Halloween 2011

We just made it through one heck of a holiday weekend! I was very happy to wake up this morning to November and a break in all the action! We had so much fun this year! Let's recap the festivities, shall we?

Last weekend, we had a blast at the McGehearty's annual kids Halloween party. My friend Heather throws the absolute best parties in the world...she is just a natural at it! The kids had a blast making homemade slime, eating all sorts of ghoulish treats and going for "spider hunts" in the backyard (tons of plastic spiders were spread everywhere!). They even had a pinata, which is always a HUGE hit with our crowd. :-) Colin spent the majority of the party with Lindsey's sweet baby boy Nolan. He LOVES that baby! He also loves Lindsey...as we were leaving, he said, "WAIT! I can't leave without telling Lindsey goodbye!". It was so sweet!

This past week was when things really kicked up a notch on the busy scale. My mom came to town on Wednesday and spent the rest of the week staying with us, which was awesome! I LOVE that she is retired now and can come and spend time with us whenever she wants to. Colin was over the moon about it and every morning that she was here, Colin got up in the morning and got in her bed, rather than coming to wake me up. Which leads me to the part of the post where I ask my mother to move in permanently. ;-) We really had the greatest week ever. On Thursday, she took me and my sister Alieson to lunch at Brio's and then we spent way too much time in the Yankee Candle Store. That place is heaven on earth, I tell you! On Friday, Jer had a random day off and my mom and I got to spend literally the whole day together while he babysat. I honestly can't remember the last time that I spent a day with my mom like that and it was heavenly! The first place we stopped was Gap so that she could pick up a pair of pants. I was milling around and saw the cutest hat in the world. I snatched it up and showed my mom that it was exactly what I was talking about in my last blog post. She kept telling me that it was fabulous and that I should get it and that I was being an idiot by not wearing one if I liked it. The two sales people overheard our conversation and immediately chimed in about my hat debate. I had the whole store involved at this point. ;-) They both said the hat was fantastic and that I should get it. One of them even snapped the tags off right there and stuck the hat on my head, telling me to wear it out the door right then. So, what else could I do?! I wore it! I got a huge kick from the big response I got on the blog post and it was cracking me up that I turned around and bought the hat. I was determined to make a go of it! As soon as I walked out the door with my mom, a woman who was in the parking lot called out to me, telling me that she loved my hat. My mom was all, "SEE?!". It was hysterical. Now determined, I wore that hat for all of the next half hour. The problem with wool hats in Texas is that by noon, it is too damn hot to wear them. I begrudgingly abandoned the hat to the car, but I promise you that I am going to rock that thing this winter, along with the cashmere beret that sits gathering dust in my closet! Who cares what other people think! I like it! At 34 years old, I figure I should stop worrying so much about what other people think, anyway. My mom took this shot with my phone...not a great picture, but a FABULOUS hat!

We kept making our rounds after that and hit several more stores. I didn't really buy anything else, but had a great time drooling over all the awesome fall clothes. We had lunch at Cafe Express and then I took my mom over to see the giant dutch oven that I want for Christmas. It was a perfect day! I then spent the remainder of the afternoon and night making my homemade cinnamon rolls to take to Tanya's baby shower the next morning. Tanya is due with little Vivian Ruth on Thanksgiving day and we gave her a shower on Saturday morning. Kim hosted at her house and we all contributed dishes. I made the cinnamon rolls for everyone last Christmas and they were requested again, so I got down to business on Friday afternoon. :-) They take forever to make, but aren't hard to do at all. The reward for your time is SO WORTH IT and let's just say that my diet was NOT followed on Saturday. I ate my fair share of those babies. I have a major problem with pastry. MAJOR. Anyway, the shower was so much fun and my mom got to go with me! It felt great to have my mom finally meet and hang out with some of my friends. I am always so jealous of my friends who have their parents living close by. She took the following picture for us...Tanya is the pregnant red-headed supermodel standing behind me, in case you didn't know. :-) What a great morning!

