Spooktacular Halloween

I'm getting this up WAY later than planned. Got distracted editing other pictures. Oops :o)

I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted Halloween night. We got out late and night pictures are never all that pretty, but we had so much fun. We trick or treated in my mother's neighborhood, which was much more active than ours.

This year the boys were Dr. Victor Frankenstein and his monster.

Originally Munch had a cool bow tie and we wanted to gel his hair. No idea what happened to the tie and he thought the kids would make fun of his hair. I wish I knew where he got that from, he looked so fun when we did  it for his birthday party. 

 They were SO excited to go trick or treating. 

They loved going up to the doors on their own and racing back to tell us they got candy. 

They made out really well and got lots of awesome candy. (Mama has been TRYING not to sneak too much...but chocolate is so hard to resist.)

I'm hoping next year I'll be organized enough to make costumes for them again...and hoping that I can get them to agree. 

I'm linking up with The Mom Creative for her Halloween Link Up. 

Our Halloween

I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween! The boys had a great time.

Munch was a skeleton and Nox was the devil. It was really funny watching people react to Nox. Almost everyone said "Oh! A skeleton....and a devil?" Like it was some awful taboo thing...

 unless the house was completely decked out and then people seemed excited that two such "scary" characters had showed up at their doorstep.

 

Where do people go on Halloween? When I was a kid we started almost right after school and stopped well after the sun went down. Every house was lit up and hoards of children filled the sidewalk.

 Our neighborhood isn't like that. Most of the houses were dark and there were only a few pockets of kids, but we were determined to take the boys out.

The lack of trick or treaters did make for some good trick or treating though. At some houses the boys were given handfuls of candy. Nox actually got extra candy at one house because the lady thought his "Thank You" was so cute.

Somehow we managed to end our Halloween without a massive sugar high. We looked through our hoard, removed the stuff that would be too hard on little teeth and each had a couple pieces before heading to bed.

 

I am linking up with The Mom Creative. Go check out the other cute Trick or Treaters that were out this Halloween!

Storybook Ranch

Last Friday as part of our celebration for Munch's birthday we took the kids to Storybook Ranch in McKinney. Kids are $15 and adults get in free with a paid kiddo.

 The fun includes:

 Running around their pumpkin patch

 (full speed prefered so Mama goes nuts trying to get two good pictures)

A wagon ride through a cute little western town, 

 built using old buildings that were moved to the location. Sadly didn't get any pictures of it...maybe next time.

 

A hay maze.

 

Pony rides and a petting zoo.

 Munch got to ride two of the ponies and would have taken one home if he had been allowed. Nox learned pretty quickly that while goats don't mind being pet on the horns...it's perhaps not the best idea.

And TWO bounces houses and a slide.

There was no time limit and I think the only reason we left when we did is because we managed to convince the boys they were STARVING....not sure they were, but we certainly were. The Ranch was totally worth going to and I'm sure we'll be going next year. When the boys get older we may even go for the Hauted Wagon Ride.


Halloween Birthday Party

Yesterday, my sweet Munchman turned FOUR. I've been having a little trouble dealing with my kiddos getting older this year. I love watching them grow and learn, but my heart breaks that they aren't babies anymore. Munch insists that he is a BIG kid.

A month or so ago, Munch decided he wanted a Halloween Party for his birthday. I was SUPER excited. Halloween is my favorite holiday.

First, Lyndon helped me put together an invite.

 We used a Celebrate Card Template from Scrapping with Liz and a mix of several different Halloween freebies I've collected over the years. I tried to list them all but it is quite a list so if you have any questions on them, PLEASE feel free to ask.

I stressed forever about the cupcakes at the party...and failed to get a single picture. Then when I was putting this post together I realized I really didn't get as many detail shots as I would have liked. But here they are.

 The monster cake pops were my favorite. I made red velvet - chocolate chip pops...so they had a fun red center...and did you know you can buy edible eyes? I didn't...so I was excited when I found them.

Instead of favors I set up the kitchen table with foam pumpkins and stickers.The kids had a blast decorating them. Papa stuck some on the kitchen window and Nox has been calling it our pumpkin patch all day.

For more ideas check out my Halloween Pinterest Board. I recommend the Scarecrow Crunch. My boys (including the hubby love it!)

I was an exploding ball of stress right before the party, but it really was so much fun.



Our Wild Rumpus of a Halloween

A little while ago I got the opportunity to be a pattern tester for Jess of Running With Scissors. She has a wonderful pattern: Woodland Animals and I was lucky enough to test the wolf for her. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to put together and her instructions are clear and easy to follow. I can't wait to try out the bear and fox that are also included in the pattern.

Munch is REALLY into Where the Wild Things Are right now. It's one of our staples at bedtime, so of course I HAD to turn the wolf costume into Max. Instead of adding the buttons and whiskers that Max has I decided instead to sew up a felt crown. Munch thought it was fantastic.
 
 After putting so much work into Munch's awesome costume I realized I had nothing for Nox. The idea of creating a Wild Thing really scared me at first. I don't consider myself a seasoned master of the sewing machine, but in the end I had to. After all, what is Max without "Carol" by his side?

 It took me the better part of a weekend to figure out how to create this costume, but in the end it was pretty easy. I took the Woodland Animals pattern and basically removed the bottom half. I kept the zipper, though in hind sight it probably wasn't needed. I cut stripes out of brown flannel and sewed them onto the main gold fabric, then drew up a pattern for Carol's horns. For an added Wild Thing touch I added a pair of felt claws.
After that I grabbed my trusty Made by Rae: Big Butt Baby Pants pattern and created Carol's legs. I had a black fabric pen on hand and drew all the scales.

 I ended up with a pretty fantastic little Wild Thing!

The boys really loved their costumes and really got into character for the hundreds of photos I took.

Thanks Jess for letting me test your awesome pattern! It made me much braver with my sewing machine and I can't wait till next Halloween! I hope everyone had a great one!

Spooky Sunday - Spider Egg Cupcakes

Wednesday was my Mum's birthday.

So I made some (okay WAY more than some) cupcakes.

  With pretty glittery black spiderwebs

 

and a wonderful little surprise in the center.

Everyone really liked them, especially Munch.

The center is just a cake ball from my new toy. I made the cake balls and then dropped them in when I made the cupcakes. I thought I made them orange enough, but they cooked a little lighter and I was using yellow cake instead of white, so next time I'll try white. I'll probably add some chocolate chips to the cake balls too...after all they are spider eggs...they should have some little "spiders" in there! Thanks to my hubby for coming up with the creative name!

The boys costumes are finally done! I'll be sure to post LOTS of pictures tomorrow!

Halloween Apron and a Yummy Treat

Months ago, I was in Joann's with my mother; we were looking through the clearance section for treasures and Mum spied some Halloween fabric. She promptly purchased the rest of the bolt and handed it to me and requested that I make it into an apron for her birthday.

I wouldn't have thought finding the perfect apron pattern would be so hard....but it was...ridiculously so. Then Dana at Made had a Celebrate Yellow Month and Delia Creates joined the party with a tutorial for her Pumps and Pearls Apron. The PERFECT apron for my mother. It was easy to make and I LOVE the style.

So super happy with how it turned out!

Making an apron inspired me to bake! Don't these Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies look yummy?

Here is my mother modeling her new and fabulous Halloween apron and the fun kitchen towel I made her!

Next up: A special project just for my sister and her 3 Day Walk team and a little something for the season.