Halloween Cuteness

I know some people don't like the idea of Halloween and others let it pass by without letting it alter their lives in any way...I am not those people.  Maybe it's the teacher in me...maybe it's the child inside me...maybe it's just the awesomeness of Halloween...I don't know but I get super excited around Halloween.  Actually I get super excited about ALL Holidays (this includes President's Day and Dr. Seuss' Birthday).  While we were in China we introduced our Chinese friends to all sorts of American Holiday traditions one being a Halloween costume party.  Here were Adam and I last year:

If you look closely you can see little Zachary

This year we don't have the space to throw a party.  Thankfully Zack and I were invited to a Halloween party at his friends house.  There were 10 babies/kids ages 3 and under.

3 little bat's and a pretty ferry

Zack and his little girlfriend...well one of 2:)

I decided to post the one where Zack was looking at the camera but there were several where one or more babies fall, cry or try to crawl away.

a nice witch and her pet bat

I had to take a picture of the tights.

a little bat greeted Adam after work.

I hope he isn't a vampire bat!

Going Batty!

I know he won't be trick or treating this year, and I know he will never remember this Halloween...but there are some things that I have to do just for me..

The costume was on sale...I couldn't resist!

Maybe he isn't afraid of pumpkins!

"why isn't this coming off?

"ahhhhhh...I can't see!"

 and just to leave you with another cute one...

Major Pumpkin Disappointment.

As a former teacher I have some high expectations for fall activities.  Zack is a little young for any pumpkin farm activities but I wanted some pictures of my little pumpkin with pumpkins. 
EXPECTATIONS:  To have some super cute pictures of Zachary banging on the pumpkins, standing up next to the pumpkin, sitting amongst the pumpkins etc..

REALITY: We went to a farm where you didn't have to pay admission (I mean Zack wouldn't appreciate the hay ride and Adam would think I was crazy for making us go).  Zack was asleep when we pulled him out of the carseat...which is normal, but he usually perks up and is happy.  He wasn't a fan of the pumpkins!
Was it because he was sleepy?  Was it the bright sun?  Was it the pumpkin?  What mad his little face do this?

We tried to take it slow...

We gave up...not before taking a picture to see how tall he is this fall...

Ok...he is nice and happy lets try for another pumpkin picture...

We gave up again...

Ok, we are at home, out of the sun, freshly fed and hamming it up for the camera...one more

****a few days later I took pictures of him with the pumpkin in his halloween costume...it went much better.



This is Halloween, This is Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, HAL-O-WEEN!

When we were a Disney last month it got me really excited about Halloween, then sad that I wouldn’t get to celebrate Halloween for a whole month with my kinders.  This was my first Halloween since 2003 that I didn’t get to celebrate in a classroom.  Halloween isn’t something that Chinese people celebrate anyway so October 31^st was just going to be another day.  I really wanted to throw a party but I knew that trying to get a party together after being in Japan for 10 days would be difficult especially in my “condition”.  Japan was the tipping point; it was Halloween everywhere we looked!  I picked up a few decorations and decided that no matter what…I would have a party!

When we got back I sent out an e-mail and Adam told people at work.  It was last minute but we had a pretty good turnout.  I dressed as a pumpkin and Adam dressed as Dracula (we wanted to be something that the Chinese people would get).  I made mini cupcakes (12 at a time in my little oven), rice krispie treats, chocolate rice krispie treats, jello jigglers, meatballs (frozen from IKEA), I taught Adam how to make my spider cookies and with a little engineering and a lot of patients he used our Chinese ingredients to make a special Halloween treat.  We had chicken wings (from KFC) and a veggie platter.  I tried to make caramel apples but the caramel didn’t melt, so we just had apples.  The rice krispie treats turned out really hard because of the marshmallows here. 

Maybe the food didn’t turn out exactly as planned but the party was wonderful.  The kids looked great in their costumes (and so did a few adults), and we got to enjoy each other’s company.

This doesn’t have anything to do with Halloween but I need to share.  My wonderful husband watched a 7 month old a 13 month old and entertained a 6 year old while their mommies helped me clean up.  I tried to get a picture but by the time I got the camera the very tired 7 month old was crying.  It wasn’t an easy task considering the 6 year old wanted Adam to play wii with him, the 13 month old loved that he was free to roam a new environment with lots of things down low that he could grab, and the 7 month old was sleepy.  Both mothers came to me separately to comment on how good a father Adam was going to be.  Adam thinks they just said that but it wasn’t a situation where people are expected to say something like that.  I think Adam could easily be the father of 3 at some point ;).