That night, we had our annual "grown-ups only" Halloween party to attend and I was yet again so thankful to my mom for staying with us all weekend and taking care of the little man. We had the best time ever and didn't make it home until 1:30am, which is LATE for us old folks. Jer and I managed to snag "sexiest couple", but since he threatened to murder me, I don't have any pictures to show. HA!! I do have one of me with a couple of friends, but I cropped them out because I need express written consent to share grown-up Halloween party pictures on the worldwide web. :-) I think I was a very good "Brownie", if i do say so myself. I thought my addition of bows with the beret pretty much made it.

So, FINALLY, we come to yesterday...HALLOWEEN! Colin went to school and they had their big Halloween party. They did a "trunk-or-treat" this year where the cars line up in the parking lot and decorate their trunks and hand out candy. They also had two bounce houses set up and a photo op that was adorable. I volunteered to work, so I had the first shift and got to see a ton of precious little cuties. I ran home afterwards, picked up Jer and came back for Colin's turn. He was so precious in his "builder" costume and had a great time trick-or-treating to all the trunks. After that, I ran to the store and stocked up for the trick-or-treat get together that we hosted here at the house. I made chili with cornbread and spiked cider and we had the Parkers and Turners over for some dinner and trick-or-treating. It was a blast!! Colin loved having his buddies to walk around with and the kids all had the most fun. All in all, we had a PERFECT Halloween this year! Here are some of the great shots from yesterdays festivities:

I am so thankful this year, more than ever before, to have my wonderful family. My son and husband are my whole world and my blessings are endless. I am a very lucky girl.

A SPOOK-TACULAR WEEKEND!

Halloween weekend was insanely busy and absolutely wonderful. I know I have said it before, but is amazes me how much fun it is to relive all of these childhood traditions with my own child! I remember Halloween as one of my favorite days every year and this weekend was even better than my fondest memories.

The fun started on Friday morning...we invited all of our friends to the house for "Pumpkin Carving with Colin". Everyone brought their own pumpkins and we had a book of templates and a couple of carving sets to choose from. I set up a big blanket in the backyard to sit on, which was not enough room! Next year, I will attempt to spread out a bit better! :-) I made cupcakes with orange frosting, little goodie bags for all the boys, and a very spooky "Snake" for lunch, which was basically snake shaped pizza. The only hiccup was that the snake did not make near enough food! I think I will keep the snake tradition, but make at least 3 next time! The kids all seemed to love it and I was so glad that everyone had fun. Colin thinks that his friends coming over is just about the greatest thing ever, so he was beside himself for the fun to begin. Eren brought Halloween Bingo for the kids to play and they thought that was the coolest. It was especially funny when Eren told them that they couldn't eat the candy corn place holders until after the game. It was like watching a group of puppies being told to wait for their treats! Once the game was over, they all dove right in. I still can't believe it, but we even managed to get ALL the kids to line up by the fence with their pumpkins for a photo-op. What a perfect day! I am pretty proud of our "owl" pumpkin, although in all honesty, the template was a cat. HA! I carved another one later in the afternoon with ghosts and they looked great on the porch all lit up. Here are some of the cute pictures:

My pepperoni pizza snake! He turned out a little on the fat side. ;-)

Colin, Jack and little man Jett sitting at the picnic table.

Some of the pumpkin carving action. Some of the boys loved it...some were inside the house tearing up the playroom. ;-) Hannah floated back and forth between the backyard and the house making sure they didn't set anything on fire. LOL!

I love Jack's serious look of concentration while playing bingo. :-)

Halloween Bingo was a big hit! I really need more chairs...and more tables...and a bigger house. ;-)

Colin, Jake, Ryan, Pierce, Hayden, Jack, Brooke, Greyson and Hannah!

