Just treats...

Did it seem like Halloween lasted forever this year? Holy sugary goodness - I felt like it was the holiday that never ends, but at least we got our money's worth on all these costumes! 

From left to right: Jifflypuff, Angel, Wigglytuff, Rey, Movie Star and Pokehunter

And then a mighty ninja showed up!  

You really have to appreciate a theme... and if you haven't played PokemonGo yet, you may not totally get ours, but I have to admit, it was pretty fun. The kids planned it all out - I just ordered the masks and provided space to trace the game screen.

Clearly we needed an action shot... 

The Hot Messes were anything but... how cute do they all look?  

After all those pictures, we were finally off... 

And while this picture 

a) proves once again that I can't take a photograph

and

b) showcases how cute kids are running up to houses... 

My favorite part is ALWAYS watching their faces when they leave with the loot!

It's like seeing the groom see the bride for the first time...

Joy...

Elation... 

and sometimes, sheer coolness. 

This is usually the one night I remember to snap a picture with each of the kiddos... 

and even prove that the King himself was there, too. 

We brought our wagon to haul all the "stuff" that the kids would inevitably not want to carry later and set a STRICT "no riding" rule... and then the baby wanted a ride and Ryan is sucker. 

And I warned him that once one kid got a ride, EVERY kid would want one... 

and well, that wagon was hauling some precious cargo. 

;)

Quicker than we realized, it was time to head back to the house... 

where the counting of the treats commenced. 

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween, too!

Show and Tell: SCARY Tales

If you're visiting from Andrea's then you are in for a scary tale. I hope you are ready because what I am about to tell you will shock and frighten you in ways that you can't prepare for. 

Once upon a time there were three high school freshman girls. They decided to dress up for Halloween in  theme. One went as Snow White, one as the Evil Queen, and one as... 

AND THAT IS THE SCARIEST DAY OF MY LIFE.

Seriously.

Y'all. 

The story behind this genius idea is that every year for Halloween the cheerleaders dressed up in themes. The Varsity Cheerleaders went as these ADORABLE clowns that I had waited my whole life to be able to dress up as (and the dang tradition got nixed the year before I was on Varsity. I know. The worst.)  JV got to pick their theme and I don't remember how this theme got picked but I do remember that at one point, I thought this would be funny. 

Not funny. 

There is a picture of us all three somewhere and I spent a ton of time looking for it last night, but I couldn't find it. But you are welcome for that little gem above. 

A couple of years later a group of us got "dressed up" to go visit some haunted houses in town. We had access to some county issue prisoner uniforms and police jackets. Naturally this happened... 

(I'm not sure why Charis' wrist is glowing). 

We actually got stopped at the haunted house (which was terrifying) by some sheriff's asking where we got the prisoner uniforms and we assured them that we hadn't broken these lovely gentlemen out of jail. I'm not sure if my mom had made a call to tell these officers to scare us but at one point we thought we were all going to be brought to county. 

My senior year of high school we coordinated a prank with a bunch of our guy friends to drive out to a hill that was being haunted by a family that had died in a tragic accident. We loaded up our cars and  drove out to this random piece of land and once we got to a certain point, all the drivers pretended to make the cars stall. The guys were waiting in the bushes dressed all in black and once we stopped driving they ran up the cars and starting banging on the doors as if the family was forcing us to stop. 

I have never laughed so hard in my life!!! Mainly because I didn't think the prank would work, but holy cow did it ever. I can still hear the squeals!! 

And that concludes the most boring Halloween stories in the history of ever.

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All the feels...

Like 1000s of other families in America, we saw Inside Out this summer and fell hard for those 5 feelings. My kids just loved the movie and Emersyn instantly decided that she wanted to "Isgust" for Halloween. And as much as they act like they want to be independent and do things on their own, Radley instantly realized that there were five feelings and that there are "FIVE KINGS!" And a Halloween costume theme was born.

May I present...

ANGER, fear, JoY, Disgust., and sadness

I don't know if I'm embarrassed or proud to admit that we had every item of clothing we needed for these costumes except the masks and Radley's shirt/tie (and that's only because he grew so darn much). So the total for these costumes was under $25! I found these darling masks on Etsy and I can't recommend them enough! I lucked out and got them on super sale from her shop and she totally should have priced them higher. So stinking cute!

