Eat, Drink, and Be Scary!

Earlier this month, Jacob (Nathan’s favorite cousin) invited all his similarly aged cousins to have a Halloween sleepover at his house. Nathan was super excited about it, but when I asked him if he wanted to trick or treat with Jacob or in our neighborhood, he was torn. This is his last year for trick or treating (in my family the kids only trick or treat until they turn twelve) and we have a really fun neighborhood for trick or treating. People sit on their porches or their lawns to hand out candy. There are homemade doughnuts, hot dogs, sometimes even pizza to be had. There are as many adults roaming the neighborhood as there are kids…and not in a creepy way either. It is a really family friendly location. So Nathan really wanted to be able to trick or treat around here for his last year but definitely wanted to party with his cousins as well. So we hatched a plan to have all the cousins trick or treat here and then go to Jacob’s house for the sleepover. Before long, it evolved into a Halloween themed dinner/trick or treating event.

We fed the kiddies worm sandwiches and jello brains before we hit the street. They were all so hyped up that I was surprised they managed to eat anything, but they actually did. Then it was on to the main event. Nathan and the older cousins went on their way and the littler kids stayed with the adults. It was super fun!

The over twelve crowd had their own celebration. They did baptisms for the dead and then had their own party that included dinner, games, a movie and candy, of course!

Here are my kiddos in their Halloween attire:

Daniel as Dr. Who (the 10^th doctor)

Nathan as a stick figure (during the day he had black electrical tape for the lines and he used glow sticks at night)

Matthew as a BYU football player

Malia as Rapunzel

Where the Wild Things Are

The correct answer to that would be…preschool…on Halloween. Seriously, they were aaaaaalllllll jazzied up. Malia was totally excited that she finally got to wear her costume. (It’s been in hiding since I finished it last month. Otherwise she would have been in it every day.) The other kids were equally excited to wear their costumes. The whole thing was kind of like trying to herd a bunch a cats. Here is our attempt at getting a group photo:

See what I mean about the herding cats thing?

But they did have fun making monster stew and playing a keep the pumpkin off the ground game.

As far as Malia is concerned, her first ever school Halloween party was a great success!

Birthday Bash

Both Daniel and Nathan were gone last night so although yesterday was her real b-day, we had Malia’s family celebration today. Kev’s parents joined us for the festivities.

Just in case Sunday’s cupcakes didn’t clue you in, Malia loves Rapunzel. “Tangled” was the first movie that she ran on a never ending loop and even though a variety of other movies have made their way onto the list, “Tangled” is still her default movie. Being a total girly girl, she loves to comb hair (hers or mine) and even combs her baby doll’s hair in spite of the fact that it is painted on. So when I saw a Rapunzel doll with loads of hair in the store, I figured it was the perfect gift.

She’s also a fan of Ladybug Girl. We check Ladybug Girl books out from the library frequently and every time we return them, she asks where they are for days afterward so she definitely needed one of her very own.

That look means I must have chosen wisely. :-)

She also got a stuffed Olaf. All his parts are connected by Velcro so he can be taken apart and reassembled. The very first thing she did was hug him...and then she ripped his head off. That's a "girl" reaction closely followed by a "girl with three older brothers" reaction.

She also got some socks featuring characters from “Frozen” (she hugged those to), some wood food for her kitchen (a pinterest find that Kev and Matthew helped me complete), and a book and a cute bag from Grandma and Grandpa.

With strawberry shortcake as a special birthday treat, we had a great time!

The Sweetest Things

Malia’s birthday is later this week. She is super duper excited. For about the past ten days she has been saying, “It’s almost my birthday!” And, “It’s almost my turn to blow the candles!” So very, very excited. Today was the day we celebrated her big day with my family so after church and choir practice she helped me decorate the cupcakes. I frosted them and she stood next to me on the stool and put on the sparkles. (They’re called cake shimmers and they are super fun in spite of the fact that they are super messy when applied by a not quite three year old.) About halfway through, Malia leaned over, rested her head on my shoulder and said, “Thank you for making these.” I have to admit that I welled up a bit. Unsolicited, heartfelt gratitude from my two year old makes any amount of effort totally worth it. And I dare any mom in the world to not get a little teary under similar circumstances with their own offspring. Anyway, back to the cupcakes. We worked for a while longer and then she exclaimed, “They’re beautiful!!” Gotta say, I’m lovin’ the praise I’m getting for these cupcakes. I don’t care what anyone else thinks, they are a complete success because Malia loves them. And they really are rockin’ cupcakes. Once again, I’m glad people share their brilliance on Pinterest. And although they taste delightful, the sweetest things today are not the cupcakes.