Halloween Costume Picks

Yesterday, I linked up with Momfessionals blog and shared our Halloween costumes from years past. If you missed it, you can check it out here. 

But, today, I thought i'd flip the tables a little bit, and share a few adorable ideas for you!

We're getting started with the babies first! I may have or many not have had baby fever when putting these costumes together!

Seriously, are these not the cutest ever! I think the little lambs are my favorite, but the owl, and gnome are close runner ups!

Toddler & Preschool costumes are up next! If you're young children are anything like mine, then they're Disney obsessed. I may have selected a few too many Disney characters for costume ideas, but you can't go wrong with Disney!

The past two years, I've gone to the Disney store and spent an arm and a leg on costumes. Thankfully, we were able to re-use them for a themed birthday party, and our Disney trip, and the girls probably wear their dress up and costumes daily, so I don't feel too bad about spending so much on their Halloween costumes!

And now that Gretchen is old enough, we're shopping in the girls section for her costume of choice. Here are a few of my favorites.

I was sort of surprised at Gretchen's selection this year because she decided to be an Egyptian princess. I wasn't really sure where she came up with the idea, but then she was telling me that there's a princess in Night at the Museum, and she LOVES that movie! So, it totally made sense. Her costume is very similar to the one pictured above.  And, I picked out some "spookier" costumes for y'all, because 7 year olds (and up) really enjoy picking out scarier costumes than their little preschool brothers and sisters! If I had my choice, it would always be a little Disney princess- ha!

And, because I'm still undecided about Adalyn's Halloween costume, I had to browse through pinterest for some cute DIY inspiration!

The scarecrow is my absolute favorite, but I'm not quite sure how practical it will be for our Halloween events!

So, tell me, have you decided on your little one's costume this year? Or, are you like me with Adalyn and running out of time?!

Show & Tell Tuesdays: Halloween Costumes!

I'm linking up with Andrea over at Momfessionals for Show & Tell Tuesdays! It's been a while since I linked up, but when I read yesterday, that we were showing off Halloween costumes of years past, I knew I had to dig through my photo files and share pictures of the girls! 

Halloween is a tricky holiday to celebrate in our family. DJ typically works until 8 most evenings, so I have to trick-or-treat with the girls myself! Last year, Halloween was on a Friday, and DJ was out of town at a football game, and this year, we'll be in Dallas at the TU/SMU game, and we're still trying to figure out our plans. It's not so fun when Halloween always falls during football season! But, we make it work, and make some pretty awesome memories along the way. 

Gretchen's first Halloween was sans costume. We had this little witch outfit that she wore, and we stayed home and handed out candy. I figured it wasn't appropriate to take a 7 month old trick-or-treating knowing that I'd eat all of the candy, so we made it an easy night. Plus, DJ was at work! I can't get over how chubby she was though!

When she was a year old, she had her first official Halloween costume. I decided to go all out and make her a Dalmation puppy costume, complete with hand sewn sequins, puppy ears, and a matching bow. She was quite possibly, the cutest puppy I've ever seen. 

When she was 2 1/2, I made her a clown costume. She decided she was a rainbow princess, and we just let her believe that she was. She wore red leggings, with ruffled tulle pieces on the bottom, a pink shirt, a rainbow tutu, and had suspenders with her flower attached, and funky bows in her pigtails. 

Fast forward a year, and Megan gets to celebrate her first Halloween at just 5 months old. As any mom would do, I decked them out in costumes with a theme, and Gretchen went as Little Miss Muffet, and Megan was her spider. I made their costumes again, and determined that Megan was the most adorable spider ever. Her tutu had layers of black and purple tulle, with black feather boas mixed in. I attached a black spider to a foam spider web, and added more feathers around the web to complete her look. Gretchen wore pink tights, leg warmers, a pink leotard, pink tulle skirt, and we topped it off with an apron, big bows, and a floppy white hat. 

This is the last year, that I was able to really choose costumes and a theme for the girls. 

My heart may be breaking in a few pieces. 

The next year, Gretchen had an opinion and wanted to be Tinkerbell. Again, I decided to go all out and make their costumes. And, since we needed a theme, Megan became a little fairy, and Gretchen insisted I dress up too, so I was a pirate. 

