The Grinch of Halloween..?

If there was a "Grinch" for Halloween, I would surely be in the running for the award for "The Grinchiest" this year.  I got all excited about decorating the house and picking out a pumpkin and taking pictures and making Whitney's costume....and then we waited til the last second to get a pumpkin and the decorations were in my way and made the house feel messy and while the pumpkin patch pictures were a huge success (cute, right?!), I didnt get a chance to make the Minnie costume I had my heart set on,...so we settled for the back-up costume for the Halloween Dinner last week, and then, for trick-or-treating and the neighborhood parade, we really settled by opting to let Whitney stay in her candy corn dress that she wore to dinner (and a gazillion other times in the month of October).  I was just sorta over it.  Grinchy, right? I know.

I wasnt grinchy in the "bring-everyone-else-down-with-me" kinda way...I just wasnt feelin' the halloween happy dance comin' on, so I was more than happy to avoid wrestling Minnie ears onto my toddler in the 90 degree heat of the holiday.  I was also more than happy to un-decorate the house today, and get it back to "normal Fall" decorations.  Perhaps I will perk up in the next 364 days so that Halloween is fun and exciting next year when Whitney is a little older and more into it.  :)

Have no fear though....Just because I wasnt in the halloween spirit doesnt mean I left the camera at home :) There is still cuteness to share here!!

The neighborhood parade around the fountain :)

World's Best Neighbors!


New favorite pic :)


"Wait for me guys!!!"

Twin wrangling! :)

Gary has experience handling twins, but these kids gave us a run for our money! Such a FUN age!

Put them down, and they bolt in opposite directions! :) 

They are both looking at the camera!! phew....

LOVE this pic!! :)

And some cute pics from the rest of the weekend:

And today, Summer and I took the kids to the mall to let them explore the play area there.  We'd never been before, and to be honest the germaphobe in me was avoiding it until Whitney asked to go sometime in the future.  But we were looking for something new to try, and the mall made sense today.  We all had so much fun!! The kids could run and play without being limited as much as they are at a park or at Disney.  They were contained and safe and allowed to play with all the equipment :) And it was clean!!! We are calling this a success! (And, we left the mall only spending $5.83 on clearance halloween stuff for next year!...I'm already trying to avoid the grinchiness next year....)

Some play area fun:

I was so excited when Whitney ran up and yelled "ROCKET!!" whens he saw the rocketship.  She knows that word from the Memory game we play :) 

Ta Daaaaa! 

 

LOOOVE these kids!!! 

He was so excited :) 

Tomorrow we have gym class :) We get to start going twice a week again, and I dont know who is more excited...me or Whitney!!? Every day when I am getting Whitney ready for bed, we talk about all the people we saw that day.  When I ask "Who did we see today?", Whitney ALWAYS says "CASSIE!! SHANNON!"...Every.  Single.  Time.  Cassie was a gym instructor over the summer, but since she is back in college classes, she hasnt been around in MONTHS.  Doesnt matter though.  Whitney thinks she sees her EVERday! And Shannon is her "new favorite" gym instructor :) After we determine that we did NOT see Cassie OR Shannon that day, we move on to discuss the family and friends we really DID see in person, or the people we will see in the next few days and weeks ahead. :)

And I want to write this down so I never forget it, so bear with me.....
We went to dinner with Eric's dad last night before the parade.  We were all sitting there at dinner, and Whitney was babbling on while coloring.  She stopped, looked up at us, and said "Nanny HAPPY! Nanny HAPPY!"....We were not discussing Robin/Nanny, and we hadnt been recently saying her name or referring to her.  She just came up with this our of thin air.  It was like she had been visited by her Angel Nanny, and been assured that Nanny is happy in heaven.  We all agreed it was a God thing. :)
I had been hesitant to tell Gary about the night terrors Whitney had last week because its sorta sad that she was waking up SCREAMING "NANNY! NANNNY, NO, NANNY!" over and over.  Then she would break into "MAC...NO MAC! MAC! MAC!"  And it happened two nights in a row.  Two lloooooong nights.  Then, it stopped.  And several days later, Whitney says "Nanny Angel.  Angel Nanny." And now...in the middle of dinner..."Nanny HAPPY!"  It gives me chills and tears in my eyes and a rapid heartbeat just thinking that Nanny visited our little girl in her dreams :) God is so good.  All the time. :)

Stay tuned for some cute videos in the next few days.  Whitney is talking soooo much, putting more and more words together (we're up to 4 words now).  Eighteen months is such a FUN, FUN age!!!