Colin and his owl/cat work of art! ;-)

I quickly picked up the house after the playdate and got ready for the arrival of my wonderful mother, who drove from Tyler to spend the night. She came to keep Colin so that we could go to Heather and Eric's annual "Adults Only" Halloween party. We missed it last year due to babysitting issues, and after hearing stories about it all year, I was VERY excited to attend! I dressed as "Charlie" from Top Gun...except brunette and scantily clad. HA! I forced my husband to wear his real Navy bomber jacket and be my Maverick. He looked super hot, even though he was rather embarrassed. ;-) I was rocking a skirt that was far too short, fishnets and high heeled black boots (which had to be literally dusted off from the back recesses of my closet). It felt surprisingly invigorating to be slightly naughty and grown-up and it was cool to feel like a young couple out for a good party!

The party was literally EVERYTHING that I hoped it would be. We had one of the best times EVER. Heather and Eric are amazing hosts and all the food and decorations were awesome! Eric is known for his specialty drinks that he serves at every event and this occasion did not disappoint! Most of his concoctions were served in neon plastic shot tubes, which was hysterical! We were partying like rock stars! :-) The costumes were absolutely outrageous and my face hurt from laughing all night! I had almost totally lost my voice by the time we got home...it was a great night! I have about 100 pictures of the shenanigans, but was sworn not to post them online. The guys were all too much! Here are a couple of shots of the girls...approved for Internet use. I cannot say enough how very much I love these people!!!

Top row, Hannah (the ninja), Eren (Disco Girl), Kayrene (trailer park mom and most hilarious ever). Second row, me, Kimberly (a beautiful pumpkin with her actual preggers belly painted...her husband was "Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater!), Lindsey (the basketball, her husband was a Harlem Globetrotter), Shelly (as basically herself...LOL!) and Heather (the pirate!)

Hannah, Kimberly, Shelly and I...acting like we were 21 years old. :-)

I have so many more awesome shots, but I really need express written consent before I post them. ;-)

On Saturday, we took my mom for a fantastic lunch on the patio at Joe T. Garcia's in Fort Worth and had the best time. I was SO tired from staying up until 1am (in my world that might as well be an all-nighter), but the food and company was so worth it. We took it easy that night and skipped the trunk-or-treat at church. There were estimated to be 1,000 people coming and I knew Colin wouldn't go for it. At long last, we woke up on Sunday to official Halloween! It was a beautiful sunny day with highs in the 80's and we met up with the Roberts family at the Fort Worth Alliance Air Show. This year we remembered head phones for Colin and he had a much better time! The only drawback to going is the incredibly long walk to and from the car...I feel like we walked as much as we watched! The F22 Raptor was un-bee-freaking-lieveable and as usual, The Blue Angels were too much! I LOVE the air show! Here are some of Jer's great shots:

You can SEE the pilots!! SO AWESOME!

They never cease to take my breath away. It makes me SO PROUD to be an American!

We got home just in time to cook a quick dinner and get ready for the big night of trick-or-treating! Last year, Colin refused to wear his costume, despite picking it out! This year he had already refused to wear it to his fall festival at school, so I was ready for him to pass. He totally surprised me, as usual, and began begging me to put on his fireman gear. It was no great shock that he choose to be a fireman, what with his whole world revolving around them. :-) He put the whole costume on and refused to eat his dinner. About 10 minutes after we started eating, he said, "Mommy, firemen get really hungry when they put out a big fire. I am ready to eat now!"...how cute he is!! We quickly set out our lit pumpkins and a big bucket of candy with a note for the kids to help themselves. We headed out with the rest of the neighborhood and I don't remember ever being prouder of where we live! This is a large community full of young families and almost every single porch light was on! The streets were literally teaming with adorable kids and families and the atmosphere was jovial and full of good cheer. I was super impressed with all the extravagant decorations that folks put out and Colin got more than a couple of spooky surprises when he knocked on the doors! All the neighbors pulled lawn chairs out to the sidewalk to hand out candy and chat and Colin was almost too tired to walk by the time we rounded the corner to our house. About halfway through, I had to carry his bag because it was "too heavy for little guys". ;-) At three of the houses, 5 and 6 dads pulled their chairs into one driveway and each had buckets of candy to hand out. I thought that was hysterical! Apparently the moms took the kids out and the dads made their own drive-thru candy stop. Colin thought it was awesome that he got to walk the line of dads for extra candy. It was a cool and breezy night and the sound of children laughing and the warm reception from our whole neighborhood will be a memory that I won't soon forget. These are the moments that remind me just how lucky we are and how much God has blessed our lives. What a wonderful memory for Colin...and for us!

