Halloween!

I'm sure that I think this about most holidays, but I love Halloween! I love all the pumpkin foods and smells and getting dressed up. This was the first year that the kids seemed to have an understanding of what was going on, which made it so much fun! For weeks, Jaxson has been talking about how he was going to be Batman and Aynsley chose to be Ariel/Mermaid for her costume.

We went to a Halloween party with Mike's family and the kids loved being able to dress up and play with their cousins.

I always try to get decent pictures of the kids, but it is tricky when they are both at the age of not wanting to sit still and pose for a picture. Aynsley was being so funny because when I asked her if I could take her picture, she went over and grabbed this little chair that I have had her sit in for pictures before. She sat in the chair and then glared at me for a few seconds to "allow" me to take her picture.

Jaxson was excited to be able to wear his Batman shirt and was a little more willing to let me take his picture. 

Mike's dad has a huge maple tree in his front yard and had raked a big pile of leaves for the kids to play in. I think this was the highlight of the party for Jaxson and Aynsley. They loved playing in the leaves and didn't want to stop. 

Halloween day was also a lot of fun! Halloween is a big deal at my work and I love being able to dress up with my coworkers. This year, we dressed up as a Richard Simmons exercise group and we won the group contest! I think we clinched our victory by performing a little exercise routine for the judges. It made for some good laughs and we had a fun time. The kids had a Halloween party that they went to during the day and they were part of a costume parade through my work. After work, we went trick-or-treating with some friends.

Jaxson was all about going from house to house, while Aynsley was a little more easily distracted. She kept seeing different things (decorations, bugs, etc) and wanting to stop and look at them. I don't think it really connected with her that she would get more treats by going to more houses. Jaxson was not happy when it was time to go home and wanted to keep going out. When we woke up the next day, he wanted to go trick-or-treating again. Maybe he will take after me and have a love for Halloween, too? A mom can only hope...