Halloween 2013

Today was a whirlwind of events, parties, and good times with good friends.  It was crazy busy but it was a blast. 

We started off the morning running to get ready for Anniston's classroom Halloween party at school.  I dropped her off and they went around trick or treating to all the different classrooms that morning. In the meantime, I raced back home to tidy up the house and prepare for the evening festivities.  I raced back up to the school for the class party which parents were invited to.  We had snacks, sang some songs, and made a craft.  It was a lot of fun seeing Anniston interact at school with all her classmates. 

After Annie woke from her nap, Poppy, Kay Kay, Grandmother, and Aunt Allie all came over to help get food ready for our little Halloween party we were having that evening.  My mom was a lifesaver and made two huge batches of chili so we could have a chili bar. 

The chili bar was a huge success!  I wish I had gotten a picture of the setup but I failed:(  I had mini Frito bags, sour cream, cheese, green onions, hot dogs, chips, chex mix- it was super easy and fun!  We had my sister/brother in law and their two girls, Brandon's mom and Nana, my mom, dad, grandmother, Allie, and my friends, Emily and Frank, and their two girls over.  We had such an awesome time!

Miss Dorothy and the Scarecrow, apparently:) 

 
We ate chili and then got the girls ready to go trick or treating.  Thankfully it had stopped raining by then!  This was our first Halloween in our new neighborhood and after tonight, I love our neighborhood even more!  It was so much fun!!!!  All the people in our cove set out a table with candy and apple cider and had lawn chairs all set around so they could sit back and enjoy all the kids in costume.  We started out in our cove and then ventured out to the rest of the neighborhood.  We used our new wagon that Poppy and Kay Kay bought Annie for her birthday and had the best time walking around and seeing all the other kids dressed up.  There were even people pulling hayrides of kids from a four-wheeler! 

Horrible pic, I know!  It was dark and the kids were only going to stay still for about 2 seconds.  This was what I got!

 



All the girls had so much fun getting their candy and seeing all the houses decked out in Halloween décor.  At one point, their was a mom and dad trying to take a picture of a group of 4 or 5 kids and Annie walks right up to them and stands right in the middle of all the kids and turns around and smiles for the camera.  I quickly ran over, embarrassed, and apologized for my little photo bomber.  My friend, Emily, explained to them that her aunt is a photographer and she is just used to getting in front of the camera and smiling.  Fortunately, they thought it was hilarious. 

We finally called it a night and managed to get Anniston to bed with only one or two pieces of candy.  I was a little worried she was going to pitch a fit about eating it all but I think she was so tired she didn't fight me too much.  That and the fact that I think she has an ear infection- which we are taking her to the doctor first thing tomorrow morning!

It was such a great time.  I'm so thankful we now have a great house to entertain in and are able to host things like this now.  We would never have been able to do something like this at our old house.  And the fact that we are in such a great neighborhood made this night even more fun!  I can hardly wait until next year!!!!

The Halloween Festivities Continue

Our weekend full of Halloween related events continued on yesterday- we had both a Trunk or Treat at Anniston's school + our neighborhood Halloween party last night. 

We didn't stay long at the Trunk or Treat- just long enough to say hi to everyone and let Annie see all her little friends.  We were trying to squeeze in both events and they overlapped a bit.  We did run into one of Anniston's little friends from Kristi's:

We raced back home to pack up our coolers, blankets, and food and headed out to our neighborhood Halloween party down the street.  We're still new to the area, so we didn't know what to expect but it was a lot of fun! 

They had pizza, appetizers, and lots of desserts for food, hayrides and a DJ for entertainment.  The music was super loud, and they had strobe lights going everywhere so I was a little concerned it would intimidate Anniston.  So not the case here, people.  My little dancing queen could barely contain her moves.  She was bouncing around and swaying her hips as we were standing in line to eat and bopping her head to the beat as she was sitting down eating.  She could barely wait to finish eating so she could get closer to the "dance floor." 

And when she did.......she was off.  And she DID NOT STOP!  Literally.  She went all night.  Running around, chasing the strobe lights, mimicking the other kids, making up moves of her own- you name it, she did it.  I've never seen her this way.  You would think she was on a sugar high, but she hadn't had an ounce of candy or juice.  She was the youngest one out there dancing- weaving in and out of the bigger kids and some teenagers that were doing a line dance.  She didn't care- she tried to join in with them!  She was out there at times by herself and she couldn't have cared one bit!  She was the life of the party and everyone thought it was so funny.

Here is just one of the many videos I took.  Let me preface this by saying I promise this was a family friendly event with families and kiddos- they just happened to play a couple of rap songs!:)

 

At times I tried to get her to take a break and drink some water but she couldn't be stopped- the music was apparently moving her!  I ran the battery down on my phone because I took so much video.  It was seriously the funniest thing.  But in all seriousness- she really is my child because I love to bust out some moves to a good beat.  It's the dancer in me:)  Looks like she's going to follow in Mommy's footsteps:)  Fist pump!!!!

Trick or Treating in the Square

We have so many Halloween events that we want to attend this year.  This is Anniston's first real Halloween and I want to make it fun for her.  We opted out of our local zoo's "Zoo Boo" in favor of the nearby town's "Scare on the Square."  I love everything about the Collierville Square.  It's so quaint and has a unique charm to it so I knew this would be fun.  We met up with some of our good friends and their 2 daughters and we all had a blast.

