Harvest Time

Pretty good lookin' pumpkins, if I do say so myself.

Especially since we had such a hot, dry summer.  We're hoping we get more next year!

2011 Halloween Round One

Today was the first of several Halloween Dress-Ups planned for the next few days.

Sam's school has dress-up day every year at Halloween time. The kids have to come dressed as an animal from Noah's Ark or a person from the Bible. Last year Sam was a bumblebee for Halloween which went perfectly with his school's theme. It was easy.

This year, Sam wants to be the moon for Halloween Specifically, "the full moon - like a cookie". Not so easy. And, neither an animal nor a person from the Bible.

So we went on a hunt for an animal costume. Most of them are expensive and look like they'd be hot and stuffy to wear all day at school. Fortunately WalMart had a make-your-own-animal-costume end cap with several cheap, lightweight animal choices. For less than 10 bucks, we had ourselves an elephant costume.

Sam was especially excited about his costume once I informed him that an elephant's favorite food is peanuts!

Mail Time

Gram and Pops sent Sam some mail. At first he didn't know what it was, then he was excited to say the least. Remember what it was like to be happy about getting mail in the mailbox? I never make these faces when I open my mail these days. I don't hug my grocery store circular or water bill. Other than my birthday when all my sweet in-laws send me cards, my mail is pretty boring! :)

Well, Sam's mail turned out to be a big, glittery, tri-fold Mickey Mouse Halloween card. I didn't coach him on any of these pics, by the way. He really did hug his card all on his own and take it out in the backyard to spend some time alone with it. 

Doesn't take much to excite a two year old! Thanks Gram and Pops!

Nature Walk

Sam and I found some cool stuff on our foggy-morning nature walk.

A spider's web, covered in dew, some green moss, and a locust's shell. The spider's web against the fog was especially Halloween-y!

Punkin' Cookies

Gram helped Sam decorate pumpkin cookies, just like we used to when Andrew and I were little.  He did a good job of stirring the icing and putting candy corn eyes on the pumkin heads.  Then he started sticking his fingers in the icing and shoving raisins in his mouth.  So Gram helped him finish and we called on Pops to decorate one for us.  Fun and tasty!

When The Birds Were The Bees

Buzzzzzz.

The day I got Sam's bee costume at our local children's resale shop, I stopped at a thrift store in town, just to look around. I found a bee "body" for grownups for $1.99. It was looking like Sam and I were meant to be a pair of sweet honeybees for Halloween this year. Brian asked if I could get my hands on some yellow duct tape so that he could join in the fun. A quick trip to the craft store for some duct tape, pipe cleaners and yellow pom-poms and our costumes were complete!

We invited the grandparents over to the hive for dinner and trick-or-treating. Sam made it just halfway down the block, stopping at only a few houses for treats, but that was plenty for us, too. We all ended up sitting on our porch with dessert and coffee and passed out candy to the neighborhood kids by the light of Daddy's second awesome jack-o-lantern.

What a Happy Halloween!.

Halloween, Round One

I think Noah would have welcomed this cute bee onto his ark with open arms. 

Sam got to dress up for Mother's Day Out today. The kids could either be someone from the Bible or an animal on Noah's ark.  We had already found this cute bee costume, so we were all set for today.  Sam loves bees and has for a long time.  He can't say his zzz's yet, but he has a bee sound all his own and points out bees, real and otherwise, everywhere we go. 

We are planning on taking him trick-or-treating this Sunday.  Granny Nell and Vic and Gram and Pops are coming over to help us celebrate and I'll be taking lots of pictures for sure.  Until then, here's a preview of our little bee.  We took these pictures out front this morning before we left for school.  I like how they turned out, but I'm kicking myself for not getting a shot of his stinger.  Oh, well...on my to-do list for Sunday!

Pumpkin Carving

Daddy carved us one great pumpkin.

Sam was only mildly interested in the carving part and wouldn't have anything to do with the touching the slimy seeds part.  But he did enjoy looking at the lit pumpkin - even asked Daddy to light it first thing the next morning. 

You've Got Mail

Sam got his first holiday card in the mail today. 

It came all the way from California!  Thanks Papa and Grandma!

Moo. Cluck.

Happy Halloween from The Funny Farm.

Sam had a great First Halloween. Gram and Pops came over to join in the festivities. Sam dressed up as a cow - a costume I received at a shower. Sophie was a chicken, a costume that suits her perfectly.

After dinner Sam and Daddy and I went to a couple of houses, mostly neighbors that we know, while Gram and Pops passed out candy at our house. Sam was a really good boy. He just held on to whoever was holding him and took it all in. He stayed up about an hour-and-a-half past his bedtime and wasn't even too fussy. He had a great time!

Enjoy the photos and the short video at the bottom!

Pops got swamped by trick-or-treaters!

Spoiled Little Pumpkin

(this is Sam's new "I'm excited" move - more on that later...)

Sam got a ball he can hold and a (baby-safe) hammer he can bang with.

We finished off the evening celebrating Gram's birthday with presents.

Happy Halloween!

Sam's First Halloween from Sara Straka on Vimeo.