Eating Halloween

To make Halloween a little extra special for my kids, we've made a few Halloween-related treats the past few days. I had a few more ideas but...they just didn't happen. Maybe next year!

Jack-o-lantern face made of pumpkin spice Eggo waffles with sliced apples...

Jack-o-lantern tostada with a cheese stick stem served with pumpkin bread...

 "Candy corn" fruit parfaits (idea found here)...

 Jack-o-lantern burger...

Pumpkin Pie Playdough for Preschool

So last year, a mom on one of the blogs I follow posted these amazing recipes for pumpkin spiece play dough and apple spice play dough. We couldn't resist and made them immediately. The play dough itself was the best play dough, and with the spices, it just smelled so yummy! Anyway, since I knew Hudson's preschool halloween party was coming up, I thought I'd make some to share with his classmates. And then...I found this adorable way to package it on Pinterest! Hudson helped me package it and was just ecstatic to take it to school!! Here are the results...
Credit: (packaging and play dough)

I also made the bucket! Packaging and bucket supplies are found at your local Hobby Lobby! (I got mine discounted AND on sale!) Hey, do you have the Hobby Lobby app on your cell? If not, you should get it! There is ALWAYS a 40% off coupon on there, AND you don't have to worry about printing anything or remembering your coupon...just pull it up as you check out and show it to the cashier!

Carolyn's Country Cousins Pumpkin Patch

Carolyn's Country Cousins Pumpkin Patch is amazing. Our family LOVES going to the pumpkin patch, and not to buy pumpkins...to play and spend time together as a family outside! Carolyn's offers a pumpkin patch (duh), hay rides, fossil dig, mining, train rides, hay bale maze, huge slides, playground equipment, a wooden fort, play house, kiddie corn maze, pumpkin donuts and apple cider slushes, corn silo, tricycle races, pig races, and tons more. We got the family pass on Groupon and were able to go about 5 or 6 times! They kids were not bored once, and even after Halloween (when it was closed, they were still begging to go again). It really is family-friend, even if you have little ones. You can find discount coupons all over including Hy-Vee. Here are a ton of pictures to give you a better idea of what your adventures could look like. 

Leaf Glitter

We made leaf glitter and glued it to the paper in pumpkin (kinda) shapes...I have toddlers, and they wanted to "help" glue. This is proof that not every turns out as perfectly as everything you see on Pinterest. However, it was fun, nonetheless. Hudson especially liked turning the whole leaves into glitter. We got that idea of leaf glitter from (here).

By the way, are you following me on Pinterest? Because you should. Check out my Pinterest Boards!

Painting Pumpkins

Painting pumpkins was a huge hit! We couldn't have asked for better weather, and the kids LOVED painting their pumpkins. Painting with the brushes and sponges turned into squirt painting. Glitter was sprinkled dumped on them in the end. They turned out great and really weren't too big of a mess...kids both got bathed right after, and I was glad we did this while John was home to help! Check out the picture of Reese's pink lipstick...oops! Don't let YOUR little ones eat the paint! Oh, Reese loved it so much, she screamed when we said it was finally time to go inside.

Squirt Painting

The Secret of the Wings Movie Premiere

So I was able to score FREE tickets to the premiere of Disney's The Secret of the Wings. My mom and sisters joined the kids and me at the Town Center AMC theatre. My kids were both super excited, especially Reese since she's been really into fairies lately! Reese even wore a fairy shirt. Before going to the movie, I stopped by Walmart and picked up a box of the Tinkerbell fruit snacks to eat while waiting for the movie to start. I know...perfect, right?! The kids loved that! And get this...both kids sat through the ENTIRE movie! They loved it...and so did I! It was such a cute, clean movie! I'd highly recommend this as a birthday or Christmas present! We can't wait to see it again! After the movie, they handed out little fairy zipper pulls, which the kids had fun playing with...and I have hopes of attaching to Reese's purses if they don't get lost in the mean time.

Joe Joe

My sister gave birth to her firstborn...a little boy named Joseph! He is so sweet and so tiny, yet so big! He was 9 pounds, 8 ounces. H-O-L-Y COW! He was the size a few week old baby...yet compared to my babies (1.5 years and 3.5 years), he was itty bitty! He was born at New Birth Company in Overland Park, Kansas. The place is gorgeous and looks super comfy!  It's almost like a little romantic getaway...only you're not making the baby, you're pushing it out instead. If you haven't been there, you should catch one of their tours. I think they're on Monday nights. Although it was not the most perfect experience, she was glad she had the baby there.

Alright, folks, here he is in all his newborn sweetness! Don't you just want to kiss him?!