We did Halloween a bit different this year and celebrated in Waco. Mom and Dad have never seen the kiddos trick or treat and we wanted to check on how Pops was doing after his surgery. It was a nice change of pace and my kiddos love hanging out with their Waco crew friends. And it was fun for me to run into my friends and all their kiddos. As I looked around I couldn't believe that "all us kids" had so many kids. Crazy cakes.

Landry clearly loved all that candy - ha! The air was a bit crisper than usual but the kids still worked up a sweat with all that running around. 

I could barely keep up with them!

This picture is quite literally a miracle. Cooper Kent never slows down and he actually paused and SMILED for this. Jenni - mark this day down! ;)

(Also, Radley was so worried that I had given Cooper his old pirate costume. After we got home he said, "Mom - am I going to get my pirate pants back from Coop?" He was relieved to find out that Cooper had his own costume and his pants were safe at home.)

Landry just "had" to be held for the second half of walking. But that was okay with this guy - her joy eased some of his fears. ;)

And my sadness turned to happy with these goofballs around. 

"Mom, you are smiling too much. YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE SAD!"

After a final stop and one last inspection, we headed home.

Where this happened before I could even check the candy for illicit/nasty things. Everyone survived.

Radley thought he should have been in character. I think he should actually dye his hair red. Also - how stinking cute are our kids? I mean, really. So darn cute!

They clearly get it from their mommas. Also - we took the picture on the right about 20 times because Jenni just could not get her pirate face/hook action down. I stayed strong looking sad.

And then it was time to go home and I really was sad. 

So sad that Landry had to drag me home. 

Character Development...

This week was Red Ribbon Week at the kids' school and it's seriously one of my favorite weeks of the year. I love that the teachers talk to them about making good choices and doing what's right and I love that they can get creative while doing it!

Monday was the traditional "Wear Red Day" - Emmy of course had to add her own little flare.

Tuesday was superhero day and we didn't take a picture. Oops.

Wednesday was jersey day but the girls didn't want to wear one of Rad's old jerseys so they settled on Aggie shirts instead. 

Thursday was camo day and also "make a funny face day". This is how it goes down...

Radley - the oldest kid, stands and smiles like he is told

Emersyn - the middle kid, does what she thinks is cute

Landry - the third kid, doesn't even make it in the picture

And then it was Friday - my FAVORITE day. Character day! Emersyn picked Fancy Nancy and helped "design" her own ensemble and Radley was the Book with No Pictures - get it?

We made our way up to school but the plans got altered since it was pouring down rain and instead of having the parade outside, they altered it and let the kids walk down the halls while the parents stayed in the cafeteria to watch. I ended up liking this even better because we had places to sit! I love how creative the staff gets and how much fun the kids have!

Mr. Hatfield, our principal, was Pete the Cat!

Some of Radley's 4th grade idols...

The 3rd grade DL teacher was Captain Hook...

This girl went all out as Ursula...

Frida...

Kayla was a horse rider for the third year in a row...

Radley as the Book with No Pictures (which if you don't have it - pick up a copy.... my kids love it and I have to admit that I think it's pretty darn funny, too!)

An adorable Waldo...

And then of course Miss Fancy Nancy herself!

Love those big smiles on their faces at school! Halloween week may be growing on me after all.

Monster Bash...

It was time for the annual Halloween Party on campus which is really just one of my favorite nights. We've been going since Radley was SIX WEEKS OLD so it just holds a special place in my heart. Plus I advised the organization that hosts it and I've seen it go from a huge indoor invent, to moving locations while our MSC was renovated to moving back in and now it's outside! Whew - change is fun! 

These three were ready to show everyone what it's like to be an Aggie fan... you start out with Joy in your heart as you wave that 12th man towel and then sometimes you end up full of disgust. 

(Radley had a themed costume to match his sisters, but he didn't want to wear it on campus in front of the Aggies). ;)

We got all checked in and they just hit the ground running on fun!

I don't know why, but kids never fail to be entertained by fake fishing. They were so genuinely surprised and excited when they "caught" something. 

Then we ran into a few friends from WDS and it was a giggle filled mini reunion.

I was having so much fun watching them that I kept forgetting to take pictures. The highlight of the girls' night was dancing around to the silly music on stage with their daddy. Radley had found Cade by then and was running around like a big 8 year old kid. At one point, I looked up to spot him telling on the Hospitality members how to run the game. I'm not sure where he gets that from, but I like it. 

Happiest of hauntings to you!