HaPpY HaLlOwEnN!!

IT'S FINALLY HERE............HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!

As I've said at least 5 million times, this is my FAVORITE time of the year and I LOVE Halloween!! I know you're cringing Paula but I can't help it! Grace also LOVES Halloween and must have said it at least 3 million times during the month of October! Yes!! I started asking her what she wanted to be for Halloween at the end of July when the stores start putting out their costumes. She went from Snow White to a spider to a witch.......and so two, little witches were born!

We went all out at our house this year and got a fog machine, strobe light, and costumes for me and Matt! I know it's a complete waste of money but we had a lot of fun doing it!

Grace couldn't wait to go "trick or treaking"and I couldn't wait to start diving into her candy bowl!! :)

I decided to take the girls around the neighborhood while Matt stayed at the house to hand out our candy. He was almost as excited as Grace to put on his costume. As you can see from the pics, it was pretty creepy but Grace took one look at him and said, "cool costume, Daddy!" HAHA! That's my girl!

Off we went and Grace started yelling "trick or treak" as soon as we hit the next house's driveway. And if another trick or treater was behind us, she would stop and say trick or treak and give them some of her candy! WAHAHA!! I kept thinking how sweet it was but silently I was screaming, "Don't give them the good stuff!!"

We made it to around a dozen houses then Grace said she wanted to sit down so we joined Matt back at the house. She LOVED handing out candy to the other kids! AK did great as well and was awake for most of the trick or treating and only fell asleep as we were about to put Grace to bed. Her witch hat was too big for her head but I promise there is a little purple witch costume under all that garb!

Next year, we're hoping to do it up bigger and better. Who knows maybe we'll start adding a graveyard and ghouls and goblins to our decor!! WHOOOOHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Disney on Ice - Princess Wishes!

I was so excited when I found out that Disney on Ice, Princess Wishes was coming to Knoxville!! Grace LOVES them and I knew she would be in awe! I also wanted to do something special for just the two of us where I could give her my full undivided attention. It seems like the following words are always coming out of my mouth these days: just one minute, hold on a second, I'll be right there, as soon as Anna is done eating, etc.

Before I knew it, here it was one week before the show was coming to town and I STILL hadn't bought tickets!! AHHHHH!! I checked craigslist and was thrilled to find two great tickets for $12 off the face value! I started communicating with the ticket owner and all of the sudden his communication stopped.........Yep HE SOLD THEM!!! WHAT!!! And yes, I already told Grace we were going since I THOUGHT I had his tickets! Sweet! Luckily (or so I thought), I found two more tickets on craigslist........and the EXACT same thing happened!! Only her tickets are still posted so who knows what's going on there. And then I remembered an email I received a couple weeks ago through Moms Club stating a member had 4 tickets available for purchase!! Somehow (by the grace of God!) she STILL had all 4 available!! HALLELUIAH!!

Saturday night we headed downtown and Grace started saying, "Mommy this is so much fun!" at least a half a dozen times and we were only in the parking lot! :) Once we got inside, I let her pick out a souvenir and she opted for the frog from The Princess and the Frog (who wasn't even in the show, ha). Grace got SO excited when the show started and I once again got all teary just watching her! Moms, do you have my back? It is very emotional watching your little one get so excited at something like this. I mean here are these princesses that are on tv, t-shirts, games, bedding, etc. and NOW they're ALL right in front of us!! I feel the same way every time I see Keith Urban in concert! :)

Grace told me she was most excited to see Snow White and you should've seen her face once she finally made her appearance!! WOW! And then the "dwarps" AND Ariel came out and I thought Grace had died and gone to heaven!

Next came the intermission and a great time to buy a $50 snowcone! Ok, it might not be $50 but it sure wasn't the $2 snowcone from an ice cream shack......at least we got the tinkerbell souvenir cup! WAHAHA!

We both had a great time and I felt myself watching Grace more than I watched the actual show. I'm so glad we got to spend that one-on-one time together and I'm looking forward to doing it again soon!

Special thanks to AK for taking the bottle for Daddy while we were out!! That's always a little stressful to think about but she did great!! Also, thank you to Heather for letting us purchase your tickets and have a great girls night out!!

Halloween Goodies

On Friday we were getting VERY excited for Halloween so we decided to have some neighbors over to make Halloween goodies! Graces LOVES playing with Jackson, Audrey, and Owen and yelled a big "YES" when I told her they were all coming over!

We made caramel apples, decorated cupcakes and cookies, and made white chocolate ghost lollipops! We ate tons of sweets, made a huge mess, and had a great time! What better way to celebrate fall and Halloween than with good friends! Here are some pics of our treats!!

Trunk or Treat

Last Wednesday, we had our first Trunk or Treat experience at our church. Since this was new to us, I contacted the Children's Director to ask her exactly what I needed to do/bring so I could be prepared. Ok, am I the only one who didn't know this actually meant getting candy out of the trunks of cars??? Maybe I am, but needless to say it's a good thing I asked!

We started off with dinner then Matt and Grace went up on stage for a little costume contest. It was so cute to see all the little (and big) kids excited and dressed up in their costumes! Grace didn't technically win a prize, but we thought she was the cutest witch there! :)

The older kids decorated one of the upper hallways of the church and the little ones got to walk through and see the lights, decorations, costumes, AND get some candy! YES! As soon as Grace saw the hallway, she said, "This is amazing!" HAHAHAHA! I wonder where she gets her excitement for this stuff?!?!?

Then we all headed outside to trick or treat. Matt took Grace around to the cars while I stayed at our trunk with AK. Grace LOVED it and, when they returned, she LOVED handing out candy to the kids coming to our car! She was even giving away her own candy!

We had a great time and are already excited to do it again next year!