"Minnie" Moments of Halloween Fun

As the days and years go by it is sometimes hard to find the time to slow down and realize just how quickly life is passing by.  It seems like within the blink of an eye my little girl that has grown from a tiny seven pound baby, to now a healthy toddler with strong opinions and ideas of her own.

This was our third year dressing up for Halloween.  For our baby’s first Halloween she was dressed up as a sweet strawberry.  She was only a couple months old, so she had no idea what was going on; however she did decide that the puffy strawberry costume was not something she liked.  For Miss A’s second Halloween she dressed as a cute black cat.  It was a very simple, easy costume.  It was also the last costume that I had complete control over picking. 

This year, Anderson decided what she wanted to be.  It was no surprise for JC and me.  She chose Minnie Mouse as her costume.

 The Sunday before Halloween we headed out to our first Halloween event, “BOO at the Zoo.”  The annual event, held at Scovill Zoo in Decatur, is our favorite way to kick off the fun holiday.  We decided to go on a Sunday afternoon, rather than an evening, hoping that the crowd wouldn’t be too big yet.  Once we unloaded from the car, our very stubborn toddler decided she wasn’t in the mood to put on her costume; thus beginning the negotiations, and finally the threat of going home.  In a quick turn of events, she put on her costume and headed in to see all of her animal friends, and to ride the carousel and train (her favorite).  The past two summers we’ve purchased a zoo pass and visited the animals a couple times a month.  “BOO at the Zoo” is a fun way for all of us to bid farewell to a summer season.  Anderson’s favorite animal is the wolf, Tilly.  She made sure to blow kisses, and tell the wolf “love you,” before leaving.

Halloween night we got ready for our trick or treat fun with a Halloween themed meal of mummy fingers and brains (pigs in a blanket and macaroni and cheese).  Then our girl, who had grown very fond of wearing her costume, excitedly transformed into Minnie Mouse!  We headed out with her new personalized Halloween pumpkin treat bag to gather our tasty treats.

Anderson would knock on most of the doors we went to, and say “treat.”  Teaching manners is a big deal at our house, so we made sure Anderson told each person “thank you” before moving on to another house.  She really got into the whole process of the event by the end of the night and did not want to go home.

 

Once home we passed out some candy to other kids at our house, while Anderson snuck tootsie rolls (her favorite) out of our candy basket.  We enjoyed seeing some neighbors dressed up, and visiting others.

Passing out Halloween candy.

After turning our light off, all of us indulging in way to much candy, and stayed up way to late.  A happy little girl finally went to bed after reading a last Halloween book for the season, “Room on the Broom.”  

Looking back on past Halloween seasons it’s amazing to realize that we've now shared three Halloween holidays with our little girl.  Even though that makes me sad to watch her grow up so quickly, it is also so much fun to be able to share these new experiences with her and watch the excitement she has for each new event.

Falling Short with our Fall Bucket List

Where did Fall go?  It seems like yesterday I was mourning the closing of the pool and the end of Summer.  Now Halloween has passed us and with that, all of the fun Fall activities.

Fall is always a busy time for our family.  It is also one of my favorite seasons (a close second to summer).  In Central Illinois there are so many festivals, orchards and other activities to celebrate the leaves falling, temperatures dropping and all things pumpkin.

Every Fall season I have a mental list of all of the activities I want our family to do, and places I want to visit.  Usually we are able to make a decent dent in that list; however this year we fell far short of accomplishing even half of the bucket list items.

The few places that we were able to visit, Curtis Orchard in Champaign and the Great Pumpkin Patch in Arthur, were great as always.  

This year was Anderson’s first visit to Curtis Orchard, but JC and I's second visit.  We visited Curtis Orchard a few years back.  You can read about our trip, as a couple, here.  She enjoyed playing on all of the playground equipment, and really enjoyed her first ride on a pony.  We also got to explore the pumpkin patch and pick out a few pumpkins to paint.  Since we were at an apple orchard, we had to take home some apple doughnuts.  Those were a big hit with our sweet little toddler, who also has a very sweet tooth.             

Before heading home we tried to take a picture in the oversized rocking chair.  Our very stubborn two-year-old is not a fan of having her picture taken, so this was the best we could get.

The Great Pumpkin Patch in Arthur is always a fun time.  JC and I have been visiting the patch every year for the past 10 years now.  We had our first date at the pumpkin patch, so it is an annual visit for us.  Over the past 10 years The Great Pumpkin Patch has gotten even more animals, attractions and people!  There was a huge crowd when we went searching for our pumpkins on Columbus Day weekend, but we were still able to explore the mazes, pumpkin patches and even check out the little old school house.  You can read about  pre-baby fun at The Great Pumpkin Patch here, a trip to the patch with our dog, Wrigley, here, and our first visit with Miss A.

