halloween with the blondies.

This Halloween I learned some very important things about my children...

1) Cormac is obsessed with this holiday and loves all things "creepy."  Meanwhile, Finola is petrified of any spooky things in real life, especially people dressed as monsters and giant spiders.

2) Finola hates chocolate.  She took bites out of every piece of her Halloween candy that was chocolate and promptly spit each bite out, shouting "Don't like it!"

3) Cormac's favorite candy is Reese's cups.  Which is good because it (sort of) prevents me from eating them.

4) Both children are completely enamored with Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas.  I believe they have watched (at least the beginning of) it at least every day for the past month.  When I asked them today what their favorite Christmas song is they both said, "The ones on Nightmare Before Christmas."  Uhhhh....

It was a memorable Halloween season.  Most fun yet!  We did as many Halloween-y things as we could fit in.  And then, I let a few things go, so as not to feel overwhelmed.  Since I'm not a naturally laid-back, go-with-the-flow mama, but more of a high-energy nutcase who tries to "do it all," I have to keep myself in check a lot, especially during the holiday season.

Any other mamas find that it is a delicate balance between doing as much as you can for your kids, and yet not doing too much so that you go insane?  

Things I let go of this year...

Going to additional trick-or-treating/trunk or treat events.  Roasting the pumpkin seeds from our pumpkins.  (I almost convinced myself to try make a pumpkin pie from their innards!  Then I checked myself, and said, "Nope!")    Doing Cormac's makeup.  (Hubby did it while I wrung my hands in the background.)  Trying to find creative costumes at thrift stores or make them myself. (Kroger for the win!)

How do you plan to keep yourself balanced and mentally happy during the upcoming holiday season?

bunny foo foo and fireman mac

Halloween came and went in a flash - and it was a sweet and fun night.
By sweet I mean I ate most of the candy my two-year-old collected ("You won't like that one...or that one...or that one...")  and by fun I mean we wrestled both kids into their costumes, took some pictures, walked around our neighborhood for about twenty minutes, then I had to get back to get baby Fin to bed and Cormac had already unwrapped a sucker and wouldn't take it out of his mouth long enough to say "trick or treat" one more time.

gap bunny costume - $6 used

fireman jacket, five sizes too large - $8 used.  hey, at least he will be able to wear it as a raincoat until he's ten. ;)

plastic hat and ax - $11...which puts me over my $20 limit slightly...but soooo close!

boy with crazy smile and ladies with crazy eyes...and this is before all the sugar

getting a bit antsy

everything is a bit too large

bunny butt!

By the end of the night, there had been no major meltdowns or sugar crashes.   I'll count that as a parenting 'win.' 

g

{halloween memories}

I have fond childhood memories of Halloween.

Our costumes were never fancy.

Always put together from thrift store purchases, 

items we already owned, 

or were worn by older siblings.

Dad always walked with us all over the neighborhood, collecting candy.

This was back when you actually had to walk up to the door and ring the bell and yell trick-or-treat, 

instead of just walk by the parent sitting at the edge of their driveway, chatting with the neighbors and drinking beer, and grab a handful.

Or is that just my neighborhood???

fairy, hobo, crabby bunny and patchwork mouse (???) 

 This was all stuff we already had, thrift store, or, in my case, my sister's old dance costume...

cool dude (??? - not sure but love the avs), dancer, and  cowgirl

I never took a dance class.  Surprising, right?

My baby bro's superman costume below was also worn as pajamas all that winter...

since when did superman wear swim goggles?

This is my older bro and sis and our cousin...

um...methinks my sister needs a diap change.  but could she be cuter???

 ...and me in the exact same Rapunzel(???) dress and wig five years later...looking a little less enthused...

knight, nurse, and disgruntled rapunzel

I adore looking back on these photographs.
This is why taking a million photos of your kiddos throughout their childhood is 100% worth it.
I can't wait to dig the rest out of our basement!

Anyway - 

finally Hubby and I have made it to an stage in parenthood where Halloween is actually fun.

Cormac is now two and actually excited for it.

Sure, we dressed him up the past two years,

and I loved it...

but now he can love it.

Which is a million times better.

