halloween 2013

are these two not the cutest mickey and minnie mouse you have ever seen?!?!  

hendrix was our costume selector this year, and i can't tell you how much it warmed my soul that he wanted to coordinate with his sister.

he is such a sweet hearted child.

blaire discovered her love for dum dum suckers.

and we bundled up real good to run around the neighborhood for a bit.  it was chilly, but the kids had a great time!  ;)

love this handsome fella!

my seasonal obsession

okay i admit it.

i might be a little over the top when it comes to embracing and celebrating seasons and holidays.  

especially with my kids. 

but i think that putting them in their spooky clothes the entire month before halloween is fun.

i love decorating my home with pumpkins and drinking delicious pumpkin spice lattes (thanks for this recipe mom!) all throughout the fall months.

i like taking them to several different trick-or-treating events so we have even more candy laying around the house for mommy to eat they can enjoy their costumes several times!

and i really love the gorgeous fall colors ;)

i know this little outfit isn't super girly (in fact, hendrix wore it two years ago for his first halloween), but i thought that if i topped it with a hat or headband sporting a flower, maybe people won't assume she is a boy.

oddly enough, when hendrix was dressed as a bumblebee that first halloween, everyone assumed he was a girl.....

hmmmm

so hendrix's costume this year is a dragon/dinosaur.  

it really depends on the day as to which he will answer.  lol

he already wore it trick-or-treating at the blank park zoo last weekend. 

he was really not pleased with how cold it was outside.  in fact, while i thought he would be running around with no need for the stroller, we ended up bringing it because he wanted to sit in it and snuggle with his blankie.

he did enjoy seeing the few animals that were out - though most were in their winter homes, and the night was more about fun lights, cool costumes and candy.

he enjoyed the hay maze with daddy,

but then after a quick wave to me, he begged to ride in the stroller again. (not normal two-year-old behaviour for my little guy!)

miss blaire was not actually in costume as i just had her bundled in as many layers as i could get to fit inside the baby bjorn.  she was probably the warmest of us all, and slept contentedly the entire evening.

hendrix livened up a bit more when we got to the play zone which was sort of indoors and much warmer.  he is a big fan of bounce house toys!

i was glad we went, even if it was a chilly evening. 

this happy little dino/dragon made it worth it!

afterwards we enjoyed a 45 minute party in the minivan during which daddy got hendrix into jammies and mommy breastfed blaire before driving back to ames.  juggling the timing of her feeding schedule for activities is a tiny bit tricky, but i am glad that we are still getting out to make fun family memories, and i am sure that will just get easier and easier!

i love my sweet little pumpkins!

Mommy loves holidays

This kid is ready for St. Patrick's Day!  

One year after I had emphatically stated that the 4th of July was my favorite holiday ever, my hubby pointed out that I say that about every holiday.  It's true.  I think my real favorite holiday is simply the one that is coming up next.  lol

I love holidays.

I love decorating for holidays and seasons.

I love traditions associated with holidays.

and now, I love dressing Hendrix for holidays.

There will come a day when he will no longer allow this, so I will enjoy it for now!  :)

Valentine's Day

    

various Christmas outfits and jammies

Thanksgiving

 

and don't forget Halloween - his first holiday ever!

This little bumblebee is ready for spring!  ;)

Halloween Treats

This little guy is all treat and no tricks!  

It was so fun to celebrate his first Halloween!

He made an awfully cute bumblebee!

  

Bud and his Dad met up with us for a few minutes to check out Hendrix's buggy duds before I headed out to trick-or-treat with my some of my friends and their kids at the sorority and frat houses in our town.  This was on a separate night from our town's beggars night.

There were some very cute kids in our group and we got lots of candy!

When we got home, Hendrix told Daddy all about it!

Hendrix was happy to have another day of Halloween celebrations...

 ...and he gladly passed out candy and toothbrushes to the trick-or-treaters that came to our door. 

   

We took turns taking him out in the neighborhood until he got tired of wearing his costume...

...and then he was just a cute little pumpkin with Momma!

My little brother Jake, and his girlfriend Katie came to visit us a little bit later.  Aren't they cute in their costumes?!?  They went with us to the Haunted Forest (which was pretty creepy, but holy cow - we waited in line for like 2 hours!)...

...my folks stayed back with Hendrix, which I think is exactly where they wanted to be!  :)

We had pretty nice weather, and overall Halloween was a great success!  Mommy and Daddy are still eating Hendrix's loot and contemplating what Hendrix should dress as next year.