trick or treat!

Hello, long lost blog friends! I've been enjoying a super busy fall, which started over the summer. :) I love it, but I'm trying to wind things down soon so that I can fully immerse myself in the holidays this year. Hopefully, that will lead to more blogging, which I've been terrible about lately! You can see what's been keeping me hoppin' over at my photography blog, which is linked up on the right there. >>

Halloween is definitely one of my favorite holidays and I have always tried to make it more memorable for the kids by getting them involved in making costumes. Even as young as they are, they plan waaaaay ahead and actually stick to the plan. In fact, they are already planning for next year!

We went with an Alice in Wonderland theme this year. The twins were Alice and the White Rabbit, while Sarah chose the Cheshire Cat. Halloween portraits are always so fun because you can push the colors and stuff just a little more than you usually would. Here they are!

Happy Halloween!!

my babies in the bluebonnets

These also count as the twins' 3 year old pictures - happy birthday to them! xo They are in their Easter dresses, which I made for them.

"look at mommy and smile!!!!!"

Today was Christmas picture day and I think I said "look at mommy and smile" about 800 times. The kids only heard it about 3. Every year I get so flustered, I promise myself I'm not going to try it again for a whole 'nother year. I've learned over time not to expect much when trying to photograph all 3 together, but I *really* wanted a decent shot this year. Here's the best shot:

Not too shabby! I feel like my colors are a little wonky, but I'm working it out. The headbands are the ones I blogged about last post, and the background is wrapping paper taped to the garage door. I found some Christmas cards on clearance last year that have that same damask print, so everything will be perfectly matched. :)

Since I couldn't get the girls to look at me, I tried a different approach and told them to kiss Sissy and cuddle up to her. Here's how that translated...lol.

I was hoping it would get them all giggling so I could get some great smiles, but this is about as happy looking as they got.

To make it even more "fun" for mommy, there were dogs romping around across the street, so I had some serious competition for their attention. Phoebe thought her eyes needed to be closed to make "cheeeeese!!!" as cheesy as possible, and Ellen lost all control of her facial expressions. 98% of the pics looked like these:


I guarantee you I said "look at mommy and smile" before I snapped every one of these shots!

Here are some of the girls individually. They were just as difficult during these. lol



This afternoon, grandma and grandpa came to visit with cousin {R}, so I stuck her in a headband and took her picture too.


Now I just need to find the time to do the Christmas cards and I'm all set!

{p} the pumpkin witch...errr...princess...witch...

It's the day before halloween and we still haven't quite decided if little {p} will be a pumpkin witch or a princess. lol Originally, I thought maybe I could put her super cool tiara onto a witch's hat so that she could sorta be both, but after trying it, I thought it was a little too much. I think we'll go with the witch version for trick or treat, but I know she's enjoyed have 2 costumes in one.

The witch's hat is from the $1 spot at Target, the tiara was about $1.50 on clearance last year from Claire's. The boa and babylegs were gifted to us, so they were free. The tutu was her big sis's from last year and her skirt and top were made from fabric we got on clearance a couple years ago for just a few dollars. I wanted the skirt to have a bustled look, but it didn't quite turn out the way I wanted. The tutu underneath sorta distorts the shape of it, but I'll keep tweaking it until I'm happy with it. The top was super easy to make - I used this TUTORIAL.

Aside from skirt tweaking, the costumes are finished! Yay! One of the trickiest parts of costume design for midwesterners is that you have to be able to layer clothes underneath to keep the kiddos warm. We're hoping for clear skies and the temp is expected to be around 45' during trick or treat time. Not too bad!

purrrr-fectly sweet for trick-or-treat!

This year, little {E} is going to be a kitty for halloween. Her costume was definitely the easiest - no sewing! Actually, a little sewing, but not enough to count - after sewing feathers onto her shirt, I decided to switch to hot glue. I bought her some black knit pants and a striped (BabyGap) top from a resale shop for less than $5 and simply added black feather boa ($2) around the wrists and pant legs. We also embellished an old kitty ear headband and tail from the dress up box with the feather boa to make them "fluffy" and ultimately cuter. Topped off with pink bows, you have the perfect little kitty costume! She's very excited!

bat girl, vlah!

This year, Sarah wanted to be a bat for halloween. We, of course, like any true halloween LOVErs do, started shopping for supplies right after halloween last year. I found these horns/ears at the grocery store for about $1 and the felt/sequin mask at WalMart for about the same. They set the tone and we finished up with some bat fabric (probably less than $3 worth) for the wing cape. I tried to talk her into doing wire/mesh fairy style bat wings after she insisted on throwing in the tutu, but she wanted to be "scary" and "scary" bat girls have capes. (And "scary" bat girls wear tutus??) I used purple feather boa ($2) around the collar and cuffs to hold the cape on. All in all, a super easy costume and we were able to layer extra clothes underneath the black stuff.

The way I got her interested in cooperating was to have her say "I vant to suck your blood! vlah!" Haha! She has been insisting on vampire teeth to go with the costume, but we haven't found any yet that don't come in a big set without makeup. ?? We'll see! Stay tuned for the terrible twosome!