And then Gretchen turned 5, and homemade costumes for her went out the window. She insisted on being Sofia the First. (I had wanted them to both be witches.) Thankfully, a Sofia episode came out that included a little witch girl, and Megan was able to be Sofia's "witch" friend. I made her costume with layers of tulle, and made her a little witch hat. 

It ended up being too cold for Adalyn to be dressed in her witch outfit, so we opted for a warmer outfit for trick-or-treating, but here she is for her first Halloween. She wore a purple petti romper, and I made her a witch hat too.

And, then again, as the girls got older, their opinions grew more strong. I still really wanted to have a family theme, and when Gretchen picked Elsa, I prayed Megan would want to be Anna, so Adalyn could be Olaf. Instead, Megan insisted on being Doc McStuffins, so Adalyn was just a snowman, and if you asked Megan- Adalyn was Chili, and if you asked Gretchen, Adalyn was Olaf. 

I figured one more time, I could make a Halloween costume, so I decked Adalyn out in the fullest tutu dress I could come up with, attached shiny black buttons, and made her a top hat with sequins.

This year, we have no theme. We don't even know if we'll get to trick-or-treat or if we'll be watching a football game! I decided to go ahead and let the big girls pick out costumes, and it's still up in the air, if I'll make Adalyn a costume or let her choose something from our dress up! And honestly, she may just wear warm clothes and go to the game! Tis the life of football children!

I can't wait to read and see every one else's Halloween costumes and to find out what everyone has picked for this year! If you didn't link up, leave a comment below!

And for future link ups:

Fall Break Weekend WrapUp

This past week we had our fall break! I've been counting down to fall break since the beginning of the school year!

Last Tuesday night and Wednesday morning I had parent/teacher conferences. Gretchen and Megan were both out of school on Wednesday, so they headed to the football offices with DJ. 

Once I was finished with conferences, I headed toward campus and we met for lunch at Tropical Smoothie. These girls were excited for a lunch out to one of their favorite restaurants!

After lunch, we headed to Rustic Cuff. Gretchen's back to school cuff broke, so we took it back to replace the charm. They ended up just giving her a brand new cuff, and I let both girls pick out a cuff of their own. Megan chose red, and Gretchen picked turquoise. 

After a quick trip to Rustic Cuff, we headed home to meet the construction guys that were coming to fix our ceiling in the kitchen. We made it home right on time, and while the guys fixed the ceiling, Megan and I watched Sofia while Gretchen read.

Once they left, we headed outside so the girls could ride bikes, and then we went to pick out Halloween costumes before heading to pick up Adalyn from school.

We came home and played pirates!

And spent some time cuddling before bed time!

Thursday morning, the girls had cinnamon toast for breakfast! This was Addy's after-breakfast face! She was a mess!

After breakfast, we packed suitcases and loaded up in the car so we could head toward Arkansas!

The sun was highly getting on Adalyn's nerves, so she improvised and covered herself up with a blanket. 

We met my mom and grandma at our halfway point, ate lunch, and let the girls play.

The love playing with all of the toys at Cracker Barrel!

Between the balls, babies, umbrellas, strollers, and little toys, the girls were in heaven!

After they played, I handed them off to my mom and I headed back to Tulsa sans kids.

The rest of Thursday afternoon was spent doing laundry, running an errand, and then going to the mall! You guys, I almost always shop online so going to the mall by myself is a rare treat! I needed new pants for work, so I hit up Loft and Gap before heading to Target.  I may or may not have spent over an hour in Target scanning items on my Think Dirty app and finding less toxic options for our bathroom! I also picked up a few Christmas gifts, and then reluctantly headed home. 

DJ worked a little late, and at 7:30 pm, when I'm usually tucking in little girls, I was heading out to meet DJ for dinner! We had a kid free dinner at Los Cabos, sitting outside at the bar and listening to the band. It was pretty perfect.

Friday morning, DJ left for work, and I met him at the office a little later so we could load up with the team for the away game. 

This weekend was our annual wives-trip weekend, and I was looking forward to some time away!

I'm pretty sure it's been over a year, since DJ and I have been able to get away for a weekend! 

