Halloween 2015

Chloe was a beautiful butterfly this year and Abigail went with one of her favorite Broadway show's character "Christine" from Phantom of the Opera.  

Chloe was fierce going door to door and always getting there first.  I kept screaming at her "wait for the group!!" 

 Yes,  me and Emma decided to light up and enjoy a nice drag while trick or treating.   No, evidently they not only still make candy cigarettes but people still hand them out!  Talk about a blast from the past,  too funny!!!

\

Oh my gosh I need to color my hair again!!  You know those pictures where you look at yourself and scream "who is that!?".   

 Me, Lisa and Becky had a great time laughing at our silly energetic 4th graders. (and yes,  I'm carrying Chloe's back pack, it sparkles and kind of rocks!)

Hard to believe but sweet Emma Grace enjoyed her very first Smore at our party!  She looked at me lovingly and said "Ms Alli,   all of life's happiness is right here in this little snack".   I laughed at loud at her profound declaration.  Such a funny girl,  eat her up!

 Jim rocked his head lamp!  LOL!

 I had planned to paint the new boards on the picnic table.....just didn't get to it.  Grrrr

 "Just one more piece please Mommy!!"

 Our beautiful princess friend Autumn

 I love the way a home looks with the outdoor lights on,  it just beckons "come on by!" and seeing our friends chillin in the back yard is just good stuff!

 vinegar, baking soda, magic beans and pixie powder were just a few of the ingredients at our potions station

 Ms Scarlett got a little cranky as her bedtime came and went but my glow in the dark tarantula kept her happy a little while longer....I know EWWW!

Is it really a party with out sparklers and fireworks!?!?


I'm not sure what got into me this year but I felt an urge to be social this Halloween.   The weather was scheduled to be perfect for hanging out outdoors so in contrast to last years soggy last minute scramble to make a night of it for the kids, this year I hit up Pinterest and planned an event!   Brian and I love Halloween and the girls do too so we had a ball throwing a little get together.   I covered the windows with spooky silhouettes, hung toilet paper rolls with eye holes in them and put glow sticks in them to have glowing green and blue eyes watching us all night! I shoved some larger ones down into bushes so trick or treaters were being "watched" as they left our driveway.  It was fun to watch them as they noticed and jumped at the glowing peepers in the dark  :)   From our Harry Potter pumpkin to our potion station for the kids it was a hit!    I had a blast and we are so blessed to have several good buddies with in walking distance of our home.  Even our sweet neighbor Ms Leigh Anne and her boyfriend including their puppies spent the entire evening with us.  We made some spooky snacks, ate pizza, drank hot cider and lit the fire pit for us to enjoy.  Even a few of Abigail school peers wandered into our back yard to trick or treat so the fun grew as the night went on.   We got to visit with her guidance counselor so that was random to have her in our yard :) .  City life has it's perks for sure!    It was a blast and if the weather permits we may have to make a tradition of this in years to come.      It was a great kick off to holiday season 2015!!!

iphone picture cleanout.... just random goodness!

We swapped kids one night with our friends Nick and Tara,  they took Abigail to buddy up with Caroline and we took Lydia Claire.

 Doritos and jammies,  summer vacation is gooooood!

Time for bed and we can't get these kids out of our bed!   Clearly we look so annoyed at the snuggles.  Summer bedtime is pretty loose, ....as it should be!

 A bday party at our pool,  this is her buddy Shane who she spent a lot of time with this summer.  He was so cute and according to his mother VERY smitten with our Chloe!   Brian was less then thrilled that they played a lot of "kissy tag" around the pavilion.

 Our dear neighbor Ms Leigh Anne got a new puppy Georgie and the girls couldn't be more in love with having this dog to play with all the time

You'd think I'd have enough pictures of them sleeping in that big bed together after a year of it....but NOPE!  It gets me all pha climpt every time I catch them snuggled up!!!

An invite to join Lisa and Jim at the state fair with her friend Emma and she came home a whole new woman,   or cat!

One quick picture to help me remember the sweetest random time alone with Chloe.  Abs was at a bday party I think so I took Chloe to a park so she wouldn't feel left out of the fun.  She surprised me with her maturity as she opened up with so many deep questions about life, heaven, hell and family complications.  It touched my heart to connect with her!!  I think she loved having my undivided attention so she had a lot to cover in her mind.  We stayed in one grassy spot for close to an hour and covered all kinds of life's mysteries.  I cherish this picture and memory!!!!!!

 Chillen before church with Kennedy and Kaleigh watching the musicians practice,  these are some core behind the scenes kids of parents doing the work yo!

 Chloe wanted some time with Grammie so Abigail and I went on a walk to window shop downtown.  We got some tasty treats then took the trolley back to Grammie's office.  It was a random sweet time together with my girl :)

Grammie's annual work zoo party always puts some glitter and paint in their day!

Lots of swim play dates with friends,  this is her dear buddy up the street Courtney

Chloe's first summer camp experience!  Her dance buddy Olivia joined her in the week long day camp for lots of hiking, canoeing and swimming!  She had an awesome exhausting week!

I know this is hard to see but I love this picture.   We stopped for pizza for dinner one night and Brian in his ultimate daddy patience let both girls go in to pick it up.  Then hoisted them both up and onto the counter to watch them finish making our pizza.    I love how much he loves his girls!!!

Yeah!  Cousin Caroline photo op!   It's fun that they look like family here

We wanted a playdate despite some looming skies with Caroline and Lydia, it started to pour and the kids just laughed off the sogginess and had an even better time together!

GO PATRIOTS!!!

Brian and I marked an item off of our bucket list this weekend slipping away to see our first NFL game!  He found a great deal on tickets hours after they announced the game practically in our back yard so he jumped all over the opportunity to support his New England team so close to home.   We haven't done many weekend trips with leaving the girls.  Not that we don't trust leaving them in anyone else's care it's just we really like our children and it's great fun to lug them along on trips.  But this was a needed couples retreat to soak up sporting fun at an event that we knew they'd never appreciate. So we braved it alone leaving them behind and had a wonderful night away in Charlotte.   It was a cooler then an average late summer evening and we got there early enough to take a stroll  to a sports bar for some hard cider and greasy burgers in preparation for the game.   It was such a fun spirit walking through town meeting families as eager as we were for the NFL season to begin.   No one glared at our New England jerseys only poking fun as we all bantered back and forth as to which team was better.    More then once I gave Brian the secret code "triple pat" to his arm to let him know when it was time to walk away,  no agreement could be established with these strangers.  He gets so into it!!   It's one of his more endearing  traits.  :)
  After dinner we killed time sitting on benches and people watching.   One gentleman even took one look at us and expressed how cute and romantic we looked, to which we both responded big toothy grinned thanks.    The game was awesome and our seats couldn't have been better behind the goal post and second row we were practically with the players.    Luckily another group of Patriots fans were seated beside us so we felt the strength in numbers at our section of the Panthers dominated stadium.     We won the game (of course!) and left stuffed and happy in the breezy warm walk back to our hotel.   A random group of musicians played tubas and steel drums as everyone filed out.   It was a fun night for sure and we are officially hooked at the whole NFL experience.  I hope we can do it again soon!!