Halloween Memories

Even at 30 years old (actually 31 in just a few days.....I'm getting flippin' old), Halloween is still one of my FAVORITE times of year!! Yes, I STILL dress up and eat my weight in Halloween candy, and yes, I force my family to listen to Halloween music and watch Halloween shows starting in September. :) Here's a few of our Halloweens from the past:

2006

 This was Nora's first Halloween, and since she was the ripe-old age of 5 weeks, she didn't have an actual costume. We just put her in her groovy little pumpkin outfit given to her by Grandmommie:

Because we had a brand-new baby, lacked sleep, and were exhausted, Josh and I didn't have time to pick out a costume to wait for trick-or-treaters, so we just threw some crap together (which was very unfortunate....)

Josh and I, however, were able to get it together and attend a super-fun Halloween party with a slew of old friends. We went as bikers...

 "Uncle Bug" went as Axel Rose....

 (I wish I could've gotten pictures of everyone and their awesome costumes, but since there were soooooo many familiar faces there, that would've taken all night). :)

2007

This was the first year we headed over to the Blue Ridge Mountains for "a weekend getaway" around Halloween with Matt, Anna, & Lilah:

 We always visit Burt's Farm when we're there!!

We also played with our buddy, Terrance, at Stone Mountain Park that year...

Nora was a "Little Lamb" that year :)

2008

We headed back over to Burt's Farm to spend the weekend in the mountains.....

  Nora was a ladybug that year, and Lilah was a bee. Our little insects..... :)

I was a pregnant "Red Riding Hood." :)

2009

This was the year of many changes for our family. Some changes were beautiful (like welcoming Ella into the world), but other changes were very painful. So, we decided to make some new traditions. One thing that we decided is that the WHOLE family would dress up and go over to Grandmommie's & Paw-Paw's to trick-or-treat and be festive. We went with a "Wizard of Oz" theme this year. Ella was the lion, Nora was Dorothy....

Aunt Lea was the wicked witch, I was the scarecrow....

Grandmama was Aunt Em (sadly, you can only see part of her outfit....guess I was too busy getting a pic of Ella's pajamas before she went to sleep)...

....and Josh was...uhhhh....the Tin Man. :)

But of course, we had to keep our old traditions, as well. So, off to the mountains we went!

  

This was Ella's first "Burt's" experience. I can't believe how bald she was...especially since she now has a killa' fro!!

 2010

This was the year of the billion costumes!! For all of our carnivals and parties, Nora and Ella wore their costumes given to them by "Mammie" (she had gotten them on clearance the year before for under a dollar.....if God assigns jobs in Heaven, no doubt that she is His "bargain shopper"). :)

 The weekend before Halloween, we ALL trick-or-treated at Grandmommie's and Paw-Paw's. Nora was a bride, Ella was a "flower girl," and Lilah was SuperGirl. :)

Lea was Dolly Parton, her life-long friend, Lindsey, was Dora the Explorer (spitting image of Dora!), and Grandmama was a "football" player. However, she reminded us of "The Waterboy"...."Dat's high-quality H2O!!" :)

Josh and I were vampires... :)

On the actual Halloween night, we carved pumpkins and went trick-or-treating in our own neighborhood.

 Daddy's silly.

The girls wore their Disney Princess dresses that night (which they still try to squeeze into today). :)

2011 

Last year, the girls both wanted to be Tinkerbell. Basically, Ella would've worn WHATEVER Nora chose. She wanted to be just like her big sis. :) 

 Lea was Sandi from Grease :)

Grandmama was a "50's girl" - she sported her handmade poodle-skirt that she made for me when I was in 5th GRADE!!! (It's sad when your mom fits into your 5th grade clothes).

Josh and I tried to keep it "low-key" by dressing as a cowboy and cowgirl....we had recently found out that we were expecting another baby (sweet Claira!), and I felt like death-warmed-over.

These two would trick-or-treat all night if we'd let them!!

I can't wait for the Halloween shenanigans of 2012, especially with baby Claira! I'm anxious to see what the "big girls" will decide to be. Although Ella used to follow closely in Nora's footsteps and do whatever Nora did, she has become such an independent thinker and decision-maker. I look forward to seeing if they'll choose similar costumes, or be completely different this year!!

Cheers to spooks, pumpkins, costumes......

....and LOTS and LOTS of chocolate (that I will definitely steal out of my daughters' candy bags).