Halloween, 2008

Friday, October 31st--This morning I got Elise all ready to go, she looked so adorable in her pirate costume. She got off to school and then it was time to get Brady ready in his costume. Both cooperated so nicely and I was so thankful for that. I decided to spike Brady's hair to look more Jedi-ish. At Bradys pre-school, there were little 3 and 4 year-olds all over with the cutest costumes. I loved to see how creative parents were, some costumes were so original and fun. Brady's pre-school teacher asked that each child bring enough treats for the whole class (12) so we got some fun party bags and filled them up with yummy treats. Other moms did too, as well as Mrs. Petersen, so Brady came home with quite a large amount of candy.
After I dropped Brady off I went to Elise's school to sit in the gym and wait---a VERY long time--for the costume parade. I didn't mind the wait because I got to sit by my friends, Mindy, Lindsay and, later on, Melissa. I enjoyed chatting with them all, I had a great time! When the parade finally began I noticed all the 1st grade teachers were dressed up as different colored crayons, it was so cute! Mrs. Mair was an adorable "preggo" crayon. Mindy, Lindsay and I had fun picking out all the children in our neighborhood and waving/smiling "hi" at them. After the parade I went into Elise's classroom and gave her a quick hug and kiss then I was off to get some last-minute things at the grocery store, right before I had to pick up Brady. The grocery store was packed! I picked up some fun-looking flower arrangements to give to my kids teachers then off to get Brady. I took some pictures of Brady with Mrs. Petersen AND with Brady's "love interest". Her name is Rylie, as you can see, she's shorter than him (she's just about average height for most 3-year-olds!) but she is such a sweet, pretty little girl and both of them talk about each other when they get home. Rylie has an older brother, Camden, who is Elise's age. Last year, Elise gave Camden his very first kiss, on the cheek, of course! It's so funny how our paths have crossed with all four of these kids. Their parents are great too!
Brady and I got home and I made him a PB&J sandwich and used a large ghost-shaped cookie cutter to create a ghost sandwich---he was thrilled! Elise got a ghost-shaped sandwich too and was just as thrilled.
After lunch Brady helped me get the house straightened up and I got things ready for tonight. We invited Nate's parents, Dan & Rosemary, over and they happily accepted. We planned on doing a fire-pit, cooking meat on the grill, and hanging outside all evening but the wind picked up and it began to rain. Once Dan & Rosemary got here we ate dinner and then got the kids in their costumes. I also bought our dog, Bohdee, a pirate outfit. It was hilarious! Then they took the kids, with Nate, out to trick-or-treat while I stayed back to pass out candy. We had TONS of kids come! After a while, I took the kids and my in-laws up to a street that decorated their homes in a "Harry Potter" theme. It seems like only 6 or 7 homes really participated but those that did made their homes look fabulous. When we were done there we came back to watch "It's A Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" and to go through all the candy and munch on some of it. What a great Halloween night, even though it rained. The kids had a wonderful day and Nate and I did too! The kids are already talking about next year and making plans!