halloween 2014!

i know i just blogged about christmas stockings, but now i’m going back to halloween! haha! our entire family had been trying to fight off colds last week but by halloween, they’d finally caught up with us and the kids had some awesome runny noses. while we still took the kids trick-or-treating for a bit in the late afternoon on friday, we opted to stay in for most of our halloween, as to avoid all of our little friends and not pass on any germs. we were sad to miss out on all the fun little parties and parades, but we had a great time carving pumpkins and baking and prepping our costumes for later in the day…

a few photos from our halloween below, if you’d like to see!

^^^we made my favorite cookie, the chocolate chip pumpkin cookie! i tried using this recipe this time around, and it was delicious! but next time i’m tripling my batch.^^^

^^^helping prep costumes for later in the day! can you tell what this is going to be??^^^

^^^we carved pumpkins together, and it was probably my favorite part of the day. eleanor wanted a happy pumpkin, and samson wanted a scary pumpkin, so we went to work…^^^

^^^because E’s pumpkin was tiny, she proceeded to carry it all around the apartment with her after he was carved saying things like, “i just love you so much, jack o’lantern!” and “this is my house. these are my toys…” he became a part of our family for the day, and it was pretty cute. ^^^

^^^samson liked his pumpkin, too! he especially liked holding up the top of the pumpkin and blowing out the candle repeatedly. he thought it was the funniest thing. it kind of was, just because he truly believed it was the funniest thing on earth.^^^

^^^i’m the only one that likes to roast and eat the pumpkin seeds at our house, but i don’t mind. sometimes it’s nice not having to share. ;) ^^^

^^^eleanor and samson went back and forth for over a month on what they wanted to be for halloween! sometimes samson wanted to be a bird that goes “tweet tweet!”, and sometimes eleanor wanted to be a bear, sometimes a big scary bear! and sometimes a pumpkin like last year. but after they toured and hung out at the fire station in chicago a few weeks ago, it was settled. everyday they both talked about being firefighters! and almost every day for the past two weeks, they’d put on their firefighter costumes and play. josh asked them if they’d like for him to be a firetruck for halloween, and escort them around while they went trick-or-treating. eleanor said, “no, it’s ok papa. i want you to just be FIRE! and we will put you out!” so josh, being the good dad that he is, made a costume out of cardboard and tissue paper that looked like flames and wore it around the neighborhood. part of me was like, “wait, are you really going to wear that?” while the other part of me was like, “wow. you are awesome for wearing that.” i mean, i didn’t even dress up as anything, and i kind of regret it. ^^^

^^^ “firefighters to the rescue!!!” ^^^

^^^we had a lot of fun walking around the upper west side visiting some of our favorite shops and restaurants to trick-or-treat new york city style.^^^

^^^the city also closes down a few blocks in the neighborhood where people can trick or treat and admire all the awesome decorations. some residents really go all out decorating their front stoops. a lot of it was pretty scary though, i felt like i kept saying, “ok… look straight ahead and just keep walking!” to the kids. i often forget people get really into that scary gory and gruesome part of the holiday. i could live without that part, i could also live without the masks. ^^^

^^^as a mama, it’s fun to just walk a few feet behind my kids sometimes and watch them take care of each other. lots of hand holding, or arms around each other and spontaneous hugs. of course there if often teasing and pushing and arguing, too…don’t get me wrong. but when i witness the kinder part of their relationship, i think it’s the sweetest thing.^^^

^^^oh look, mama! a friend!^^^

^^^and that’s a wrap! success! happy halloween everyone!^^^