Halloween day

On Halloween Day, we took Gretel to Bishop's Pumpkin Farm. My fam and I took her there on her 1st birthday, and I went there with some other moms and kids last year, so this was Johnny's first time going! It was a fun day- we looked at all the animals first, then did a train ride and just let her do a bunch of slides and other things. We ran into some of our friends there, the Gillespies, so that was fun. Gretel loved running around with her girlfriend Evelyn!

She was complaining about her stomach hurting once, which was odd. She never tells us if she feels sick/hurt. She really isn't much of a complainer, so I was a little worried she was getting sick. By that night, she definitely wasn't eating much, and kept saying her tummy hurt and she thought she was going to "trow up." She didn't care at all about trick-or-treating, but she hung out by me while I passed out candy to other kids. She ended up getting a fever, so I put her to bed. I felt sad that her night wasn't fun, but at least she had a blast at the trunk-or-treating night.

The highlight for me was watching a show that night with Johnny. I had recorded an episode of Dateline, and we just started it to clear some space on our dvr. We were both sucked in quickly to this gruesome true story. I love these types of shows, and always have. When I was in elementary school, I used to watch Unsolved Mysteries before bed each night. Anyway, shows like that are always better than renting a scary movie, in my opinion!
Anyway, that was our Halloweenie day and night!






I love being able to pet the sweet little goats and brush their hair!

Trunk or Treating

A couple of days before Halloween, we had our annual ward trunk-or-treating activity. It was so much fun going with my little skeleton! I was excited that she wanted to be a skeleton this year. I'm really surprised she didn't want to be a kitty, since her obsession with pretending to be a kitty has not ended. Johnny thought if we painted his face first, she could see what it was like. So after watching him, she got pretty excited and sat very still while getting hers done. I was impressed at how still she was! She even requested that I do her hands white too.
On the way to the activity, she told us all about how she was going to scare her friends, and they would scream and run away from her. She did do that, and it was hysterical!!
I am so glad my mom mailed me this hood that went with my old skeleton costume when I was little. It really completed the look and made her unrecognizable! A couple of people asked me where she was when she was near me, because they had no idea who it was. She was also mistaken for a boy a couple of times while receiving candy. A couple of times people would hand her a treat and say, "there you go, buddy." It was so funny-I just LOVED her costume this year, and loved that she wanted to be something scary. She has always loved witches and been obsessed with scary things. Johnny and I agreed that this is our favorite costume she's ever worn. I think we just loved seeing her face fully painted, and also she is at such a fun age right now!
Anyway, we had a blast with her!





This is the picture I got while she was scaring her friends-she was really playing the part. She looked like a zombie running around with her little arms outstretched, making these growling/moaning sounds.



I helped her track down this guy, who she saw from far away. She loved him and kept calling out to him before we got close enough to talk to him. She really wanted him to notice her and kept saying, "scary man...see Gretel!!"

The woman on the left is the nursery leader for all these girls. Sister Coltrin is great! Only one more month, and then they'll all be sunbeams!!

Johnny stayed at our car to pass out candy to other kids, while I got to take Gretel around. It was such a treat! I just loved holding her little hand, listening to her say "trick or treat" to each person. I thought it would be fun, but it was much more fun than I had
expected!!






Back to kitty mode, licking her paws...

When we got home Gwen was terrified of Johnny because of his makeup. She ran away from him and hid under our bed, which she never does. It took Johnny a little while to get her out. You wouldn't think that a dog really looks up at your face to notice something like that. Poor pup!!
I don't know how Gretel lasted as well as she did. I thought for sure she'd fall asleep on the way home with all her makeup on. But she didn't, and I washed her face. After I got it all off, she looked in the mirror and yelled, "I'm free!" She says funny things like that so often-she is a hoot!

Gretel's Party Part 2

When Sleeping Beauty first arrived, she gave the birthday girl a rose and a card with princesses on it...she is one thoughtful princess!!
Gretel has some very cute little girlfriends...they really enjoyed posing with Sleeping Beauty!















Gretel loved her sparkly shoes!

The party favors....

I am happy the girls had so much fun, and I too thought it was a total blast!
Gretel's favorite number is 8, so she keeps telling people she is 8 now, instead of 3!

Gretel's 3rd Birthday Party!!

I can't believe Gretel is now 3! Time flies...On the day of her actual birthday, I took her to the park and she played with some friends for 3 hours! She loves the park, so I wanted to make sure we stayed there for an extra long time that day. Later that night Johnny and I took her to a Halloween store to look around at all the zombies and scary Halloween loot. I knew she'd love it! She kept asking to go back after that. She loved tearing off the wrapping paper of each gift she received. She got so many fun things from family, thanks so much everyone!






She had asked for a Sleeping Beauty party, which we did a few days after her actual birthday.


When the guests first arrived (in their favorite princess gowns) we made candy necklaces and had a snack. The glass slipper and crown jigglers were the biggest hit of all! Kids just love jigglers, but then again so do I!!



I thought up a matching game that Johnny and the man at the printing place helped me execute. I wanted to have the girls match the princess with their friend (Cinderella matches the mice, Snow White and the dwarves, etc.) We laminated them because I knew Gretel and I would play this game a lot more! It was a success-the kids did a great job and were totally into it!






After a little while Gretel was wanting to shed her dress-she really just likes to hang out in her undies....like father like daughter!! I took it off because she looked like she would've ripped it off herself!



She opened presents and then we did cake and ice cream

This is the cake I always dreamed of as a child, but never got. I love re-living my childhood through my daughter!

She was still in her undies when a surprise guest arrived! They were all so thrilled to be seeing the real Sleeping Beauty. Gretel started pointing to some of the princess pictures I had on the wall for decoration saying to her, "Look! These are all your friends!!"

I was glad she quickly put her Snow White dress back on when I asked. I wanted her to wear it for pictures!

Because of some "technical difficulties," I had to finish this post in Part 2....