Tinki and a Witch

We had lots of fun this Halloween! Hallie was our little "Tinkibell" (Tinkerbell) and Peyton our Witch. It seems like there is always lots of fun festivities going on around this holiday. They loved...

~going to story time and having a parade in their costumes,

~party at friends,

~trunk or treat at the church (minus the part that Peyton upchucked all over because her wonderful mother didn't realize she was taking candy out of her bucket and eating it, wrapper and all, the entire time),

~decorating cookies,

~reading fun stories,

~pumpkin patches/decorating, and

~our traditional soup in yummy bread bowls followed by trick or treating!

Hallie of course had to get a pic with "Baby Peyton"

Peeking at the dog

Notice Hallie's mark on her chest? She totally ran into a huge tree branch!

This picture makes me smile for so many reasons.
First...the CROCS! She had the cutest little black shoes that matched her costume but she was not having it! She LOVES these crocs with a bazillion jibbitz on them (thanks alot Granny! j/k) and will throw the biggest fits to wear them everyday. I let her win this battle and enjoy the night.
Second...the BUCKET! Hallie had planned forever that Peyton was going to use her Elmo bucket and Hallie would use her new princess one. This idea worked great at our church trunk-or-treat. Well...little Peyton is smarter than I give her credit for. All day, she had been trying to reach her bucket and eat candy out of it. And I kept telling her no and sliding it further back from the counter. Well when it came time to get out the door and go trick-or-treating, we could not find that bucket anywhere! So, we figured this bucket would do (thanks Carly!). It was huge and getting so heavy, but she would not let us touch it! Now FF to the next day while I'm cleanin up...I found that she had hid her bucket behind the door in my closet which was full of candy from before! silly girl. Now I remember wiping the counters that same day and setting the bucket down for a sec, but of course then getting distracted. Bet she thought she'd save that candy there for when her mean mother won't give her anymore :).
And Third...That cute little smile! She had a blast! She just thought she was as big as all the other kids and didn't want us to carry her, take her bucket for her or touch her! She would run down the sidewalk yelling from house to house trying to catch up to all the other kids! It was so cute.

Hallie absolutely loved it too and was alot more daring this year. She noticed some kids across the street trick-or-treating at someone else's house and dashed into the road because she thought we had "missed that house with candy!" She was all about the candy this year!

Her friend Pate was adorable. She had a blast and had this permasmile on the entire time!

And another highlight was the weather! It was so crazy to not have to think about costumes that would keep them warm, or covering their entire costume with coats and gloves. I DO NOT miss Iowa weather!

Now if someone would just hide all the candy so that I would STOP eating it!!!

We slacked off a little with the pumpkins and decorating this year, but the girls sure had fun!

Peyton just thought it was fun to try each pumpkin out as a seat.

Happy Birthday Aaron!

Happy belated Birthday to my sweet hubby (the day before Halloween)! I am so blessed to have him in my life! He's the best! I really could not ask for a better husband or father to my kiddos. So to keep up with the tradition (wow, he's getting up there in numbers! Maybe we should retire soon. j/k):

32 Things I love about Aaron:

1. He still makes me laugh every single time he says "ALL RIGHT!"

2. He kisses me goodbye every morning.

3. He loves his little girls and treats them like gold.

4. He can do anything himself! He has done so much to our house and is always amazing me with the things he does.

5. He gets so excited about football!

6. He works so hard to support our family.

7. He never shows fear and is such a great leader of our family in this way.

8. He forgives so easily.

9. He stays up late with me watching shows or movies together.

10. He plays Boggle and cards with me.

11. He finally drinks with me! (Diet Dr. Pepper of course)

12. He is always so supportive of what I want to do.

13. He thinks I'm beautiful even when we both know I'm not lookin my finest :).

14. He never points out flaws.

15. He is confident with who he is, yet so humble too.

16. He surprises me occasionally with flowers and sweet notes.

17. He NEVER asks me how much I spent or what I bought when I go shopping. (I'm so lucky)

18. He humors me and lets me show him all the great bargains I've found.

19. He always finishes whatever he puts his mind to and does it the best that he can. You can always expect the very best from him.

20. He opens my door every time we go on a date and wears a little more cologne than usual just for me. (I wish I could demonstrate the way he applies it usually :). He taps it barely and waits for a sec before he walks into it. It's quite funny. I used to push him into it right after he'd spray it and he would say, "That's too much! Now I'm going to be "that guy" in the room".)

21. He sets goals and always finishes them no matter what.

22. He helps me clean and cook.

23. He never leaves the seat up! (I can only remember one time he did, which of course happened to be when I was pregnant and had to go potty in the middle of the night but instead fell in!)

24. He is very easy-going.

25. He takes Hallie on dates to Home Depot's kid workshop events and the Sports stores to look at the animals.

26. He is always thinking about how to make things easier/better for me, the kids and others.

27. He is so willing to do anything for me. Even if it's midnight, without me even asking, he will be in the car and halfway down the street before I even realize, to go get me some almond for cooking, a treat, etc.

28. He is very thoughtful in the gifts he gives me.

29. He imitates Kevin from The Office with me and thinks it's just as funny as I do.

30. He offers me ice cream (and meat too) every time he gets some even though he knows the answer will be no... "just in case".

31. He always says, "This is the best meal I've ever had." or "You really outdid your self this time" every time I cook, even if it was just a darn quasadilla!

32. He makes life SO FUN and SO GREAT!!!

The day started off with the fav singing and dancing of "They Say It's Your Birthday" by yours truely, and a breakfast of his choice (girls were still sleeping. It was 5:00 in the morning). As luck would have it, he got off early from work, so we were able to go out to dinner before the trunk or treat party. We had a yummy dinner at Texas Roadhouse, however I was a little disappointed that he would NOT let me inform them it was his birthday so he could sit on the saddle! ha ha.

I think Hallie was more excited than Aaron that it was his birthday. She kept saying, "Daddy! Guess What! It's your birthday!" or "Where is that little birthday boy?" She had a blast making his cake, and the sweet daddy that Aaron is, let Hallie go to town. Which would explain why almost an entire container of sprinkles was on the cake :). She had seen this hat at the store that she insisted we get for the birthday boy. But decided that we all needed some too (even if they are Winnie the Pooh and say 1st birthday! ha ha).

Happy Birthday Aaron! We love you and are so glad you were born!