My little fireman, all ready to go!

Posing with Daddy before we headed out!

Knocking on his first door! He was SO excited!!

I love this shot that Jer took just as we left...about 5 minutes after this shot, the street exploded with kids! This was the calm before the amazing storm! :-)

Colin and his loot! Now THAT is joy! :-)

The Fall Festival

Today is a big day! FALL FESTIVAL! Colin's school has been gearing up for weeks and we have been counting down the days. All the kids can wear their Halloween costumes or at least a festive shirt, as in the case of Mr. Colin. He was not into wearing his costume today, but I was VERY proud that he agreed to wear his skeleton shirt and jeans. It was 49 degrees this morning and I was very nervous that I wouldn't get him into pants of any kind. I took him outside so that he could feel how cold it was, so that helped. He had not allowed pants anywhere near his body before this morning, so the jeans made me very happy. They set up lots of different games all around the school and had parent volunteers man each station. Once the kiddos played each game, they got a treat for their goody bag. It was absolutely adorable!! The classes all took turns attending, so it was not too crowded and just right for the little man. I volunteered and worked the session before Colin's turn. The next parent had not relieved me when Colin's class rounded the corner to the festival and therefore Colin got the shock of his life when he saw me randomly standing in the middle of his school hallway, wearing cat ears and whiskers, no less! He was VERY confused, by both my presence and appearance, and looked very much like he was seeing a ghost! He never really recovered after the shock and was a little "off" for the rest of the festival. He wouldn't really give me any smiles for the camera, which is unfortunate because he looked so cute! :-) Next year I will sign up to work the session way after Colin's! I learned my lesson on that one!

I loved getting a chance to see Colin with his classmates and watch him interact with his teachers. I was blown away by how well behaved everyone was...they all did exactly what they were told. They run like a well oiled machine and Colin clearly knew what to do and when. We got to play outside with the kids for awhile before it was time for them to go to lunch and when it was lunchtime, Miss Gina said, "Wild Things, LINE UP! Time to go inside!" and Colin jumped out of my lap and ran to get in line against the fence. I was amazed! The class had a very special pizza party for the occasion, so that was when the parents headed out. It was a great time and the perfect start to Halloween weekend! YEA!

Colin and his classmates line up before going outside to the bounce house. How cute are they?!

Playing "golf" for prizes. :-)

He liked his super cool candy jug that Miss Gina and Miss Kelli made him!

Not at all sure why mom is standing in the hallway...

Pulling lollipops out of a pumpkin with his buddies...so cute!

Halloween!

Halloween was on Saturday and I cannot believe that it is already over and November is upon us! We had an interesting holiday this year with some highs and lows...it all started a couple of weeks ago when I tried to put Colin's Spiderman costume on and he refused to go for it. He asked specifically to be Spiderman but for whatever reason, he seemed almost frightened to wear it. I bought his black skeleton t-shirt on a whim at Gymboree a couple of weeks ago on sale, so he wore that to the first Halloween party of the season. I hoped that with time his real costume would grow on him, but that was NOT the case. As we prepared for the big night on Saturday, I tried in earnest to put it on, but he had a screaming fit over it complete with back arching and hysterics. I even brought the costume along to the trick-or-treat party, but he flipped out again at the sight of it and I finally threw in the towel. Colin was a skeleton (sort of) with a spiderman bag for Halloween. I am very thankful that I purchased the t-shirt and really thankful that I bought the $23 costume instead of the expensive astronaut costume that I really wanted. I think I would have taken it a lot worse if I had spent a fortune. ;-) Halloween was also a little sad for us because Jer had to work on the big night and was forced to miss trick-or-treating. Luckily Colin is still too young to really know that Daddy missed something important and everything was fine, but I missed him a LOT. I don't like to spend holidays of any kind without Jeremy and it certainly dampened my spirits.


