Halloween 2015

Some years seem like they fly more quickly than others. This was one of those lightning speed flying years for me. I can't believe it is the holiday season again already.  I can't believe that my son is almost a year old or that my daughter will soon be six.  I also can't believe that she chose to dress up as something other than a princess this year!! A little bittersweet to be honest but, I couldn't be happier with her costume choice.  She was the perfect Dorothy!  It was a treat to snap some pictures of her this year because she actually wanted me to and she was having so much fun role playing as her character.  If I would have thought this photo op. through I might have even put some yellow paper squares down on the grass for her to walk on:).  

I got Daisy's costume on Amazon because Target was sold out and I of course had to get Toto...well, actually I didn't have to get him but, I did and even though he was the most disheveled dog I have ever seen...Daisy didn't seem to notice.  Win.  

And, if I had thought the costumes through I would have probably picked out a little lion costume for Bruin so that he could have complemented Daisy's costume.  And maybe, if I wasn't so dang busy as I always am this time of year, I would have picked out a costume for me and the hubby as well.   I love when families pull off theme costumes!  Oh well, maybe next year;).   

 Have you seen the new Legends of Oz cartoon?  We watched the movie on netflixs and we all enjoyed it.  I felt like the movie did a good job of reintroducing this generation of kids to Dorothy with an entirely new story.  Daisy has never actually seen the original Wizard of Oz.  I haven't wanted her to see it quite yet.  For now, the cartoon is perfect and evidently it sparked her interest enough to want to choose to be Dorothy:)!

Granddad and Beej joined us as they do each year for Halloween as did Auntie Jess, Uncle Seth and cousin Avery which was such a treat.  I love having family around on holidays.  It makes the celebration that much more complete.  I'm sure that many of you can relate.  We have a lot of family that live far away and we miss them terribly on every special occasion but, I am so thankful that we have some of our family here.

We made our traditional Martinez/Bailey burritos with fresh salsa for dinner.  Have you noticed that families often cook a lot of food from the same genre?  We eat just about anything in our house but, I think we probably eat more Mexican food dinners than anything else! lol.  

We headed out around 6:15 with our neighbors and family and the treatin fun began.  

Bruin starts to wig out like clock work at 7 so that definitely motivated us to get out early so that we could enjoy a little treat time before he got too tired.  He did great for about an hour and I was very thankful for that.  He seemed to enjoy looking at all the people walking around in strange outfits. lol.  I also stuck some snacks in his cup holder and that helped to keep him happy for a while.  He was so serious all night but, boy was he the cutest little serious bear!  Then, at seven just as I expected he started to get a little fussy so I took him home and Daddy and Daisy treated a few more houses before calling it a night.  It all worked out.  Score. 

Daisy was in Heaven all day long.  She couldn't wait to get into her costume and she had the biggest smile on her face all afternoon long.  She is my holiday kid and my celebration Queen. Daisy will find any reason to celebrate something and her joy in the process is so infectious.  

She walked up to a few doors to treat with her cousin Avery.  She was trying to teach her how to treat and the two of them were so cute, holding hands together.  It was pretty funny because Avery would have been happy to walk into people's homes or run around in the street.  She seemed to be in explorer mode! lol.  And wasn't she the cutest little bumblebee!  Love my niece to pieces and I was so happy that the cousins got to treat together.

Bruin mostly sat in his stroller the entire time but, towards the end he had enough and auntie held him for a bit as did my neighbor:). lol.  All in all it was a very fun night with family and friends.

When Daisy got home she dumped her candy out on the floor and did what she does best, organized it. She loves to organize and categorize things...also, much like her Mommy. lol.  She picked out a ring pop as her treat of choice and then a bag of chips and a bag of popcorn.  I realized she must be pretty hungry if she was more interested in food treats than all of the candy in front of her.  She even threw her ring pop away before it was finished so that she could eat string cheese instead.  I swear we don't starve her but, evidently all that treating made her hungry! lol.  She has also never been a huge sweets kid.  She likes candy but, she never seems to need much to be satisfied. 

Right before we turned off the porch lights, Daisy got to pass out some candy for the first time and she said she enjoyed that just as much as trick or' treating.  I enjoyed watching her!  She sat in the doorway on a little chair and waited excitedly for a new group of kids to come to the door.  "Mom, this is the most fun day ever," she said with the hugest smile on her face.  Oh how I love that little girl.  

When we sat the kiddos down for some pictures before going out, we all got a kick out of the way that Avery and Bruin kept staring at each other.  He was probably trying to figure out what was coming out of her head and she was mesmerized by the "baby."  Bruin never cracked a single smile.  He kept the same serious face all night long..which is pretty typical for him but, that  is the kind of thing that adds to the humor with kids.   So glad that we took the time to snap a few pictures and proud of the kiddos for tolerating it:)! 

 I can tell that Daisy is still adjusting (totally understandable) to life as an older sibling and also being the oldest kid in the family's small group of kids.  I notice her little attempts here and there to get the adults attention when the babies are naturally stealing the show.  All a part of life of course and all a part of growing up but, as the Momma it tugs on my heart strings a little.  She was after all my baby for nearly 5 years and I too was the baby of my family for over 6 years before my sisters came along.  A season of life that I actually still remember quite well.  She is such an awesome big sister though and most of the time she has that big smile on her face.  I can't wait to see what God has in store for these kiddos in the years to come.  

Holidays are so much fun with kids that is for sure. 

Hope you all had a fun Halloween!