a visit from the switch witch!

the kids found this note on the counter when they came home from school yesterday. . .

the switch witch is coming,
but don't be afraid!
she'll only take the candy
you wish to trade!

choose ten to twelve pieces,
all your favs please!
then leave her the bowl
and she'll leave you the treats!

she'll leave you a goodie
or maybe two or three
and take with her the candy
and the chance for cavities!

sure am hoping she comes every year! she took all our candy and left us with some movies and popcorn for movie night! i think the switch witch might be one of my favorite chicks! many thanks to the mom who shared the bailey family's name with the witch herself!

halloween 2011

okay, the kids looked pretty stinkin' cute this year . . . what a fun day it was! the kids could not wait to get home from school and put on the costumes! we had our usual scary dinner . . . mummy dogs, zombie brains, and witch fingers . . . and then it was off to get some candy! the kids were a big hit . . . they were pretty cute all walking together . . . and mck and ken each took a little one by the hand and took them up to the door when they were getting tired! b had the "trick or treat" thing down . . . anything for candy! they kids had a blast . . . and got way too much candy! we ate a few pieces and then called it a night . . . i think the switch witch may be coming . . . hahahaha!

twas the day before halloween

the kids got the halloween goodies this morning . . . instead of waiting for monday and school! they loved checking out their loot . . . and had fun playing until it was time to carve pumpkins! this year EVERYONE helped me scoop out the "junk" . . . well, b didn't really help, but touched it for a second . . . the girls actually got in there and helped! they each chose a design, and bailey carved or drilled! mck had "fairy lights" . . . marbles in the pumpkin, so bailey convinced kam that she should make a smiley face out of marbles (i think he realized drilling was easier than carving!). ken chose a very complicated skeleton face. . . so bailey sat for a good hour carving that! and b got potato head pirate pieces and made his a warty pirate! pumpkin prep was a success!

kam's baby pumpkin

kam got this sweet little pumpkin from her school party and was instantly in love with it. she brought it up to her room so it could "be with her" and carried it outside when it was time to carve pumpkins "so the baby can watch its family!" then, the baby pumpkin took a spill and got a dent . . . she was devastated. she literally cried for 5 minutes and gave the pumpkin kisses . . .

hanging with daddy

b, kam, and bailey headed downtown while the girls partied . . . what a treat to be in their costumes and hanging out with daddy. they looked adorable and were a big hit with the big kids before they left . . . frankenstein was trying to scare the girls! it was cute! the little kids had a great time showing off their costumes and getting candy . . . and then came home for more fun!

halloween sleepover

this may be our new halloween tradition! the girls had been asking for a halloween party . . . i kept putting it off because they wanted to invite a few too many people . . . so, rather last minute, we decided a halloween sleepover with a few friends! the girls ALL got along, had a great time, and even got a little sleep! we ate jack-o-lantern pizza, had color changing drinks (some of the girls really thought it was magic!), decorated cookies and cupcakes, played hide and seek, made masks, painted pumpkins and fingernails . . . and then had pumpkin face pancakes in the morning! what a fun party it was!

picking pumpkins

the kids had a blast picking pumpkins from the local church . . . also kam and b's school! :) they each spent lots of time picking just the right one . . . ken picked the biggest with weird orange and greenish veins, mck picked a large simple orange one, kam picked the smallest one, and b picked a warty one! in the past we have each gotten a pumpkin to carve . . . this year we got smarter and bailey and i chose not to get one . . . carving for HOURS just isn't appealing . . . so with our four pumpkins in tow, we headed home to display them in the front yard!

halloween

what a fun day! we started off the morning with halloween treats and a fun jack-o-lantern pancake breakfast! the kids were so excited! :) it was a countdown to trick-or-treat time ALL day! :) we visited the neighbors first . . . cupcakes and cups FILLED with goodies! they were so excited! :) then we headed to a near-by neighborhood for trick-or-treating! the kids loved every second of it! ken and mck wanted to lead the group . . . kam was happy to tag-a-long behind them. b.c. was not content to ride in the wagon too much. he quickly figured out that candy was involved and he was NOT going to miss out! he didn't even really want to hold hands . . . just run up and get the candy! :) the kids had a blast and were a huge hit with everyone . . . they thought the girls were just precious . . . and b.c. just adorable! (although he did get called a girl NINE times! omg . . . a girl mickey mouse?!?!?)

