Halloween Fun

For Halloween this year, I really wanted to put Jaden and Cody in coordinating costumes. I'm not sure how many more years they'll allow me to "match" their costumes, so I'm taking advantage while I can. After scouring Pinterest for ideas, I landed upon a Curious George and Man with the Yellow Hat duo. Winner! Cody and Jaden absolutely adore Curious George! For the past many months, it's really been the only video that holds their attention. When I mentioned the costume idea to the boys, they were thrilled. Surprisingly (and thankfully!), the boys didn't argue at all about who would be which character. Right away Cody volunteered himself to be Curious George, and Jaden piped up with, "And I can be the man with the yellow hat!"

Now it was time to make the costumes! The only clothing item we had on hand was a pair of brown pants, so my work was cut out for me. I ended up visiting quite a few thrift stores, craft stores, and clothing stores to assemble all the pieces. Because I started the costume-making process so early, I actually enjoyed the process and the challenge of finding and creating the costume pieces. The greatest find was the yellow pants-- Sponge Bob pajama pants from my nephew Ian's drawer! Perfect! :) I was pleased with how the final costumes turned out.

Of course, the costumes look way cuter with two little boys inside! :) Cody is making his "ooh-ooh-aah-aah" monkey sounds in the picture below.

Here's a decent smiling pic (rare!) of both boys.

We had quite a few opportunities to dress up throughout the month of October, so we got some good use out of the outfits. The boys' costume-debut occasion was a Halloween playdate. In early fall, Kim invited me to join her twice-monthly themed playgroup she has with friends. Because Kim models her playgroup similarly to what I had done with friends back in Montana, this group has been a big blessing for the boys and me. For their Halloween playdate, the pic below was the only one I got of the kids in costume. By the time our other two little friends arrived, most of these guys had taken off their costumes already! Ah, the roller coaster of being three! :) The playdate was a big hit-- complete with a monster mask craft, Halloween trail mix, pumpkin rolling, pumpkin hot potato, and Halloween storytelling. My sister and her friends are a creative crew!

Sammy, Ryan Cody, Jaden, Nathan

About a week before Halloween, our neighborhood subdivision was scheduled to have a hayride, but it was rescheduled due to heavy rains. Instead, our family went over to Matt and Kim's house and played some Halloween games there. First, we made a duct tape spider web, threw plastic bugs on it, and pretended we were spiders grabbing the bugs.

Then, we played a ghost-print musical game, an activity that had been a big hit from my Halloween parties from the last 2 years. Ian, Ryan, Jaden and Cody loved it too. Who wouldn't enjoy an excuse to run around the living room?!

When the music was on, we danced/ran/jumped around. When the music stopped, the kids had to listen to directions and then find a certain shape or color on a ghost print. We played quite a few rounds of this active game!

Even Nathan got into the dancing! :)

Our next Halloween dress-up occasion was the Trunk or Treat event at our church. Don't the boys look excited?! :)

Because Jason was involved in the event, I was very thankful that Grandma and Grandpa were visiting and could join us for Trunk or Treat. It was a very crowded night, so I really appreciated the extra hands!

Cody and Jaden were a bit overwhelmed by all the people, so they stayed close beside Grandma and Grandpa. I guess I had nothing to worry about with these 2 wandering off! :)

The trunks were all decorated so creatively, mostly by our church's high school youth group kids. Cody and Jaden got a nice stash of candy.

We met up with Matt, Kim, Jon, Chelsea and all our nephews there, too. Here is the cousin costume picture!

Ian, Jaden, Cody, Nathan, Isaiah, Ryan

And a close-up of the cutest lobster and lion ever! :) 

There was music playing in the background all evening, so Jaden and Cody got a little dance in with Grandma.

Jason was in charge of manning a trunk for the evening, so he costumed-up as a Lions' player.

At the end of the night, we gave Matt and Kim's family a ride back to their vehicle since it was so dark and their car was a long way off. 

Our neighborhood hayride was rescheduled for the night before Halloween. Good thing the boys weren't getting tired of their costumes yet! It always helped to remind them that they'd be getting candy once their costumes were on. :) Here they are, ready to walk down to our neighborhood park.

Ryan, Ian, and Nathan joined us for this event too. The boys all seemed to enjoy the ride around our neighborhood in this trailer bed. I didn't get any pics of the rest of the evening, but our neighbors in charge of the event had set up a few Halloween games and gave out quite quite a few treats. It was a cute little evening. We love our new family-friendly neighborhood! :)

Finally, our last costume day was Halloween itself. We went trick-or-treating in Matt and Kim's neighborhood. By this point, the boys were fairly trained with their "trick-or-treat" and "thank you" routine. We made quite the troop going up to people's doorsteps!

Jaden and Cody didn't last long out on the streets trick-or-treating. We probably only visited 15 houses or so before our family turned back. Once we returned to Matt and Kim's house, Cody and Jaden LOVED the task of handing out candy to other trick-or-treaters. It seemed a little strange to see tall, costumed teenagers accepting candy from energetic three-year-olds in their pjs. :) Before bed that evening, Cody, Ryan, and Jaden enjoyed some storytime with Grandma. 

And that's it for Halloween 2015!