just trying to comfort her disappointment, I had the girls work on the craft projects. Afterwards, she still wanted to get a pink kitty. Since that wasn't possible, she just wanted the black cat off her face. And then Makena wanted hers off too. Why did I even bother??

A couple days later, we went to another event. They had a bounce house, games, trick-or-treating... and face painting! Karis got another one and LOVED it. Everyone oo'd and ahh'd over hers. I felt so much better that she finally got one she liked (and kept in on for more than 30 mins!). 

On Halloween, we carved the pumpkin. Karis was excited to do it because she learned what to do at school. Last year, both girls were grossed out at the yucky insides. Makena didn't like it again this year, but Karis actually liked it. 

Kyle was excited to get his own spoon -- he pretended to eat the pumpkin with his spoon. 

  

After dinner, it was time to trick-or-treat! For starters, we went to our next door neighbor's house and a house across the street.

  

Kyle pounded the pavement in search for candy!

Our church had yard parties throughout the city. We went over to our friend's house and hung out there and went trick-or-treating.

  

Makena chose not to nap that day, so she came home early with Kyle and me. After putting Kyle to bed, she got to hand out candy. We must have missed the rush, because there weren't many kids who came by. In between visitors, she waited patiently and planned out which pieces of candy she was going to hand out. 

  

A Costume Parade

Karis had a costume parade at preschool today.  It was during the last 15 minutes of school and parents were invited to watch.  Karis could hardly wait for another opportunity to put on her ladybug costume.   The kids got to parade around the fellowship hall and then sing a couple of songs.

  

Halloween 2012

This was the first year Karis got to pick her own costume.  She was willing to wear last year's costume (see Makena's outfit) until I gave her the option of being something new.  

She decided she wanted to be a ladybug.  I love that she wanted to be a bug and not a princess (there's plenty of opportunities for that in the years to come).  I searched high and low for a costume (that wasn't $30).  I finally found one on Cragistlist.  I had to drive a distance to get it and the costume is a teensy bit small for her, but she LOVES it and that made me so happy.  

  

Makena didn't seem to care what her costume was.  She happily wore Karis' costume from last year. 

 

I didn't really want to spend any money on a costume for Kyle, but I saw a skeleton jumper at Target and decided that's what he was going to be for Halloween.  I like that not only was it cheap, but it wasn't something big and bulky that he would be hot or uncomfortable in.  

I'm not sure how he knew how to make a skeleton face...

Trunk Or Treat

Our church had their second annual Halloween event called Trunk or Treat.  A bunch of cars park in a line ready to give out candy.  Each car is decorated in a specific theme and some even have games.  There were hotdogs for dinner, giveaways, bounce houses and lots of cute kids in costumes.  

  

  

The kids had fun collecting candy and eating it along the way.  

  

We didn't stay long because once the sun started to go down it got cold and all three kids are sick right now.  Unfortunately, we didn't see Daddy until the very end.  He was busy serving this huge event (over 1,000 people!).  Makena kept looking around saying, "I can't see Daddy ANYWHERE"and Karis kept telling me, "I just want to give Daddy a hug."  It was a busy church weekend for Derek so the kids hadn't seen much of him all weekend.  Fortunately, we caught him on the way out and they got a lot of lovin' from him.  And then it was all me to put our sugar-loaded kids to bed!

Trunk Or Treat

Our church had a Trunk a Treat event where cars lined up and gave out candy from their decorated trunks.  They had bounce houses, movies, crafts and hotdogs.  Derek was the grill master for the evening and served about 400 hot dogs!  The girls enjoyed collecting candy and playing in the bounce house.

Makena found a new friend -- a little girl who I don't think she's ever met before.  Makena kept going over to her to hug her and then would look at me and point to her, as if she was saying, "I LIKE her!"