Thumbs up & Thumbs down to Halloween

At times it can feel like a  "trick" to have boys 11 years apart.
But most of the time, like last night, it's a real "treat"!

This year for Halloween...
one boy learned how to trick-or-treat and the other learned he'd rather do the tricks than treat.

Dad's been spoiling Landon since my surgery!
He did most of the hand holding and allowed Landon as many lollipops as he wanted...oh my.


My sister and her family joined us again this year.
You may remember how the cousins were giraffe's and owls last year?!
This year their costumes were much more fitting to their attitudes personalities.
Mine a Quaterback and my nephew a Greaser!

Getting pictures of these two was DIFFICULT!!
Having them wear their "complete" costumes...even more difficult!
Our babies are toddlers now walking running to every front door with a bowl full of candy...

Distance covered...1 street.
Literally, that's it.
Lance was over it. And toddlers can only go so far.

Happy Novemeber :)
If you haven't started your holiday shopping list...what are you waiting for?!

The holidays will be here before you know it!

Halloween is Upon Us!

With just one day left 'til Halloween, I hope you all have your costumes ready and bowls filled with treats!
Our family celebrates Halloween each year by dressing up and trolling the neighborhoods.  Flashlights, glow sticks and trick-or-treat bags in hand...

I am not one of those moms that make my children's costumes.
I am one of those moms that B@#*& about how much costumes cost now in days :)

My oldest son must have the scariest, goriest costume available.
He is now 12 and I wonder if he should even be trick-or-treating anymore?
Isn't their a rule about when kids should stop?
Maybe I should Google it, or if you know, please tell me!!!

My youngest son, has no choice in his costumes. He's only 18mo's.
I'm excited for next year,  he'll be 2 &1/2 and I'm sure able to pick out his own costume.
But for now, mommy and daddy pick.
And we picked what is def the most fitting to his personality and to our budget....a $10.00 (yea, 10 bucks) Quaterback Costume.  All the moms out there who make their children's costumes have my UTMOST respect, 1// I wish I could operate a sewing machine, and 2// I wish I had the time and patience to create outfits...but I don't know if this costume could of been made for under $10.00 buck-a-roos!

Lance and I have had a lot fun looking over Halloweens of the past...
My digital pics only go back to when he was 5, that was 7 years ago!!!
I figure either I didn't own a digital camera before that age or maybe they weren't even popular yet?
Holy crap, that makes me feel old.

Take a look at these pics of

Halloween's Gone By

As you can see, Lance's costume got more scary and more gory as the years went on.
And thankfully, I matured out of the "Heeeey" smile phase....geeez! ha.ha.

My how times have changed....from my sweet 5 year old Ninja to my 9 year old Zombie Dr., to my 11 year old Masked Graffiti Punk of last year with his baby brother, Landon, the Giraffe.

One more throwback to last year....to include the cutest, most adorable cousins ever.

We are relieved that "Sandra" AKA Hurricane Sandy has blown through and thankfully left our city with very little damage. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of those who haven't been so lucky. It's sad to think that so many will not be able to celebrate this Holiday and will still be in repair for the upcoming Holidays.

My hope is that you all have a safe and happy Halloween if you partake in its celebration.
If you don't, stay warm and enjoy the last night of October.

For me this night marks the start to the...

Holiday Madness!!!!!

Pumpkin decorations, carving kit NOT needed!

My solution to pumpkin decorations

without having to use a carving kit.

SHARPIE MARKER & SHARPIE PEN

PUMPKINS

Pumpkin decorations have been flying around Pinterest for weeks and local retail stores have Christmas displays on their main isles....calm down retailers!! Holy Holiday, one at a time, please!

Our front porch...the one with a few half dead mums and a couple of plain pumpkins needed some *life! And my solution was sooooo simple. 




This past weekend we took off to the pumpkin patch to hunt down a select 359 pumpkins to decorate! Ok, it wasn't really 359 pumpkins it was only 15 but  hubby the man who had to carry them all would probably argue it was 359.

Now, really, it's too early to carve these beautiful Orange Balls. 
So we decided to {keep it simple} and get creative with Sharpie Markers and Pens. 
You can easily create art on your pumpkin -freehand or print-out fonts and trace!

If you're wondering "what if it rains" I've got you covered, it's been tested by 2 days of repeated rainfall. Nothing happens. No smearing, no disappearing.

Once you see how easy and fun this project is, you'll keep searching for more possibilities! Like, flower pots....

And in the days closer to Halloween, when all the ghouls and ghosts come out to play, we'll carve our pumpkins and light the porch to keep them away! But for now we'll admire these beauties.

Do your neighbors a favor. Get the kids involved. Decorate one side of your pumpkin and when Halloween nears carve the other side! 

I mean, really, who wants a rotting pumpkin on their front porch?

Like this idea? Be sure to do it and Pin It!