The Princess and the Poodle

I heart traditions. 

I heart costume parties. 

And I really heart candy.

Makes for a great Halloween!

My cow "utters" seemed to be a hit everywhere we went.  In fact, when Brielle first saw me dressed up, she came up to me, grabbed an utter and said, "Mom, I really like your cow boobies"!

My children and I with some of my favorites at the ward Halloween carnival that the youth were in charge of:

Brielle is adored by so many of the young women, but she drives me crazy because she is SO stinkin' shy!  If she gets nervous, she goes from cute to not so cute very quickly because she either has to be held by me, or freaks out and shuts down.  Poor thing, I just don't know how to help her. 

Here comes the torture.  That's right:  Pictures by the pumpkins.  You'd think I was truly punishing my children.

Taylee literally took off running when I set her by the pumpkins for pics.

It's the crouch-and-run!  She pretends like she's sitting, and then when I get close to pick her up, she takes off running again.  I'm depressed to tell you that it's worked on more than one occasion!

She thought she was so funny trying to get away.  That's kind of our daily game now.  I tell her to come here, she takes off in the other direction just as fast as her chubby little legs will carry her.

In the end, I thought I won. . . . . until I actually saw the picture.  Dang!

Poor Poodle:

Check out the slobber!  All tuckered out after visiting Daddy at work.

I know I'm biased, but man I think this is one pretty princess.

Excited to go to the trunk or treat:

Brielle kept dancing and singing and twirling.  She was in LOVE with her costume!

And even more delighted when she got to put on makeup and a necklace!

Taylee just likes to sneak my chap stick so she can eat it.  Dang dog!

Trick or treating with Daddy!  Yay!!  At every door, Brielle would say, "Trick or Treating".

Taylee of course would grab as many candies as she could when they'd hold the bowl out, and then she had a very hard time putting them in her bucket.  She had to have at least one candy in each hand at all times because she was so afraid she wouldn't get them back.

Too much fun, not enough sleep.

Visiting Grandma and Grandpa's house.

After all the extra candy that Grandma Marg gave her, Taylee was rejuvenated and ready for more trick or treating.

Grandma and Grandpa Kyhl.

We came home to some delicious bread bowl soup (just like my parents did for me every year of my life), and the sugar cookies we'd made and decorated.  As if we didn't already have enough sugar!

All in all, it was a great Halloween. 

Since then, we have been super lazy.  And by that I mean I have been super lazy.  Brielle stays busy trying on every costume in the house and modeling them for me.

You know, I really love doing crafts with my kids and reading them books.  I love taking them to the library and coloring with them.  Most days that I'm home, we do stay pretty busy doing every creative thing we can think of, but sometimes it's absolutely wonderful doing absolutely nothing and getting to watch stuff like this unfold!

While Travis and I (but mostly Travis) work on the house, our kids are usually doing something like this:

There are some truly delightful kids in our neighborhood, and for that I'm extremely grateful.

Brielle asks me regularly if she can sleep on the "jumper".  I think the tramp is her favorite part about gymnastics too.  That girl would gladly skip all three meals if she could just jump all day long.

Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!