This year I was charged with getting both of our kiddos costumes for under $20, which I did almost successfully!

Pics to come soon!

g

one year ago : halloween

Halloween when your baby is only a few months old is not incredibly exciting.  

I'm just being honest, folks.  Last year our little Cormac was, at his mama's choosing, a doctor.  As he is sure to grow up to be, right?  No pressure, Mac.

Anyway, it is cute to dress up the little lump and take some photographs to document that, like good parents, you dressed up your kiddo.

Here is our proof we did our duty last year...

Quick diaper change in the car before taking him to hang out with our friends.  He doesn't look thrilled!

'page dr. c. landon ford to the o.r stat!  just make sure he has a clean diaper!'

looking slightly uncomfortable

I can't even believe a year ago he was this tiny.

dr. mcbaby: it was a rough day to save lives.

This year, with a 15-month-old, it is sure to be a little more entertaining.  We chose the costume based on Cormac's first word besides 'mama' and 'dada'....'dog' - or as he says it: "AWWWWG!"

Here are some shots of our little pup at the fun Halloween party last night at Hubby's office.  He started out scared of Ernie the Elf, but eventually he was following him around everywhere, trying to photo-bomb all the other kiddos pictures with him, and even open-mouth kissed him a couple times...poor Ernie didn't know what to do.

Plus...we are actually going to take him trick-or-treating this year!

Sure, he can't eat 99% of the candy.  But we can. 
g 

{playing dress-up}

Is it weird that I enjoy Halloween more as an adult than I did as a kid?

Maybe it's the fact that it is not often as adults we get to play dress-up and pretend we are something completely different, perhaps be a little more crazy than we typically are. There is something so very exciting about a night where pretty much anything goes. I am a fairly conservative dresser...but Halloween I definitely like to get a little sassy. Can you guess from this odd-angled shot what I went as?

Hubby and I went for the first time to the neighborhood Halloween bash. Most of the guests were folks we had never met. It was hilarious getting to know the "characters" in our neighborhood! 

The table decor was fabulously freaky...

...and we danced, laughed, and made merry 'til the wee hours of morning.

Me and Popeye.

:o)

Hope you had a fun, spooky, delicious Halloween!

G

old stuff + black spray paint + cute ribbon = cheap halloween fun

Somehow I convinced my "sleep all weekend, only pause for football and food" husband to get up at 6am Saturday morning and help me clean/organize our dungeonous netherworld basement.

Six hours later I emerged triumphantly, spiderwebs in my hair, a wild look in my eyes, clutching...

two silver candleholders!

a metal door hangy thingy!

a piece of scrap plywood!

You would have thought I had found a pirate's chest full of gold coins! Actually, I had found some old stuff I thought I might be able to make into Halloween decorations. My main tools were: black spray paint, black chalkboard paint, and orange Halloween ribbon I found at Michaels.

Here are the candle holders. The silver is actually lovely, but for the life of me I have never been able to make these work in my home.

So I spray painted them black! Lurve!

Here is the cream-colored metal door hanger. Not sure where I got this. Or why. Or where I would get another.

So I sprayed it with chalkboard paint, tied a piece of my cute Halloween ribbon around the top, and presto chango:

I decided instead of a door hanger I would hang it on one of my front porch flower basket hooks. Used chalk to write "trick or treat." The best thing is that I can change the ribbon and message whenever I want.

:D

{I get excited about the little things.}

Now onto that piece of scrap wood. I have no "before" picture for this one. Just imagine a plain, 16 inch long, 1 inch thick piece of wood.

Sanded the edges and added some picture hanging hooks to each side (since it was a heavier piece of wood.)

Painted it black (of course.)

Staple-gunned a piece of ribbon to one side:

Used white acrylic craft paint to freehand the wording...

And there you have it folks...

A "spooky" sign!

See what you can do with old crap treasures from your basement? Saved myself a trip to Goodwill...and cash on Halloween decor.

Would I have loved to have just gone to Pier 1 and bought a bunch of fancy {gorgeous} Halloween decor? Yes. But...must stay strong!

G

PS: I am linking this up to Frou Frou Decor's Fabulous Friday Finds...click the button below to check out more cute ideas!