Weekend Snapshots

This weekend felt so long, but it went by so quickly! It was so much fun and we had such a great time together. I had gone to the store several times this past week and kept thinking about how we needed to get candy to pass out, but of course I ended up at 3pm buying several bags on Halloween. The stores were so packed! I'm happy that they had a ton of "good" candy left, no one wants to be that house.

We started Halloween off with a party at Ellie's daycare. It was so cute and fun! They decorated treat bags, had a little program where they sang songs, decorated sugar cookies (Ellie skipped the work and went straight to eating hers), had a scavenger hunt in the "spider's lair", and had their face painted. I'm so in love with her new daycare! She has so much fun and I love the attention she gets from her teacher and friends.

For the party, I made monster cupcakes that I couldn't wait to share...

But one of the kids wanted to help me carry it and knocked over the case, so they definitely became MONSTER cupcakes. I couldn't stop laughing, he was so cute to help! Plus, they still tasted just as yummy!

After Ellie's nap, we finally painted her pumpkins. We had been meaning to do this earlier, but we've had lots of visitors and Matt and I didn't want to do it without the other one being present. So day of decorating totally happened. I used some painters tape to make a design in her pumpkin and I'm thinking an art project for the playroom should totally happen soon using the same method.

I wish I could keep it forever! I love how they turned out! I'm thinking about having her decorate a foam one so I can. It was a really fun project and it wasn't nearly as messy as I had expected it to be. 

After dinner it was time to trick or treat! We just went around to 4-5 houses and then came home and had a firepit in our driveway with some scary music playing and passed out candy.

It was just a great night! Children make holidays so much fun and I can't wait for Thanksgiving and Christmas next!

Oh! Here is my costume for the holliday, I went with a Halloween classic- a ghost!

Our Favorite Halloween Books

Since I was a child, I've always been an avid reader and still enjoy reading now (my library card is well worn) and it's something that I want to pass down to my children. I've always looked forward to the day of reading to my babies and children and enjoying the same books I grew up with and seeing them through their eyes for the first time (Where the Red Fern Grows, Little Women, The Princess Bride, and Harry Potter are ones I'm really looking forward to!). For every holiday I've tried to pick up a few books to celebrate and read with Ellie. Some are just for fun and others help explain the meaning of why we celebrate (like Easter and Christmas books we have) and we have a few Halloween ones I wanted to share that we've enjoyed reading. They're just silly books, but it's a nice change for a month or so from our usual books.

Hoot: A Hide-and-Seek Book of Counting // Doc McStuffins Boo to You! //  Halloween Jack
 Goodnight Goon // Room on the Broom

Hoot- Ok, so this one isn't technically a Halloween book, but I included it because of the owls and owls are kind of Halloweenish. Sue me. This book is so cute! The pages are brightly colored, it's cutely rhymed, and I love the hide-and-seek theme of the book. 

Doc McStuffins- Ellie is all about Doc McStuffins right now and although I don't care too much for the story itself (I don't think it really follows the style of the show), the pictures are enjoyable and Ellie enjoys all touch and feel books. 

Halloween Jack- We bought this book last year and it's still a favorite. Each page has a fun picture of different Halloween characters- a vampire, witch, robot, etc. with a cute rhyme for each one. It's a simple book that we've enjoyed reading a million times. I was really excited about bringing this one back out to read. 

Goodnight Goon- If Goodnight Moon is popular in your house, this one will be too! It follows the same rhythm as the original and tells a very cute story of Halloween. I'm hoping to find other holiday themed books for this classic (there's even a parody version called Goodnight Ipad! LOL). 

Room on the Broom- This book is adorable and I wanted to get it last year, but couldn't find the board book version and I'm so happy to have snagged it this year. I love the story of making new friends and having room for everyone on the broom. Ellie likes to point out each character on the pages and it's become a fun game for us before bed time. 

Here are some other books I want to add to our collection in the coming years; 

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat! (Who doesn't love this song? We have the Christmas one and I'd love to own all the holiday versions), I'm a Little Vampire (it follow the rhyme of "I'm a Little Teapot"), The Night Before Halloween (same as the Christmas version, and there's more holidays!). Ok, so I'm obviously a fan of books with a twist on the classics. I just love the original books and I'm so happy there's new versions for different themes to share with Ellie.

What are some of your holiday favorites?