We were invited to a fabulous party at Dana and David's house and it was an absolute BLAST! There were around 6 two year olds and a couple of cute babies in the mix and we had a little feast before taking all the kids around their neighborhood to trick-or-treat. Dana throws a great party...her decorations were ADORABLE and there was a ton of yummy stuff to eat. Colin was also very pleased to take apart Gabby's playroom and go crazy with all her toys! He was not his normal self for a good portion of the party simply because he gets pretty easily overwhelmed in a new environment with all new people. He was at a new house surrounded by all new people and things, so he was pretty quiet at first and kept to himself (and Gabby's toys). He barely touched a bite of food and I will admit that when trick-or-treating first got underway, I was starting to sweat. He did not really understand what we were doing and did not want to follow the kids up to strange houses. He started to shut down, which is very hard to get him to recover from. He started running away from everyone and me...inching away from me so that I would not be able to grab him and sitting down asking to go home. He quietly informed me in my ear that he "don't want trick treat" and I was pulling out the keys and getting ready to jump ship. Then Dana's incredibly sweet mom (she is honestly the nicest and most comforting person that I have met in a long time) back tracked from the crowd and started to help me. Between the two of us, we managed to get Colin up to a front door where the candy was sitting out on the porch. It finally registered to him what was going on...if you walk up to a house and say trick-or-treat, they will give you candy!! His transformation after that was amazing!! He was quickly running with the kids to each house and even got ahead at one point! There were a couple of scary houses and spooky adults in costume, but he was undeterred. He was not stopping until everyone under the sun gave him candy. I was laughing to myself at the end...all the kids made one block and went back into Dana's house for cake. Colin, however, would have kept going all night long. I ushered him back into the house, but I am pretty sure that he would have kept going until he passed out! I am very glad that nobody seemed to mind that he was not exactly in costume. :-) The whole party was wonderful and I am so glad we were invited. He has been talking about Gabby's house and candy ever since we got home, so I know the night ended up being a hit for the little man. Here are some of the pictures:

Gabby and Colin sitting at the table...they were alternating between eating candy and Oreo cake. It does not get much better than that!

Two cuties!!

How cute is this?!?! A bunch of trick-or-treating toddlers!! Please note Colin's anti-costume.

This is at the beginning of trick-or-treating. You can tell from Colin's expression that this is before he figured out what was going on. :-)

Colin and Gabby during the "picnic" dinner. They are so precious together!!

The Official Start to Halloween Season!

Yesterday was our first visit to the Pumpkin Patch for the season and we had a great time! This location is called "The Pumpkin Express" and is about 20 minutes from the house. Several of our friends and their kiddos met out there and the overcast day and cool temps made for the perfect atmosphere for a Halloween themed outing. They have an adorably decorated train station where you load up to ride the express over to the pumpkin patch, which is loaded with decorations, bounce houses, mazes and photo ops. Colin fervently refused to get on the train, which did not really surprise me. He LOVES playing with trains more than anything else, but for some reason he won't get on one. He actually does not like anything that resembles a "ride" of any sort, including the cars at places like Chuck E. Cheese. I am sure this is just a stage, but he was not having it AT ALL yesterday. Instead of riding, we walked over to the patch, which was just adorable. The pumpkin patch is one of my all time favorite places to go...nothing says fall like a field of orange pumpkins! Colin was in heaven getting to run wild around everything and check out all the goodies. The only down side was the mud...the constant rain that we have been getting left the fields in a gooey mess, so we were all pretty dirty once it was time to go home. On top of everything else, there were a couple of precious babies in our group, so Colin got to give out hugs to them the whole morning, which is still his favorite pastime.

