Happy Halloween!

Following are a TON of pictures of our Halloween. Don't say I didn't warn you . . .

Macy was invited to go to Preschool at our neighbors' house today. They learned about the letter "H". All morning she said, "go to Preschool! Go to Preschool". She was so excited and had a wonderful time.

 The boys doing a little reading.

 Macy in her Halloween outfit. She picked out the Halloween Hello Kitty shirt all by herself.

 Zack and Macy. I think Nick was trying to leap off the couch during this picture.

 The kids excited about their treat buckets.

 A little pre- Trick-or-Treating fun.

 Giggling at Daddy.

 The boys.

 Nick trying to pull Macy's hair.

 Ready to Trick-or-Treat.

 Ready to Trick-or-Treat 2.

Can you find the difference between the two pictures above?

 Cinderella checking out her candy.

 Our Halloween mantel.

I found the idea for this 3D pumpkin here. Just a Styrofoam pumpkin cut in half and glued to some scrapbook paper. I found the sparkly pumpkins at Michaels. They were two for $1. I made my own Styrofoam pumpkins for my Autumn mantel, but I couldn't have made these for less and they are so much cuter than the ones I made.

 I'm not totally in love with this "boo" sign, but I'm not sure what I would do differently. Maybe different scrapbook paper for the background?

 I wasn't going to use these vases, but I had extra sparkly pumpkins so I changed my mind. I needed something else and remembered that I saw these sparkly mini ornaments at Michaels. I bought all the black ones they had and added a little purple ribbon for some extra color (although I don't think I would do that again, I don't love it). I think it turned out pretty cute (minus the purple ribbon).

I made this Trick-or-Treat banner using my Cricut. I used a q-tip to add some ink to the edges of the letters. I think it makes it look kind of old and creepy. Again, I don't love it. I think next time I would just put plain white letters on top of slightly larger black letters to create a shadow instead of inking.

Although there are a few things I don't like, as a whole I really like our Halloween mantel.

Play Group Halloween Party

We were able to make it to play group today for the Halloween party. The kids had fun playing with friends from Church, checking out fun toys we don't have at our house, playing games, and eating fun Halloween snacks.

Here are a few pictures I took:

 Nick was very interested in the puzzle.

 Zack showing me a toy he found. He often does that in new places. He finds something he wants to play with and then comes and shows me what he found.

 The kids playing with friends.

 Another attempt at Macy's hair. I found that using a piece of ribbon instead of a headband works a lot better because it isn't too tight on her head.

I think all the kids had a great time.

Halloween Preview

Here's a little preview of the kids' Halloween costumes. 

 Macy as Cinderella.

 Nick as Superman.

 Zack as Batman.

All ready for the big day!

Parties and Pumpkins

We've been getting ready for a busy week of Halloween and Birthday festivities. Tonight for family home evening we are going to have a Halloween party. I am not sure what all this will entail, but I know there will be lots of candy for the adults and maybe a small piece or two for a little girl if she is good.

Macy is going to be Cinderella for Halloween. To get into character, she has been requesting to watch Cinderella daily and today she asked me to do, "Cinderella princess hair". We have never discussed Cinderella princess hair before so I am not sure where she came up with this, but we did a trial run (rough try, I know) and Macy was pretty excited when she got to look in the mirror. 

This boy:

and this boy:

will be turning 1 year old this week! We are super excited for this milestone. I have no idea where the time has gone, but we have loved every minute of it. The boys will be having a Sports themed birthday party. Anyone in the Cheyenne area this weekend are of course welcome to join in the fun. 

 I searched for a Sports themed birthday invitation, but couldn't find one so I made my own. I like that I was able to personalize it. 

Finally, some pumpkin crafts:

 I made this pumpkin last week following the tutorial I found here. It was really easy. I took a foam carving pumpkin ($1 at the dollar store), glued on some strips of fabric that I gathered down the middle and used some silk leaves and a few cinnamon sticks for the stem. I love the cinnamon stem because it smells wonderful! Also, did you know the dollar store sells cinnamon sticks? I wasn't going to use them because they were like $7 at the store, but decided to check at the dollar store on the off chance that they may have them. So glad I did!

 This pumpkin is another foam carving pumpkin that I decoupaged with scrapbook paper and Mod Podge. I originally tried to make a damask pumpkin like the one I saw here, but it did NOT look good. I started over and just kind of make things up as I went along. I added a little ribbon as a finishing touch. I think it turned out pretty cute. 

The Small Things In Life

Today the boys were equally interested in the boxes their toys are kept in as they were in the toys themselves. Maybe even more so. I guess we know what to get them for their birthday.

Getting Ready For Winter

Macy and I were going through some boxes today seeing what (if any) clothes she can wear this winter. Macy found this hat so we put it on. It doesn't fit, unfortunately, but it did make for a cute picture. I guess we'll be going shopping this weekend to get some warm clothes for this girl so she doesn't freeze this winter.

Halloween Wreaths

I finally got a little time last week to start on a couple Halloween projects. I had wanted to start my projects earlier in the month, but time just got away from me!

I made two Halloween wreaths. One for the door and one for the mantel. 

I wrapped a wreath form in yarn and attached a felt and ribbon banner. I added a little stitching and some buttons and used some sparkly scrapbook letters on the banner for some added cuteness. I found my inspiration here. I think it turned out pretty well and it probably cost less than $5 to make.

I found my inspiration for this burlap rag wreath here. It is a yard of orange burlap cut into 1" x 6" pieces and tied to a four-ring wreath form. Although I think it turned out cute, I am not sure if this one was worth it. I have used burlap before, but this project was super, super messy. Little burlap strings and lint EVERYWHERE. All over me and all over the floor then a little munchkin ran through my project space and carried the mess all over the house. It was like Hansel and Gretel over here. You could follow the trail of where Macy ran after she ran through the original burlap pile. I have most of it cleaned up, but I think it will take a couple hundred more go arounds with the vacuum and a lint roller before the mess is completely gone. *sigh*

Like Father, Like Sons

Andy got in the cage with the boys last night to play with them. He let them climb all over him like a human jungle gym and they had a blast.

 Zack giving Daddy a pat on the back.

 Nick inspecting Daddy's hair.

 Zack pulling on Daddy's ear.

Nose scrunches.

 Zack climbing.

 Andy struggling to hang on to both boys. 

 Giggles.

 Headstands.

 Smiles.

 Say, "ahhhh".

Also, aren't these little cupcake toppers cute? I found them here.