the kids got more candy than they will ever be able to eat . . . and we topped off the evening with our annual trip to sonic for sundaes! what a perfect night!

carving pumpkins . . . all six of them!

okay, so we knew we'd be kicking ourselves when we chose to purchase SIX pumpkins! holy crow! yep, we spent about 3 hours carving away! :) actually, the girls and i cleaned the pumpkins out and bailey took design requests and carved away! :) (and yes, this is the first year i had any help cleaning the pumpkins out . . . ken and mck were sort of fascinated by how gross the junk felt . . . kam would gently touch it but then had to clean her hands right away!) :) it's a good thing bailey is in charge of the carving because i would have done generic jack-o-lanterns! this year we had a scary face (bailey's), mickey mouse (b.c.), jasmine (ken), cinderella's castle (kam), and a witch face (mine!). we are in the spirit and ready for the big day! :)

pumpkin pickin'

what a great afternoon to pick a pumpkin! we headed to kam's school to select our pumpkins this year . . . after disney we were too worn out for the pumpkin patch. everyone found a pumpkin they were happy with and then they got to play lots of fun games, eat cotton candy, bounce, and get their faces painted. the kids thought it was great! :) now for the fun part . . . carving 6 pumpkins!

painting pumpkins

the kids had so much fun creating "masterpieces" out of their mini pumpkins . . . and they topped them off with LOADS of glitter! :) what a fun way to get in the pumpkin spirit! even little b.c. was loving the paint . . . maybe a little too much! :) what a beautiful day! :)

countdown to halloween

oh how i love this time of year! :) we decorated three weeks ago! and this morning we started opening the haunted house! we did the house in shifts . . . the big kids before they went to school and the little kids after the girls left on the bus! we started the year off with silly bands and boo berry cereal! ooooh! something fun to look forward to each day! :)

halloween 2009 . . . our own little pumpkin patch

we've been counting down to the big day for quite some time . . . like since july! the girls were so excited to see that the halloween witch had left them some goodies in the haunted house and filled their trick-or-treat bags with some goodies too! :) they all had fun playing with sticky hands . . . daddy included! :)

the hit of their treat bag was the silly string . . . thanks for the idea miss s! :) bailey and i did a sneak attack on the girls . . . then they got their cans and had fun spraying everything! what a fun start to the day! :)

we carved our pumpkins outside in the beautiful weather! we carved all 6 pumpkins . . . or i should say daddy carved most of them! i gutted them . . . with a little help from ken, less from mck, and absolutely no help from kam who just said "disgusting" after touching the inside once! kam decided on a cinderella pumpkin . . . a tough task on the "baby" pumpkin she picked out! ken's was super cool . . . sticky eyeballs everywhere! and mck wanted belle . . . a "challenging" design that daddy was able to pull off! my pumpkin was a vampire and daddy and b.c. had traditional jack-o-lanterns (read "we were too worn out to be creative"!) next year, it'll just be pumpkins for the kiddos . . . a 4 hour long pumpkin carving marathon is a little crazy! :)

the girls and b.c. got all dressed up in their co-ordinating pumpkin outfits! i am hoping to convince them to match next year, but not counting on it! ken was pumpkin spice, mck was a pumpkin princess, kam was a baby pumpkin fairy, and b.c. was the most adorable pumpkin ever! what fun! our own little pumpkin patch! :)

we went trick-or-treating with the same bunch we've been with for several years now . . . old friends from ken's daycare! :) it was so fun to see the big girls all back together. . . and the little kids managed ot fit right in! (thanks ms. t for hosting us . . . AGAIN!) the kids all snacked on fun halloween goodies and then headed out!

the kids were all so funny . . . ken stopped after EVERY house to show me what she had gotten! seriously EVERY house! mck wanted to lead the group . . . a group of 6 year olds! she wanted to be the first at every door! and little kam quickly realized that her cuteness paid off and said an extra loud "trick or treat" by the end of our venture! b.c. was great all night - chilling in his carrier and eventually falling asleep!
we headed home and the girls sorted their candy . . . i told them they could each pick one piece to eat . . . they never argued! (weird!) mck picked m&m's, kam picked nerds, and my weird oldest child picked a brain piece!

