Happy Halloween!

 Happy Halloween! We hope everyone had a pumpkin-filled holiday and enjoyed the Fall weather and colors.

 

Trying to get a picture of my two beans is getting harder and harder now that Mr. JJ is getting a lot more touchy feely. Poor Johanna was having a hard time sitting next to her brother who was very interested in her sparkly pumpkin shirt and ghost headband. I couldn't help but giggle a little and snap some pictures first before helping her out ;)

This was the best I could do of my little pumpkins.

 After we picked my Mom up from the airport last Thursday we made a stop at my MOPS Halloween party. They had trick-or-treating stations throughout the church and had several games set up to entertain the kids. Johanna loved eating her apple from the apple-scoop game and JJ was really into the pumpkin book from story time. He had his eye on it the whole time the story was being read and as soon as he was put down he scooted and rolled all the way to get his own hands on it.

 

My children have a taste for plastic spiders.

It was so much fun having my Mom there as part of the fun!

That morning we had our first (real) snowfall! We had at least a good 2-3 inches that even stuck around longer than a couple hours.

 On Tuesday while Johanna was at her pumpkin party at school I was able to bring JJ along to my church Moms and Tots community outreach at the Johnson Center. We visited the assisted living and nursing home side while the kids sang songs, trick-or-treated and visited with the residents. It was a lot of fun seeing their eyes light up while I brought JJ around to say hi.

For Halloween breakfast Johanna made sure to wear her kitty mask she made in school to get in the spirit.

Later that night we went over to Aunt Tura and Uncle Russ' house for some neighborhood trick-or-treating. We brought pizza and Kara surprised the kids with some adorable holiday treats.

 And they're off! Johanna started off in her Tinkerbell shoes and insisted on wearing them for the first ten minutes. She could barely keep up with the boys so I kept asking her if she wanted to put a different pair on and of course she kept refusing. Finally after the tenth time of asking she finally agreed and then -zoom!- she was off again to catch up with the everyone.

 Trick-or-treating was such a change from last year! The kids were so excited to run up the streets to each house that had a light on. They would stumble their way up the steps and take turns ringing the doorbell then proclaim "Trick-or-treat!" when the owner answered the door. Johanna's little voice was so sweet as I heard her say "Happy Halloween!" after receiving her treats, it made me giggle every time. Last year we complained about the lack of kids outside. This year was the opposite, the streets were loaded!

 Mine and Kara's favorite part of the night was when Nathan and Johanna spotted a bunny rabbit and took off after it. They ran across three houses before we finally convinced them to turn around. They were so silly!

 At one house a boy was dressed up as Gumby and was skating up and down the street. Johanna wasn't sure what to think of him.

JJ has a wonderful first Halloween. He loved being outside with the big kids but was very eager to get down and try it out himself. Next year, bubs!

I can't believe Halloween is over! When I read last year's Halloween post I laughed at this sentence:

 

"What a great start to a new family tradition. I can't wait to see what all the kids will be next year. Nathan and Johanna will be running around like crazy and baby bean will be 7 months old holy smokes."

 

Wow- I remember saying that like it was yesterday and here it is one year later. I've said it before and I'll say it again, time flies when you're having fun! I hope everyone had their fill of sweets, treats and everything pumpkin! I only have three more yummy pumpkin beers left in the fridge and I will admit I'm a little sad! I sent Jeff to the store last week to pick up a 6-pack so we could enjoy it over the Holiday week. He told me he got the last pack there until next Halloween, they only get one shipment of pumpkin beer a year. What?! I think November still counts as a pumpkin month. I will have to ration them to one a week till Thanksgiving.

Happy Halloween everyone! Also, Happy All Saints and All Souls Day! Blessed Maria Gabriella and Grandma Margie pray for us from up above!