Once we landed in North Carolina, we headed to the team hotel and DJ got to work. I went up to the room and tried to nap and ended up watching HGTV and reading gossip magazines. 

While the players and coaches have meetings and dinners, the wives all head out to eat. Our operations guy find a restaurant that was divine. Seriously, it was the best restaurant! We had a private room, and the owner came out and told us about the wine selection, appetizers, and the menu. We had crab cake balls, coconut shrimp, and baked brie. After appetizers, we had salad, and then our main menu choices were a sirloin, salmon, chicken, crab stuffed shells wrapped in bacon with pasta, or shrimp and scallops over lobster stuffed ravioli in cream sauce. I choose the lobster dish, and finished it off with berry cobbler and local ice cream.  After our meal, the chef came out to say hello, and we all agreed we ate entirely too much, but that it was the best meal ever!

Our wives trip is the best way to really get to know each other, and I have to tell you, we have a pretty amazing group of ladies here!

Saturday morning was game day. We headed to ECU with the team, and then toured their basketball complex and trophy room. I met up with DJ to say hello, and then headed back to the seats to sit in the sun. The high was only int he 60s, and I honestly knew I would freeze during the game, but it was so HOT. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, there was no breeze, and the kick-off was at noon. I had brought two shirts to wear, and I'm so glad I went with the cooler dry-fit shirt, but still it was just hot.

Here are the wives before the game!

Unfortunately, TU didn't win the game, but we cheered hard, put up with some rude fans, and walked away ready for our next game.

While we were away, the girls were with their Gee. 

They roasted marshmallows and ate smores.

Addy's messy face!

And Miss Megan- how much is she looking like Gretchen?

And my mom took all of the girls, with my niece to have pictures made, and afterwards she treated them all to a frosty.

Megan making a little heart with her hands.

And Miss Gretchen. I'm pretty sure she hasn't taken off her cuffs since she got them!

And, they got way too dirty jumping on the trampoline!

Sunday morning the girls went to the pumpkin patch, and then we met in the afternoon so I could bring them back home!

Fall break was super relaxing! It was much needed, and I'm feeling like we're ready to take on the next few weeks of school until Thanksgiving break!

Only My Meggie

Last week, I decided that I wanted to document the girls, one by one, over the next three weeks. This week, it's all about our middle child! And, boy, does she already hate being in the middle!

Megan, or Meggie, is a ham.

 

The girl loves to have fun, but she's also shy and reserved. She has the craziest personality in that you never know what mood she'll be in. She's definitely a spitfire.

 

She loves to dress up. This summer, she wore a leotard or dress up every single day. On Saturday mornings, she often dressed before we wake up- either in an ensemble that she has picked out herself or in a dress up outfit.

 

She will change clothes at least 5 times a day when we're home. We often have to tell her that she's not allowed to change clothes again for the rest of the day. We're constantly cleaning her closet, putting her clothes back on hangers, shoes away, or stuffing clothes back in drawers.

 

She's definitely opinionated about what she wears. I've tried to have her help me pick out outfits for the week, and then I hang them in her room so they're ready to go for school mornings.  4 out of 5 days she's wearing something else that wasn't picked out for her.

 

She always insists on wearing socks with her shoes.

 

She'd rather wear pants or leggings.

 

She loves to wear long sleeves, jackets, or a hoodie.

 

This girl is always cold.

She loves to jump around on the couch. She jumps over the couch, on the couch, throws the pillows off, and then does it all again.

She also LOVES to draw and write! I'm amazed at how much her drawing has improved. She draws people with a face, eyes, mouth, nose, hair, body, arms, legs, and the funniest looking hands and feet with fingers and toes!

 

She also loves to write her letters. In fact, she found a magnetic board that we have, and she stays up after we tuck her in practicing her letters.

She loves school! In fact, I'm so surprised at how much she loves school! Last year in preschool she flourished, and she's growing more and more every day this year.

 

Her favorite centers are the writing center, home living, books, and the "trash" center. Her teacher is doing a recylcing unit, and the kids can create treasures out of recyclables. Megan has brought home many water bottles filled with rice, water bottles filled with colored water and beads, and even boxes filled with rice and then taped shut. In fact, I asked her teacher if she wanted the rice back because I felt guilty throwing it all away! Like, it was getting to the point where we could not keep any more of her treasures because there have been so many created and brought home!