In other news, Colin is STILL changing before my eyes and I seem to be blown away by something new every single day. His speech takes my breath away...he forms beautiful sentences right now and talks about everything he sees. Today was a BIG moment; he climbed up in my lap this morning and put his arms around me. He looked into my eyes and said, "I wuv you, Mommy". I started to cry and hugged him as hard as I could. He has said it once or twice with prompting, like he is repeating what you tell him to, but this was the first time that he told me completely unprovoked...like he knew what it meant and wanted to tell me. I just can't put into words how wonderful it was. He points out things he sees from the car window (Mommy! I see cows!) and acknowledges things that I did not realize he absorbed. At McDonald's today, he saw writing on the play area and said, "Look Mommy! Super letters!". He watches a show on PBS called "Super Why" and they look for letters in stories, calling them "super letters". I love seeing Colin pick up on things like that!! He has also started saying "Guess what?!" and when you guess, he says "NOOOO!" and starts rolling with laughter. He also has moved into the "what's that?" routine where he points at things endlessly and asks me what they are. This is one of his favorite games at the moment. He remembers his friends and asks about them, which really seems like a big boy thing to do. He uses the right words to ask for things and seems to laugh all day long. Overall, I love this new stage and am having a blast with him. I feel like I am watching him turn into his own little person before my eyes. He is joy, pure and simple.

Here are some pictures from yesterday:

Colin regarding the scarecrow...

Colin and his best buddy, Hayden. Colin LOVES Hayden and even gave him an unprompted hug while they were playing. It was so sweet!

On the move!!

At the train station, right before telling me that he was NOT getting on the train. :-)

Halloween in Pictures

Here are some of our precious pictures from the big night. I had lots of gel in Colin's hair in an attempt to make him look like Dr. McDreamy. I obviously succeeded. :-)


Colin running with Duke at the carnival. Mimi is in the background taking pictures of Jackson in the stroller.

This is one little man who LOVES Halloween. Look at that smile!

The doctors getting a stroll in Mimi's double grandson express. :-)

Me, Jer, Cory, Meredith, Jackson and Colin (who wanted us to get out of his ball bin!)

Happy Halloween!

It is 10:30 pm and therefore way past my bedtime, but I had to make a quick post! We are in my hometown in East Texas for Halloween so that Colin could trick-or-treat with his cousin Jackson. We had the best time! We all headed out to a great little carnival at a local church and the boys had an absolute blast. They had a petting zoo, bounce houses, hot dogs and snacks, lots of candy and rooms full of games, even for the little ones! Colin found a ball pit and was beside himself with glee. It was, of course, stunningly adorable. :-) Colin and Jackson were both doctors and everyone we passed said, "You guys are needed in the ER, stat!". We all got a big kick out of it. Colin loved on Jackson the whole evening...this is the first time Colin has really been old enough to play with J and they had so much fun. Jackson was the perfect "big brother" and was so sweet and patient with Colin. Once we got back to my parents house to go through all the loot, they really got into the swing of things. My parents have a great little tent in the living room and both boys were inside it playing...with Enzo! :-) I probably died of cuteness several times tonight. I got Colin down for bed at around 8:30 and my parents stayed home with him and Jackson so that us "kids" could all go eat. It was so nice to share a meal with Meredith and Cory that did not involve me wolfing down food so that I could take care of Colin. :-) It felt great to have a grown-up meal and was a nice end to a perfect Halloween. We have tons of pictures to download, both from my parents camera and mine, so I will do all of that in the morning. Hopefully we have some cute pics to come! Happy Halloween, everyone!