Halloween 2013

Oh boy! Halloween was a big event this year at the Leslie house. So this is going to be a big post with lots of fun pictures!

 

The week before Halloween, I was in charge of our weekly home preschool group. Our theme for the day was Halloween. So for one of the activities I taught them the song "I'm a Mean Old Witch with a Hat" and then we made these fun witch faces. Getting a picture of them with their witch faces was harder than I thought. One of the little girls is missing from this picture because she had lost interest and walked away.

Ross had the Friday before Halloween off from work. So we went on a mini vacation to my parents' house for the weekend. On Friday morning we were able to go see Kaylynn and Makynlee in their preschool costume parade/program. Leah dressed up too and was a little confused as to why she couldn't go stand in front of the crowd with her cousins. So we made sure we got a picture of the three of them together with Grandpa after the program was over.

The weather was beautiful that day. After preschool, the kids played in the backyard for a while. Lyndsee got out the little bounce house and the kids had a blast jumping and playing together.

That night Ross and Jason went to the BYU football game against Boise State. So Lyndsee and I took the kids and joined Melyssa, Melissa and Megan at the "Witches Night Out" at Gardner Village. It was crazy crowded there, but we had fun seeing all the witch displays and people dressed up in witch costumes.

I love this picture of Makynlee!

Saturday morning, Lyndsee, Melyssa and I took the kids to the zoo for trick-or-treating. Once again the weather was great and the girls had a fun time collecting candy and seeing the animals. But Leah's favorite part was probably riding the carousel. She's loves to ride carousels any chance she can get.

My brothers' families are both big Utah fans. So Clayton's family all dressed up in their Utes gear for Halloween. Except Clayton who wore a White Sox uniform and my cute nephew, Caden (aka Chippy), who is the lone BYU fan. (What a smart kid!) So I got a picture of the kids when they stopped by my parents' house.

Saturday night Ross and I went with my sisters, brother-in-law and a couple cousins to see "Thriller" performed by Odyssey Dance Theatre. It was a fun show. But one of the best parts was going out for dinner and a show without any kids. My parents kept the four little ones and took them to their ward's trunk-or-treat/Halloween party at their church house.

On Monday night we carved our pumpkins. After carving our overly detailed pumpkins last year, we opted for much simpler designs this year. Leah choose "Curious George" and Ross went with the BYU "Y."

On Tuesday, Leah got to dress up for dance lessons. She is in a class with her cousin, Kylie, and best friend, Millie.

At preschool that week, the theme was Halloween again. This time she came home with a ghost she had made.

Wednesday was our annual Halloween carnival put on by the youth in our ward. We all dressed up and joined the festivities.

Lyndsee had given us the idea for the Kermit and Miss Piggy costumes. We tried to get Leah to be Miss Piggy, but she had her heart set on being Cinderella. So I decided to be Miss Piggy to go with Corbin's Kermit costume. And Ross was Leah's Prince Charming. Everyone loved our costumes.

On Halloween, I took the kids to Ross's work. He was at the elementary school that day. So we got to see all the kids parade around the school in their costumes. The school kids loved seeing our family's costumes too. All that excitement wore our little Kermit out! Leah on the other hand was very excited to play in Daddy's office. She didn't want to leave, even when it was time for Ross to go home.

On the way home, we stopped by "The Sweet Tooth Fairy" for free cupcakes. Yummy!

That night it was finally time to go trick-or-treating. We went around the neighborhood with some of our neighbors and then ended the evening with a visit to the Millers.

Right before trick-or-treating, I finally carved my pumpkin. I opted for the "Minion" design because it was simple and I knew Leah would like it. It turned out better than I thought it would.

We had lots of fun this year, but after a full week of celebrating, we were all glad when Halloween was finally over. Halloween is such a fun time of year. Ross commented to me recently that he actually enjoys Halloween more now as an adult than he did has a kid. I agreed. It seems there are so many more fun Halloween things to do now than when we were kids. Plus it is so much fun to see our kids enjoying all the fun activities too. But still, I'm glad Halloween only comes once a year!