Even though our Fall bucket list check list didn’t end up having many checks on it this year, we were lucky enough to get to spend time with family, celebrate friends on their wedding days, and celebrate a sixth wedding anniversary for JC and me, as well as experiencing some adult fun in Decatur through some work/fun events JC took part in.  I’ll share the rest of our Halloween fun, and the Fall adult fun events soon. 

What is your favorite Fall activity or event?  

NYE with a toddler

New Year’s Eve has never been a big event in my life, even though there are definitely some memorable celebrations.  Now that I’m a parent, the celebrations have changed even more to include sippy cups, high chairs and Disney movies. 

Since Anderson is just starting to take part and enjoy fun activities, we tried to include a few new activities as part of our New Year’s Eve celebration.  Here’s our night with our toddler:

First we made pizza.  She just wanted to eat the mozzarella cheese.  I was okay with that, less mess involved.

Then, she got to play with her new bath crayons.  She just wanted to eat the crayons.  The new bath crayon activity ended quickly.

After that, we decided to spoil our sweetie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  She just wanted one more scoop.  Mom said "no." 

Then, we picked out a Disney movie on Netflix.  She watched for maybe 10 minutes before deciding to tear into her toys and bounce on the couch.  Who knows how the movie ended….. 

And finally, bedtime!  A successful toddler New Year’s Eve night was complete with our one year old tucked in bed by nine (an hour past her bedtime).

A Christmas Season of Change

This Christmas was definitely a season of change for our family.  It was very exciting time, full of new traditions.

With JC’s work schedule we were stuck at home on Christmas Eve.  He spent most of the afternoon and evening at work; however he was able to come home for a short break for dinner.  Anderson and I spent some quality time together during our hours alone.  We popped some popcorn, watched Home Alone and played with her toys. 

When JC got home we were able to do a very quick version of a new Christmas Eve tradition.  We ate soup, let Anderson open her first gift (jammies, a new Christmas ornament and new “Twas the Night Before Christmas” book), and took a quick drive through the neighborhood to look at Christmas lights. 

The Christmas light viewing was probably my favorite part of the night.  Anderson normally is not a fan of riding in the car, but she seemed to enjoy it on Christmas Eve.  We listened to Christmas tunes and claps of her hands along with squeals of delight when she saw Santa aglow in a yard. 

Later that night, we laid out cookies, milk and carrots for Santa and the reindeer.  She grabbed a handful of cookies to put on Santa’s plate, but we quickly scaled that down to three.  

Once she was fast asleep, and JC was home from work again, the two of us went to work wrapping and assembling toys in Santa’s workshop.  He was busy putting together an 80 step play kitchen, while I wrapped all of Anderson’s gifts.  We enjoyed spending a couple hours together preparing an awesome Christmas for our girl, while watching the “Christmas Story” marathon.  We don’t get a lot of alone time, or sometimes time together in general, so this was a fun tradition I know we will continue on Christmas Eve night, just like my parents did for me years ago.

On Christmas morning we woke up and Anderson explored what Santa had left her.  She was a little overwhelmed with the whole process.  She wanted to play with whatever toy was opened, and definitely did not care about any clothes in the mix.  But we still had tons of fun opening gifts and sharing this experience with her.  Even our dog, Wrigley, was in heaven with his gifts from Santa.  He didn’t try to destroy any of Anderson’s toys for at least a couple hours.

We hosted Christmas lunch/dinner for some of our family.  Thankfully nothing was burnt, or tasted too terrible to eat.  But I definitely have a new found appreciation for all of the people who do the holiday cooking on Christmas.  It’s a big job to unwrap gifts, try to clean up so people can have a place to sit, and get a nice meal together in a few hours.

The rest of Christmas weekend was spent celebrating the holiday with the rest of our families.  I’m thankful that we were able to spend time with everyone.  I know this will be a memorable holiday as it included many new, fun traditions.

Holiday Memories: "Mistle Toes"

Time spent with family eating lots of food.  That pretty much sums up my Thanksgiving holiday.  It was a really nice holiday.  Anderson tried the entire Thanksgiving feast.  She was a big fan of noodles and green beans, but not a fan of the turkey.  As for me, I was a big fan of all of the quality time I got to spend with Miss A.

I was able to have five days off work at home.  Most of that time was spent with Anderson.  We got to spend lots of Mommy/Daughter time.  We even got around to tackling a couple art projects that I’ve wanted to do for over a year now with Miss A. 

The “Mistle Toes” wall hanging was, of course, a Pinterest find. It was one of the easier projects, which worked out well for someone who is not a great artist.  All it took was an extra pair of hands to help with the foot painting and imprint (thanks JC), washable paint, canvas and a happy baby.  All of that resulted in a perfectly imperfect “Mistle Toes” decoration.

Our happy baby wasn’t so happy after our fun art project.  She didn’t enjoy having green feet, but it’s something that will leave a smile on my face for years to come as she grows up and those baby toes aren’t so little anymore.