She's a mommy. She's always loved to help around the house and she loves her baby dolls. She'll read to Adalyn, help unload the dishwasher, and she still loves our play kitchen and her baby dolls.

She's learning the game of football like a champ! We talk about the "good guys" (Tulsa) and the "bad guys" (the other team). I've taught her how they take turns trying to score, how many chances each team gets before it's the other team's turn, and we've talked about the officials. She asked if they were policemen.

She falls asleep almost every day after school. I have to try to keep her awake or she is so grouchy when we make it home.

She loves to play outside. She loves to ride her bike, and she loves driving her car.

 

I asked her what she wanted for Christmas, and she told me a "ride on thing". For the longest time, I thought she was saying a "write on" thing, and then I realized she wants another battery operated car! I think she's wanting a Doc Mobile that you can actually ride on, so if you find one, can you help a friend out, and send me the link!

 

She still loves Doc McStuffins, but she's also in to Sofia and Miles from Tomorrowland.  

This girl has my heart. She is full of life and spirit, and yet she loves to be held and cuddled, and loves her sisters. She wants to be big enough to play with Gretchen all of the time, and she wants to mother Adalyn too. The other day she helped Adalyn go potty, and then she proudly exclaimed that she wiped Addy's bottom for her!

 

She hates being the "middle" child.... if i'm doing laundry, and her stack is in the middle, she complains and says, "I'm not the middlest!"

 

I'm thankful God gave us Megan! She definitely keeps us on our toes!

My Morning To-Dos

Being a full time working out of the house momma is tough! I'm finding that I spend most Saturday mornings catching up on house cleaning and laundry. The struggle is real y'all. 

Today, I'm sharing a few things that I do every day to help me stay on top of having a "clean" house. 

We make our bed every day. A few years ago I read that people that make their bed every day are more productive. So, I started making my bed each day. 

We also squeegee the shower doors. The shower in our house is all glass, so to stay on top of cleaning it, the last one out of the shower in the morning has to squeegee. I'm amazed at how clean my shower appears!

(This is an old living room picture, and I've yet to update the changes we've made...) But, I make sure the sofa pillows are straightened and the living room is free of toys. I don't want to come home and immediately see all of the toys that I'll have to pick up. 

I load and run the dishwasher. 

I make sure the kitchen is all cleaned up, counters are clean, and everything is ready to go so when I get home, I can focus on cooking and not cleaning. 

Just by taking 5-10 minutes each day to get these things done, I feel like our house is 'clean'. 

What little chores do you do each morning so you aren't overwhelmed?

Life Lately

Life lately has been pretty fun! A wee bit hectic, but fun nonetheless. I'm really trying to focus on quality time with the girls. We are so crazy busy, that I'm relishing in the moments where we have no plans. Where we can sit and watch a movie, read a book, eat a meal, play together. Those are some pretty awesome moments. 

Megan is really in to drawing! She loves to draw and write. She also wants to write all the letters! She asked me how to spell my name, and then she wrote each letter. I love seeing her learn and grow!

Megan also has a "bump" on her knuckle and we've been treating it with oils. Last week, she decided to bite it while she was at after school care, and the poor lady that watches her thought that she had cut herself, but had no idea how it happened! She finally told me that she bit it, and DJ and I finally convinced her to let us cut it off a bit, and we promised her ice cream. So, she got a big scoop of ice cream before bed! And, Gretchen is totally in to photobombing, so there's that. 

Speaking of oils, I made myself an immune boosting roller with Thieves and coconut oil. I apply it every night before going to bed and it's amazing! We're usually pretty sick by this time of year, and I'm using my oils to ward off any germies that we may be bringing home. 

Last Thursday was cray-cray, as Gretchen would say! We left school and I took Gretchen to ballet. I headed back to pick up Megan, grab Gretchen dinner, and then I picked up Adalyn. We picked up Gretchen, dropped Megan off at gymnastics, and then Addy and I took Gretchen to cheer clinic at TU. We hung out with DJ for a little bit before heading back to pick up Megan at her friend's house. We got home late, and we ran around everywhere, but how sweet is Addy Pearl in her pigtail braids?!

