Halloween 2012

We had a fantastic Halloween last night! My sister, Erin, always has a post-trick-or-treat party at her house and her neighborhood has a Halloween parade, which cracks me up because the "parade" is the entire neighborhood, with virtually no spectators. It's cute though.

I thought this would be my last year to force kindly suggest my kids' costumes, so I convinced Maggie to dress up as a woodland fairy (this one was easy), Finn was a garden gnome, and Carolina was a toadstool. I have a feeling that when Carolina is grown and looks back at these photos, she will wonder why she had such a mean mom, but, darn it, they were so stinking cute.

 

I like this version of the photo because you can see Carolina's toadstool hat really well.

 

The toadstool hat lasted approximately ten seconds. I made Finn and Carolina's costumes myself, using this tutorial for Finn's, and this one for Carolina's. And in usual Courtney fashion, I made them both during Carolina's nap, four hours before trick-or-treating. Maggie made her flower wand and wings during art camp last summer, and I made the floral wreath for her hair a few days earlier.

Finn seemed particularly well suited for a mythical creature. Something about him just looks elfin to me, and I mean that as a compliment :)

The kids' cousin, Captain Jake, was also there. Someone commented on facebook that it looks like Carolina is biting his ear, but she's just sucking her thumb. However, she does have a particular affinity for earlobes. She likes to rub mine when I'm holding her, and she tells me "I like to rub your earlobe." Weird.

Poppy was there, enjoying the madness and taking many of these photos. Is that a cute pirate or what?

Every year Jack and Maggie take turns handing out candy to the trick-or-treaters. They like it because a) they are a little bossy and like being in charge and b) it makes them feel grown up. Erin, Jim, Grant and I like it because it keeps them busy and we don't have to hand out candy. Winning!

Okay, I made this photo of Maggie GIANT but I just wanted everyone to enjoy her beauty. I know that's obnoxious but I can't help it. I just think she's so pretty. She also lost her first top tooth at school yesterday. Her teacher LOVES pulling teeth, which works out well for me, as I hate pulling them. Maggie's been trying to get her to pull it for three weeks so I can't believe it finally came out. She looks so adorable but it makes her look older, too. When she got in the car and showed me I was squealing, laughing, and (embarrassingly) crying a little bit. I'm a mess, but I get it honestly. My mom is the same exact way.

Speaking of my mom, here we are together. Maggie asked me to wear this little cat ear headband she had, and my mom is wearing the Viking helmet I got after running the Warrior Dash. She really makes it look good.

Just a woodland fairy, garden gnome, and enchanted toadstool flitting around, doing what they do best!