trip to the pumpkin patch

we made our trek to the pumpkin patch early this year . . . before bailey heads to china in a week! the weather was less than perfect, but daddy insisted we head there (a little background on our pumpkin patch trips . . . we can't remember a year where the experience hasn't warranted some complaints . . . it's been pouring down rain, raining and cold, 100 degrees and totally dusty, just plain old hot . . . basically we can say that every trip has sucked in some way . . . so i guess the consensus was, why not this year too?) so we headed there, minus our bff's, who were admittedly too whimpy to brave the elements! we took a few pics before heading out because i figured we'd be bundled up and not be able to see the kids' cute halloween tees! :)

to be honest, both ken and i had a meltdown about going before we left the house. neither one of us wanted to be hanging out in the rain - me - because 2 kids were under the weather and the baby isn't even 3 months old yet, and ken because there was a chance the pony rides wouldn't be going today because of the weather. so, we both left the house in GREAT moods!

when we got there, it was misty, but bearable! we actually got a close parking spot - because, hello! who goes to the pumpkin patch when it's 54 degrees out and raining! we took some pictures and headed for the ponies! ken was the first to ride and was all grins! she loved it! mck was next . . . climbing up like she knew what she was doing! and then it was kam's turn . . . she wanted to go all by herself this year . . .boy did she look tiny on that big horse! she was quiet the whole way until she got off the pony and said "thank you"! too cute!

we hung out by the goats for a bit and then we hit the hayride . . . that's when it started raining for real . . . the girls were troopers - really not minding the rain! i was not too happy. . . and was holding a trash bag over the baby because of course we hadn't brought our umbrella on the hayride with us! :) the hayride was cooler this year and the guy even stopped in the middle to let the girls climb a spooky old tree!

we picked out pumpkins in the rain . . . mck was very decisive - just a big orange pumpkin - and she wanted to make sure that hers was the biggest! ken assisted kam in picking out her pumpkin which had to be "a baby one!". bailey and i each picked out nice big orange pumpkins. the girls all helped pick a small one for bentley. and ken picked a huge fairytale pumpkin . . . she had decided on that kind a week ago! :)

so, the weather stunk, but we made it . . . another successful trip to the patch! :) is it possible that despite the horrible weather each year the trips actually get to be more fun? just don't tell bailey i said that!

fiesta firsts!

our trip to fiesta texas was a wonderful surprise for the kiddos! :) they knew we were going somewhere special . . . but didn't find out where until we were super close! :) the weather was overcast for most of the day, so it was truly fall weather . . . perfect for the halloween fun at the park!

ken and mck were in the same height category, so they could ride all the same rides . . . including their first REAL roller coaster! :) they loved it! :) mck was the first to say she would go - ken took a little convincing, but both ended up loving it! :)

kam was able to ride most of the rides by herself - just with her big sisters and actually had a meltdown when i tried to ride with her because she only wanted to ride with the girls!

even b.c. got his first taste of the amusement park and rode the carousel sitting on a bench with daddy! :)

poor mck was sick . . . so, being the great parents we are, we drugged her up, and took her along! what a trooper! she didn't complain once . . . and had a smile on her face most of the day, but if you looked at her eyes you could tell she wasn't feeling great! she didn't say anything until we got in the car to leave!

i was so over prepared for the day . . . extra clothes, p.j.'s, snacks, drinks, i even packed a lunch to save some money . . . wouldn't you know we'd get there and the camera wasn't charged! holy crow. i was devastated. for $23.99 (yikes!) we could have purchased a disposable, but opted instead for some pics the kids took with the characters and mck and ken's first roller coaster ride (yes, they both look scared!). on a plus side, we didn't have 100's of pics to go through when we got home!

our halloween costumes arrived . . .

when the door bell rang with a ups package, we knew the costumes were here! :) i got everyone on-board with the whole "it'll be so fun if you all match" idea, figuring this may be the last time i can do that! :) so, we're going with a pumpkin theme . . . our little pumpkin patch! :)

the girls' outfits are all very girly and each picked one that they just loved . . . kam's is called pumpkin pie . . . a sweet little pumpkin fairy! :) mck's is pumpkin princess . . . a light up foofy dress that is sooooo "her"! and ken's is called pumpkin spice . . . okay, i call it "hootchie pumpkin", but it actually looks a lot cuter on her than it did on-line! (i threatened to return it if it didn't look okay!) :)

so i had to capture the images of the girls tearing into the package and trying their costumes on and checking themselves out in the mirror! :) their excitement makes everything soooooo much fun! :) i just love it! :)

(don't worry! b.c has a pumpkin outfit too . . . his was hanging in his closet and he was sleeping when we were taking pictures! :))