A Toy Story...

My older boys decided that they wanted to be Buzz & Woody again for Halloween. I told them they could be a chicken and a farmer, but they said that they wanted to be the same thing as last year. Since their costumes were a bit big last year, I thought "why not?" I was expecting them to be big again this year, but there was no need to fold up the sleeves or pants for Caleb this year! Both costumes fit well (now, admittedly, I had several layers on underneath to keep them warm).

When I was thinking a "farm" Halloween, I thought maybe Ryan could go as a pumpkin. Aunt Jen said she had a pumpkin costume that might be too big for Ry-guy, but we could try it on him. I put it on, and she was right. My little Schnook looked so cute, but the costume was far too big!

 

Since Caleb was born in July and Ryan in June, most of their clothing has been somewhat close, so I got out the Tigger costume we had worn on Caleb. It fit perfectly! And he looked so cute! But, I felt bad that Caleb had already worn it and that I had worn it on him when Joshua was Eeyore. Tigger was not part of Toy Story. I realized it didn't matter, but I thought I might keep checking our stash to see what else would be possible.

Ryan looked so cute as the Giraffe, but as a 12-month costume, it was a little too big for him at four months!

We didn't have any Rex (dinosaur), Ham (pig), or Mr. Potato Head costumes. And I wasn't really planning on spending extra money on a costume since we had some options. Then I remembered this 6-9 month bunting that our friends the Buckwalter's had given us. It was a teddy bear look, and I thought "Maybe he could go as a brown Lotso Huggins." Eventually, I realized he could simply be "BIG BABY!" Get it?

I think Ryan was tired of being a baby model until I finally decided just to go for warmth. No one was going to see him, after all. He would be bundled up in the stroller as the kids went trick-or-treating.

I snapped a few pictures of the kiddos, and then we put some candy in a bowl out front with our lights on and headed out into the neighborhood. Both Karen & Cathy said that they wish they could go back to this stage and have little guys trick-or-treating. It made me realize how fast it goes!

Another neighbor had a scary mummy next to her (I'm guessing her husband or son) and warned us and then told him not to scare our little guys. :) :) :)

We saw a neighbor who went to high school with Shawn, and he asked if these were our "Good" boys. Yes, indeed! Most people said how cute the older two looked in their costumes. I'm getting to know some of the neighbors, and I realized that many of them had grandparents there to hand out candy while they were around with their kiddos. The boys had fun!

Who would have ever thought that there would be snow on the ground as the kids were going door-to-door for treats? CRAZY!

This was our best Halloween yet. Joshua was SO excited to get dressed up and go door-to-door. Both boys did well saying "Trick or Treat" when they got to the door, and they both politely said "thank you." I watched in horror as other children would say "I don't like that candy" or "What else?" etc. I realized that the parents weren't listening or guiding their kiddos. I was thankful that my little guys were doing well. Joshua would say "Have a good night" and "Happy Halloween" as he walked away. There were a lot of kids out! We waited our turn at many houses. :)

Daddy insisted on coming along even though I didn't think he would. We weren't out long, and he wanted to see the boys. Since he's old enough to make his own decisions, I said sure to him coming. He pushed Ryan in the stroller and stayed on the straight sidewalks. I would take the boys up the driveway and stay near them as they rang the doorbells (some of which are so high they couldn't reach), etc. We were only gone about an hour and the kids' pumpkins were full of candy, chips and pretzels, and other treats.

We came home and "inspected" the candy (stealing a piece or two for ourselves) and putting into our bucket some of the "older" kid things that our boys can't have. Joshua then would help answer the door for trick-or-treaters who were still out and about, and he would fill buckets with candy. It was a fun night!

Caleb LOVES candy! Joshua could take it or leave it, but my middle son wants it morning, noon and night. In fact, over a week later, Caleb came into our room EARLY and said "You know what I'm hungry for, for breakfast?" What, I asked, thinking it would be waffles or cereal. "CANDY!!!" He smiled and took off running. So did I! No thanks! Not first thing in the morning, my dear boy. :)