In order to not freak Parker out too much, Halloween is SPOOKY, but not SCARY at our house. Parker loved seeing anything having to do with Halloween and, with his eyes really big, saying, "Ooooo! Spooooooky!" Sam's Club has now become "The Spooky Store" because of all their big blowup Halloween decorations. We went to Sam's frequently throughout the month of October, just to walk around and look at the "spooky stuff." (Also for a little mommy sanity, we just needed to get out of the house! I love Sam's because their carts hold all three of my kids!) Hopefully the Christmas decorations will do the same for us in the coming months! :)
So, I decided early in October that Wyatt and Brynley were going to be The Frog Prince (Wyatt) and Princess (Bryn). I found super cute costumes on e-bay (my favorite place to shop these days) for $.99 each. Done and done. Now for Parker. Well, as soon as I got Wyatt and Brynley's costumes in the mail, Parker started asking when HIS costume was going to come in the mail. What did he want to be? A frog, just like Wyatt. Okay, so the search was on for another frog costume. Easy enough, Wyatt's was an Old Navy costume, and there were more on e-bay in Parker's size. But day by day, I got outbid on all of them. Sidenote: I refuse to pay more than the full retail price for anything on ebay, especially if it not new! The same costume that I got for Wyatt for 99 cents was selling for $25.00 in size 3T. Ridiculous! THey only cost $16.50 NEW in the store! (Is my frugal side showing too much?!) SOrry, but I don't shop on e-bay for a second-hand costume to pay more than I would for it new. (And by th e way, there were no frog costumes at Old Navy this year, I checked.) So, long story short, Parker was going to be Spiderman instead, although he still said frog when I asked him. October 30th. I was driving by a consignment shop here in town, and had a sign that said 50% off Halloween costumes. Oh, yes, guess what I found? The EXACT same frog costume I had been looking for! (And for only $5.00!) Granted, it was one size too big, but all we had to do was tuck the legs in a little, and PERFECT! I had my TWO frog princes and my little princess.
Wyatt a nd Brynley love the stroller, and as you can see by the smile on Parker's face, he LOVED the trick-or-treating!
We had quite a crowd at our house that night (yes, we DO have friends!). Lots of friends from the ward brought their kids to our neigborhood to trick or treat and ended up staying and hanging out. It was a great little party! The weather was nice enough that we just left the front door open so we could hear/see when trick or treaters came, and one kid looked in our house and goes, "Wow! Some party here!" Coming from a third grader, I still take is as a compliment! :)
So, I am losing out on my "Mommy Time" since Parker has decided he doesn't want to take naps anymore. I am still able to trick him into it most days by letting him watch a movie on the couch and fall asleep out there. I don't know how long it will last, so here are some picutres of my house at my favorite time of day, say, around 3 in the afternoon:
Okay, aren't they so serene and peaceful and adorable? :) Here are some more fun times we've had lately:
Parker wanted to make brownies! It was fun, and this was his favorite part! Here is how Wyatt and Brynley helped:
Brynley reorganized all my lower level drawers. Great idea!
Wyatt found all the outlets in the room and made sure they were secure by pulling on the cords as hard as he could! Thanks, buddy!
Yes, this is why I look forward to that 3 o'clock hour, but it's not to say I don't enjoy every minute of it (almost)! I'll post more pics after THanksgiving!