halloween. 2014

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Oh, Halloween…it was THE BEST Halloween. I have always loved this time of year because my birthday is in October and I love any excuse to go all out with costumes! Since we first started doing family costumes when Reid was born, I knew that I wanted to one day to The Wizard of Oz. And then a couple of years ago when I saw the Glinda the Good Witch costume, I knew for sure that we would do it soon. The smallest size that the costume came in was size 4, so I had been planning on doing it this year since she's now in a size 4. Amazingly, we had a new little addition this year, which worked out perfectly for the adorable cowardly lion costume. And ta-da! This is our final product. Lots of internet shopping and three wild kids later, this is the picture that we got. And I absolutely LOVE it!!!

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I love that my husband doesn't mind dressing up and having fun! Halloween is always such a good time for our family! 

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LilliAnn wanted a "gum ball girl costume" to trick-or-treat in, but $150 later, she decided she really liked her Glinda costume and wanted to wear it instead!

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Sweet little lion. He DID NOT like this costume, especially the part that snapped under his chin. I ended up safety pinning it where he couldn't pull the velcro apart, but he wasn't happy about it! 

Reid begged to be "Koba" from Planet of the Apes this year, so I told him that if he would be the tin man for our family costume/pictures, that he could trick-or-treat in his Koba costume.

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We hav the best neighborhood for trick-or-treating, and so many of our friends stop by! It's one of the most visited neighborhoods in Shawnee on Halloween! This is our neighbor, sweet Abigail! She's in Reid's class at school and sometimes comes down to play with the kids.

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I just can't get over how cute he is! #bestscarecrowever

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The kids loved running from house to house getting candy! 

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We went trick-or-treating at Reid's Pre-K teacher's house and LilliAnn's teacher, Mrs. Whitefield was  there too! Our babysitter, Jess, is Reid's Pre-K teacher's daughter so we got to see her too!

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We love Jess! The kids have so much fun with her!

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And she's great with Rush! I call her the "baby whisperer" because she can always get him to sleep for a long time!

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Our house on Halloween! I'm pretty fond of this house. Jeb and I bought it right before we got married, and we've brought all three of our children home from the hospital to this house! We're outgrowing it and our new home is in the works, but I'll be bittersweet when we finally leave this house filled with so many memories. 

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little miss Glinda the Good!

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The scarecrow toted around our little lion all evening long! 

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I'm the homeroom mom for Reid AND LilliAnn's classes, so I didn't get many pictures on party day. 

Here's a group pic of LilliAnn's pre-k class:

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There wasn't a shortage of goodies for Mrs. Whitefield's class!

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Halloween story time

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Halloween cupcakes are the BEST!

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This is LilliAnn's very best friend, Reese. They have so much fun together! They love sharing lipstick while they're waiting in the pick-up line. <3 p="">

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Glinda and Jasmine, A.K.A. LilliAnn and Bella

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Mrs. Whitefield and Mrs. Looper are so sweet to my Lil! 

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It was wild and crazy running aback and forth between two rooms, but I'm so glad a got a quick pic with my princess!

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Reid and the boys!

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This is Reid's FANTASTIC teacher, Mrs. Lyle! It's her first year to be a teacher and she's seriously doing an amazing job! The kids love her!!

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Reid and Kendall

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I had to include these pictures that I took after we finished trick-or-treating. I took off Rush's lion costume and handed him to my dad. He laid his little head on dad's shoulder and INSTANTLY went fast asleep. It was the most precious thing ever.

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Looking forward to next year…but I'm not sure that I'll be able to top this one!

jack.o.lantern.

I am SOOOOOO far behind on blogging, so I'm going to attempt to get caught up before Christmas! I wanted to do a little post about jack-o-lantern carving tradition. We do this every year, and this year was especially fun because it was the first year that the kids were actually big enough to work on their own special pumpkins. We searched all around town for the perfect pumpkins, and were finally able to find them at the small, local market on Main Street.

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Reid had his pumpkin picked out from the get go, and could not wait to get started! Jeb was on an elk hunting trip during this week, so we decided to do our carving at Nana and Papa's house. Nana cut off the tops and then the kids got busy cleaning out the inside! 

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Both of my kids are little worker bees, especially Reid! You give him a task, and he will be bound and determined to get it done…and get it done right! 

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LilliAnn was enjoying working on her pumpkin too…only she wasn't as crazy about pulling all of the "slimy stuff" out with her hands.

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We invited cousin Grayson over to join in on the fun! 

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And baby Rush even joined in…but he liked crawling around on the soft grass and trying to eat the pumpkin seeds!

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our little pumpkin!

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Such a happy baby!

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Rush was just started to get really good at crawling about this time. He loved the feel of the grass on his hands and feet, and was so excited that he could hold on to the pumpkins and pull himself up!

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I cannot get over that precious little face!

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This picture is an example of typical LilliAnn and Rush at this stage/age. She is always "up in his grill" as the kids say. Loving him, squeezing him, kissing him…she runs up to him, grabs him, and pulls him close to her a million times a day. She calls him her "precious baby boy" and her "sweet pumpkin pie," but poor baby Rush gets manhandled by his big sister! 

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Reid's model pose

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Starting to sit up on his knees = the cutest thing ever!

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LilliAnn wanted to do everything herself. She chose the Minnie Mouse jack-o-lantern pattern, which was the hardest pattern in the book, of course!

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Baby Rush was taking it all in… in his Baby Einstein jumper! We love all Baby Einstein toys and movies! That brand has seemed to be the best/most interesting to all three of my kids. 

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Tracing/dotting is hard work! Papa Kelbo to the rescue!

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And Nana Karen helped Reid! She's done lots of jack-o-lantern patterns and is a pro at them! 

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Such concentration! 

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Waiting patiently…Papa Kelbo was having a hard time with Minnie. After the pattern broke and wasn't cooperating, he went to free handing Minnie Mouse. Let's just say that it didn't work out so well...

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This was the dracula pattern that Reid picked out and traced himself. I think it actually turned out pretty good considering it was a super hard pattern and Reid is only 6!

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After the jack-o-lanterns were finished, the kids all put on their Halloween PJs for a quick photo op before bed. 

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7 months old and has already pulling up for over a month! This little guy is growing up TOO FAST!

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"Let me out!"

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Oh…and Papa Kelbo was still having trouble finishing up Minnie...

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The was Grayson's wolf that Nana Karen helped complete. And it looks amazing! 

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Sis got her haired trimmed earlier that day and Malinda styled her hair in the cutest heart braid! LilliAnn always tells me, "Mommy, you're not very good at doing braves (braids)."

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This is how he feels about pumpkin pajamas! 

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The cutest pumpkins in the patch!

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Rush loves animals! And he was obsessed with the stray cat that had been wandering around at my parents' house. 

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Dracula, the wolf, and the distorted Minnie Mouse! 

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I thank God every day that he has entrusted me with these three beautiful souls. Holidays are such a blast, and I'm so very happy that we decided to add one more pumpkin to our little patch!