Anniston was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz.  I was literally stalking the mail man waiting for her costume to arrive yesterday afternoon.  Miraculously, it arrived about 15 minutes before we left.  (And yes- I was completely on top of the Halloween costume ordering.  I ordered the costume around the first week of September, but it seems the lady who made it wasn't very on top of getting her orders out on time.)  Anyhoo, I was thrilled when I put it on her and it fit perfectly!  Doesn't she make the cutest Dorothy ever??

The town square was packed.  All the shops had someone giving out candy, so you just walked around the square trick or treating.  Out on the lawn in the middle of the square were games, face painting, etc.  It was really a great atmosphere.

We had to show Anniston what to do with her basket.  After the 2nd or 3rd time she got the hang of it and would go up to the people by herself and hold out her basket.  She was still too shy to say "Trick or Treat" but I did get a couple of "Thank you, You're Welcome" out of her towards the end.  And yes, that's how she says it sometimes, all rolled into one!

As she realized that it was candy they were putting in her basket, she suddenly became very protective over her basket.  She would not allow anyone else to hold it for long and when we let the kids run around on the grass, she had one eye on her basket of candy the entire time. 

As we walked from shop to shop, she would pull my hand saying "more, Mommy, more."  Greedy, much?  I think she liked trick or treating!  We let her have 2 pieces of candy (before this she really hasn't every had candy) and she loved it, of course.

 

 

We all headed out to grab some dinner after that and it was nice to sit and relax with some good food!  It was a great way to kick off all the Halloween festivities this week!

Cedar Hill Farms

Yesterday Allie and I took Anniston out to Cedar Hill Farms in Hernando, MS.  It was about a 50 min drive each way so I was really hoping it would be worth it.  It was.  We had SO much fun.  The weather was awesome and being surrounded by all things fall + being with some of my favorite people made it the day absolutely perfect. 

We stopped first to look at all the colorful pumpkins they had for sale. 

Then we ventured over to the petting zoo- which fascinated Anniston.  She loved looking at all the animals. They had goats, pigs, turkeys, roosters, donkeys, and even a pony!  She loved making all the sounds. 

After that, we took a hayride out to the pumpkin patch.  She loved the hayride.  The first thing she said when we walked up was "tractor" because there was a big tractor pulling the trailer. 

The pumpkin patch was awesome.  I loved how all the pumpkins were scattered about so.  It was just so pretty.  We were lucky enough to be the only ones on the hayride and at the pumpkin patch, so we took that opportunity to snap a lot of pictures!

Then Annie saw a playground with a big yellow slide and all the pumpkins were forgotten.  After several trips down the slide, we finally convinced Annie to leave the playground by promising her a train ride.  The line was long but it was worth it!  She loves trains and she had so much fun practicing her "choo choo" sound while we waited.  The conductor had everyone say "All Aboard" each time a new group got on the train, so of course Anniston went around all night saying "All Aboard!" 


We finished the train ride just in time for the pig races!  At one point I thought, I can't believe I'm sitting here watching pigs race, but, it was fun and Annie really enjoyed watching them run fast.  While we waited on the race to start we passed the time by taking some selfies:)

After eating a quick lunch there, we headed back to Memphis.  Annie passed out almost immediately.  It was such a great time and so worth the long drive out there! 

Anniston's "Pumpkin Patch" 2nd Birthday Party

I had so much fun planning this party.  I didn't battle too long with the theme- once the idea of a pumpkin patch party hit me, I knew that was it.  I love everything about fall- the colors, the weather, the décor- and since Anniston's birthday is October 10th, I knew a pumpkin patch theme was perfect!

The kids colored pumpkins and even got to decorate their own mini pumpkin to take home.  They all had so much fun getting crafty.  Everyone had a great time playing and celebrating- it was truly a great day with friends and family!

So let's get to the pictures! (Warning: there is a LOT and I'm too lazy to split this up into multiple posts- sorry!:) 

Most everything came from Etsy (being that I'm a major Etsy addict), so I've tried to link to the respective shops.

Invitations and all coordinating printables were designed by Jennifer at Sassy Graphics Designs

 

View from the front door.   

 Pumpkin Patch sign via Hen With A Hammer 

 

Burlap banner via The Shabby Shop

 

 Favors: Caramel Apples from Dinstuhl's

Chalkboard Pumpkin Patch sign via Foxy Couture Designs

 

Happy Birthday Banner via Two Girls Paper Design

 

 Main table

Burlap "2" banner via Rock a Bye Baby

Cake Pop Pumpkin Patch via Sweet Whimsy Shop

 



 Stats Poster via Designshmine

 Cake by Melanie at Mad Lily Cakery

 

 

 

Cookies via The Sweet Shop Cookie Co.

 

 S'more Pops via Sweet U Off Your Feet

 

 Pecan Tassies made by my Grandmother:)

 

 

 Birthday Girl with Aunt Allie and Mommy

 

Daddy and Anniston

 



 Having fun coloring with her friends

 

 

And, lastly, a fun collage of all the party décor!

 

 

I think that's it!  A very special thank you to my sister, Allie, for taking all the pics for me!