And then there was Halloween...

I have a love/hate relationship with this holiday.

I love the costumes! Dressing up my kids is one of my favorite things to do.  And if we can pull it together, Aaron and I have a fun time dressing up too.  This year was no exception...so fun!

Adalyn has a STRONG opinion about what she wears...and that's putting it mildly.  I went for safe this year and dressed her up in clothes that I know she likes and just added the hat.  And of course she's just adorable!

And here's the cutest little Captain America on the face of the earth!  Just looking at him made me smile every time he put on this costume!

This is my absolute favorite costume ever!  Jenna did NOT want to wear it because Kenzie wore it two years ago, but I begged and begged and finally one morning she came down and said "It was a hard decision, but I decided that I would be Rainbow Brite only because you want me to so bad". She told everyone else that she only decided that so that I would stop begging!  She was happy she wore it though when on Halloween night she was stopped by about ever 5th person who told her how much they loved her costume.  One family that we trick-or-treated even ran and got a camera to take a picture!  And Jenna loved every minute of it! And so did I!

Kenzie and her best friend Livia decided they wanted to be mermaids, so I made some super easy, super cute mermaid tails for them.  Kenzie made the crown herself for the county fair last summer.  It was too heavy to wear all night, but super cute for the pictures!

I didn't have a costume this year, but Aaron dressed up enough for both of us.  And it was a great fun family activity to paint him green.  Adalyn was so confused and just looked at him and said "Daddy, dween" and then just giggled like crazy.  I wore a green shirt (but didn't paint myself).  Caleb said I was Mrs. Grouch...there's a title I love!

I love the activities.  Pumpkin carving (and of course magic pumpkins!), parties & carnivals, special spaghetti & meatball dinner, plus fresh homemade doughnuts on Halloween night (thank you Kilgrow family!)...all of the fun surrounding the Halloween is just the best!

OK, so I don't love the overkill.  By the time we've gotten through the school carnival, the ward carnival, dressing up for school and all of the candy and cheap carnival toys all over my entire house, I'm so ready to be done!

Which brings me to Trick-or-Treating...this confession is showing just how lame I can be, but I REALLY don't like going trick-or-treating!  

Ten minutes into the excursion: 

Adalyn won't wear her costume, or her jacket, so now she's cold...the scary bats in the doorway scare her and the dog completely puts her over the edge, so now she's screaming inconsolably...

Kenzie can barely walk because she needs to pee so bad she's about to have an accident...

Caleb's so busy eating his candy that he forgets to follow the group and ends up completely gone in seconds in the huge mass of people all over the place...we did finally find him about 4 houses down, not even concerned that he didn't know a soul around him...

So...when I finally fell into bed that night, it was with a huge smile on my face and a with gratitude that we don't have to do it for another year :)!

You know what though?  We keep doing it, so I guess the smiles on kids faces must be worth it, right?