Halloween 2010

Jackson & Emme's school had their annual fall festival on Friday. It is always so cute! There is a costume parade and then your typical fall festival games (cookie walks, ring toss, etc.). I LOVE, LOVE the costume parade every year! This year Jackson was a dinosaur and Emme was a cupcake. My mom & I made Emme's costume and it's pretty darn cute if you ask me! Her costume was a hit - people, random people were coming up to us saying how cute she was, asking where we got the costume, telling us to make some & sell them - it was a hoot!

My cupcake!


The rest of Emme's class:

Jackson's class:

My T-Rex!

Sunday (Halloween) was pretty laid back. We just hung out at home until Trick-or-Treat time. Then, we loaded the kids in the wagon and hit the streets! Our first stop is our neighbor, Ms. Karen's. She takes pictures of all of the kids on our street every year, so we couldn't miss her! Jackson was hysterical - at every house he would climb out of the wagon, knock on the door by himself, say Trick or Treat, hold his bag open, say Thank You and Happy Halloween!, then jump back in the wagon. He had it down! Emme watched big bro & caught on quickly. As most of you know (or can tell from reading), Emme is an eater, so this was a no-brainer! You go to a house, look cute, get candy and then go to the next house and they give you more candy - she was in H.E.A.V.E.N! We went to about 10 houses and then came home for a piece of candy each, baths & bed - we had a great time!

Ready to Treat!

Emme's costume engulfed her when she was sitting!

Love this one! Emme reaching for candy - classic!

And then it was time to go home!

For kicks, click HERE to see last year's Halloween pics!

Oil Ranch

** All photos courtesy of PaPa **

Saturday we went back to the Oil Ranch to visit their pumpkin patch. Last year, Emme was just a few months old, so it was mainly it was the Jackson show! This year, Emme could do most of the fun things they have. Gabby & Papa went with us - they are always up for a kid-friendly outing - what troopers! There is tons to do there: petting zoo, hay maze, mechanical calf roping, playgrounds, bouncy houses, a train to ride (it was not running Saturday), hayrides, an Indian village with tee-pees & Native American games to play, the list goes on. During the Fall, kids get a free pumpkin from the patch too! We love it there!

Emme was not so fond of riding the pony.
Jackson looked JUST like this last year!

Emme in the hay maze

Jackson milking a cow - he was so proud of himself!

We have a picture of Jackson last year that is similar.

We are silly!

Weee! Look at that static hair!

The obligatory, annual family picture

Jackson "roping" the mechanical calf

Jackson just recently learned how to swing by himself.

He was showing Gabby & PaPa his skills.

Playing in giant tractor tires!

This was at a photo op area....when we got there, we were all alone & trying to wrangle the kids to get a picture. This other mom & her two boys come up - bear in mind, she can hear us saying we want to take some pictures, etc - and they WON'T LEAVE! We left the big pumpkins on the ground & got on the wagon and what did they do??? Got on the dang wagon too. I finally gave up & said "Ok, guys. Let's go." Three guesses what that stupid mom said to her kids....I love this picture because Emme & Jackson's faces both say exactly what we were all thinking - who are you? Why are you here?

Hayride...

... to feed the cows

When the tractor started to take us back, this longhorn
turned it's head & smacked this lady right above the eye
with it's horns. It didn't bleed or anything, but what a
story to tell!

Picking their pumpkins

Emme just pranced all around - it was so cute!

This one cracks me up - she has such attitude!

In the words of Angie: Is she gonna chunk it?

Jackson got a big kick out of ringing this bell on the way out!

I show my students pictures of my kids from time to time when we have extra time. When I showed this one, my Scottish student said Why is your baby in the boot? It cracked me up! Translation: boot = trunk

Halloween 2009

What a fun Halloween this year! And busy. We had so many events tied to this holiday and with two kids now, it was crazy! Jackson was Mickey Mouse and Emerson was Minnie Mouse. I made their costumes this year. My mom helped me extensively on Minnie's dress since sleeves & button holes were beyond my skill level. Thanks Yaya!

The kids had their annual fall festival at their school on Friday. There was a costume parade and then typical fall festival games, etc. All the little kiddos looked too cute, of course Mickey & Minnie were the cutest! Emerson looked hilarious - her bow was bigger than her head - and Jackson looked perfect! He actually kept the ears on. I was amazed!

Pops & Yaya came to see the parade too.

Here, punkin' for Emme.
This is what Jackson kept saying at the pumpkin patch.

Jackson was a little overwhelmed at the masses during the parade.

HALLOWEEN NIGHT:

Trick or Treating

We only went to about 8 houses - the people we know or at least have waved to on our street. Jackson had a lot of fun and can actually say Trick or Treat. He always said Thank you too. He has such great manners!

SUNDAY: Neighborhood Fall Festival

Sadly, we don't know that many people in our neighborhood with kids. There are plenty and I'm part of the Mom's group, but since I work we don't get to go to many of the gatherings during the week and this summer I was kind of busy having a baby & all. We went to the fall festival hoping to meet some of our neighbors, but we didn't really talk to that many. It was kind of disappointing. But Jackson still had fun running around (earless, but I mean it was day 3 of those stupid ears - I can't say that I blame him) playing on the playground. He see-sawed with a few little kids, but he preferred to "jump" off the mounds of dirt around the small trees they have planted around the playground. Goofy boy! I'm thinking this summer we will be able to get more involved & cement our places in our community.

Jackson see-sawing - Papa held on after one wipe out

JUST FOR FUN: Check out Jackson last Halloween. My how things change in just one year!

One 19 lb Lobster Coming Right Up!

Here is our little lobster. The cutest one you've ever seen, right? We went to a Fall Festival at his school. It was lots of fun with a costume parade, face painting, a pumpkin patch, and other games for the bigger kids! The costume parade was adorable -- seeing all the little ones all dressed up -- so cute! Afterwards, we went trick or treating at Yaya & Pops house. Little Wacko won't be partaking in candy this year so we figured one stop was enough after the festival.

Whoever heard of a lobster with a pacifier?

Yaya & Jackson