And then Friday rolled around. Can I get an Amen? Megan decided to wear her Halloween dress and Gretchen wore a Halloween shirt. So, I took their picture before we dropped off Megan, because you can't pass up a cute photo when they're in Halloween attire!

Friday was a busy day at work. Lots of seeing kids, catching up on some paperwork, writing an IEP, and then off to a district wide speech path meeting. 

When my meeting was over, I picked up Adalyn and then headed back to school to get the big girls. 

Adalyn and Megan decided it would be a good idea to crawl out of the school.

And then we went outside to gather up leaves for a craft project!

Megan showing off all of her leaves! I want the girls to make leaf rubbings, and the leaves right outside of Megan's school were super convenient!

And then we hopped in the car and celebrated that it was Fri-YAY!

We made it home and made a pizza and then settled in to watch Freaky Friday. 

Saturday morning I had a pretty cute breakfast buddy!

I spent the rest of the morning catching up on laundry and cleaning house.

After lunch and naps, we headed to the TU game and hit up the Kid Zone for pizza and bounce houses!

After lots of jumping, sliding, and eating, we went inside to enjoy the game. 

At the end of the 1st quarter, we got Gretchen ready for spirit clinic. I freshened up her pony tail, tied her bow tight, and gave her a bit of make up before she hit the field at half time!

She was showing off her high kick and little sister was taking notes. 

Addy's best cheer pose. 

And Addy's high kick!

Meggie had to show hers off too!

And then she insisted on taking some wacky pictures!

I may have the cutest fans around.

We dropped Gretchen off with the dance team, and then we headed through the offices and on to the field so we could watch her performance up close. The girls have never been on the field during the game before, so I thought it would be a great opportunity for a picture, but Megan wanted to make silly faces and Addy wanted out of the stroller!

That's better!

Once the 2nd quarter ended, and TU was ahead, we headed over to watch Gretchen perform. 

There were so many parents, that I didn't have a good view of her. She was in the middle of the field, and I ended up at the 20 yard line, but thankfully, we had a little insider, who was right at the 50 yard line with his video camera, capturing her dance on film! It sure is a perk to have a hubby working the game!

Gretchen did great and was so excited after her performance! She even ran to the front and did a cartwheel after the dance!

I was super proud of her!

We stayed on the field through the rest of half time and watched the band, and as the pom squad was heading back over, Megan yelled, "Can I take my picture with you?!" It was the sweetest thing to see Megan so excited and in awe of the pom girls, and for her to step out of her shy shell and ask for a picture! She was sweet enough to give the girls pom poms.

The game ended late, and we didn't make it home until almost 10, but TU pulled out a W, so it was totally worth the late night! The 4th quarter was amazing and I was pumped that we beat ULM. 

Sunday morning, we had lots of snuggles in the bed before getting up to start our day. 

We skipped church so DJ could cut the grass, and I had sewing to catch up on.

This is what my Sunday morning looked like.

A friend from college asked me to make her twin daughter's a shirt for their first birthday. She chose this design, and wanted the letters done in a rainbow theme, and she has assigned each of her girls a color throughout their first year. Adley's color was pink and Etta's was purple, so we coordinated their shirt with their colors. 

DJ headed back to football, the girls played with play-doh, had lunch, and then they played upstairs while I did some more sewing. 

I finished this shirt for a precious two year old. Her mom was the blogger behind A Blonde Ambition blog, and sadly, passed away this summer. Caroline turns 2 in a few weeks, and I knew that I wanted to create something special for her to wear on her birthday. I contacted her aunt, and she told me that Caroline loves Minnie Mouse, so we came up with this for her birthday shirt. I'm shipping it out this week, along with several letters written by you all for her daughter's to have and read as they get older.

Adalyn woke up from her nap, and we grabbed her fruit snacks and then headed out the door to the football offices. 

The girls asked to sit at the bar overlooking the field while they ate. We love getting to have dinner with DJ and playing with our football friend kids!

After dinner, we headed back home for baths and bedtime!

This week is fall break and I'm super excited for a short week at school!