Halloween

I will never forget the Halloween that I celebrated the first year that I was with Brad. Colt was just a little boy, I guess he was only 8 years old (yes, time flies). Brad helped me and mom get Colt all dressed up as some scary monster thing and Brad painted his face. It was cute... his face and the fact that Brad painted it. And, Brad shared one of his memories from his childhood with us on that day... he told me about a time he could remember his dad painting his face for Halloween when he was a little boy. And, his eyes were shining as he remembered it. I guess that's when I knew that Halloween would have to be special for our family.

Well, we didn't paint the kids' faces (they are a little young for that) and we didn't do anything majorly different than most people. We carved pumpkins - Brad is a total pro at using the carving kits to make creative pumpkins. We trick-or-treated in our neighborhood, identified the candy that we would steal from the kids and eat once they were asleep, and enjoyed watching them learn about a holiday of bumming candy from your neighbors. But, it was special nonetheless. I am sure there will be many years of overly extravagant painted faces, scary scenes in the yard, and pranks that we wish our kids wouldn't play a part in. For now, we are satisfied with our two little ones being hopped up on sugar and crashing shortly after that! :)

The kids really enjoyed the act of trick-or-treating. Jake was a little hesitant at first. He wasn't really sure what we were doing... but he shortly figured out that he was getting candy by walking up to people's front doors and was not interested in being contained to a stroller while his sister got all the treats. So, he made his little way, all on his own, to many homes in our neighborhood, charming all the older women with his sweet little smile and grunty "Dank ew (thank you)." Bailey is still wondering when we can go again, because it really is fun to go and get tons of free candy from your neighbors. She often asks if we can go to their house again for more candy. :)

Here are a few of our favorite pics of our little butterfly and monkey.