A Happenin' Halloween

Halloween is a super fun holiday, but it wasn't always for me. We actually didn't celebrate Halloween when I was a kid. Instead we would pile into our parents bed watch movies and order pizza. It was fun but I always knew I was missing out on something really really cool. As an adult I started celebrating--- as much as an adult can (ie. work costume parties/scavenger hunts, out at the bars or maybe a house party). This was all fun too but NOTHING compared to celebrating Halloween KID style. Now that I have kids I have to say the holidays are incredible. In fact so many little things are incredible now, and we get to do all this fun "kid stuff" (ie. carousels, parks, zoo, cartoon movies--- yeahhh baby!)

So needless to say our fall starts to get pretty jam packed with the start of Violet Mae's birthday on October 16. After that we hit the ground running and don't stop until after Christmas. And Halloween, which was once a one day celebration is now a month long extravaganza. 

To kick off our Halloween festivities, Pen's best bud Sam had a super fun spooky birthday bash. His parents had some fun Halloween party games and really played up the theme with all the food and goodies. I wish my pics did it justice- these guys outdid themselves :

mummy brownies

pretzel wands

cheese brooms

I made this Dory costume for Violet Mae

Halloween was also my first holiday to make treats for Penelope's class.

I know most kids love cookies and chocolates so I thought these bats would be irresistible. 

The wings are pop tarts and the face is an oreo all dipped in chocolate. 

The eyes are pumpkin seeds and mini chocolate chips.

Avery fun project and a hit with the kids!

More holiday fun:

A visit with their cousin Lilja (the cute smurf you see below)

Penelope helping mommy make a ghost garland

This year was also our first visit to Boo at the Zoo. This was very cool.

The zoo was decked out and the kids could even trick or treat. 

Penelope was very excited to see Santa!

Violet Mae reading a story with Mother Goose

               

                  

This year we decided to dress up as the characters from one of Penelope's all time favorite movies- Nemo.

She was Nemo and the baby was Dory and James and I were the divers- yes we did trick or treat with the kids in wet suits, crazy.

Last year Penelope refused to wear her Minnie Mouse costume- even though at the time she absolutely loved minnie. She didn't even want to trick-or-treat. Well, turning three does have its advantages because now she understands so much more. I also gave her the choice of what she would like to be (secretly hoping I would be able to coordinate the two sisters). When she said Nemo and Dory I was a little bummed out because well lets face it, not the cutest outfits out there. So I decided to improvise. I bought the shirts and make little fins for them in my sewing class. Then I added the Nemo stripes and applied an iron-on decal. I also made my first attempt at making a no-sew tutu. To top it all off I found these adorable fishy hats and leggings on Etsy. I think all-in-all the outfits turned out pretty cute!

                     

Trick or treating in Sam's neighborhood!

                

my two fishies