This year we really got into Halloween! It’s not a big deal holiday typically for my family but September started the scary road with all of Zach’s medical concerns and having the fun to focus on was a wonderful distraction for me. It didn’t hurt that I got several new Halloween decor items last year after Halloween on clearance 😉 The kids and I actually decorated for Halloween on September 25th haha We were READY!
My kids love all things spooky. Zach and I are pretty passionate about not making things scary for our kids because we don’t want them to be scared of everything. We keep Halloween light and fun and even the creepy elements of it we present in a super casual way so to the kids it’s all just funny and spooky 😉
Here’s a look at our Halloween decorations!
I’m not into a whole lot of decorating around my house for any holidays. I don’t like packing up all my normal stuff just to drag out stuff that doesn’t really match my home. I’ve slowly added all the pieces above and like that they flow with our style but still add that festive touch! I keep it pretty basic around here 🙂
However, where the rule does not apply is the bathroom. I have found that it’s fun to just let the kids go NUTS in their bathroom. All the random, junky, hand-me-down holiday decor goes in there and they have SO much fun! During Halloween it’s the Spoooooky bathroom and then at Christmas it’s Christmas themed too 🙂 The bright orange color we have in there doesn’t match anything so all the clashing makes it even more kid-friendly and fun!
Videos of our Spooooky bathroom (the kids were super into the video making haha)
The past couple of years we’ve really had a BLAST handing out candy so I found an awesome deal on candy this year and stocked up!
We also had a pumpkin carving kit packed in our Halloween stuff and it came in handy! The kids picked the “Spooky House”
Our church hosts a trunk and treat every year and it’s always a favorite event for our family! It’s a chance to show off our family costumes and visit with church family 🙂
Big Papa and G-Mama came out!
Horse rides were SO FUN
Sweet Ella is a natural!
Video of Kye and Britt on the horses
Britt was a little TOO comfortable on the horse and kept dancing around! I got nervous she was going to fall off!
Tess opted to just grub out on candy…
but then when the big kids went to the bounce house she begged to ride the horse!
Y’all it was SO PRECIOUS. She LOVED it!!!
The past couple of years Casey has started hosting a family Halloween party at their house. I love the chance to try out some cute themed treats! The benefit of not hosting is that I can put more effort into the food 😉
Spider PBJs
Vampire Donuts!
Halloween Bark
(after watching The Walking Dead I was SO GROSSED out by the gummy eye balls…)
This was THE HIT though! I made candy corn punch and put some homemade candy corn ice cream in it!
This was my personal favorite thing to eat at the party…Casey made a reeces’s pieces ball. YUM
She always has the cutest decorations!
Costume contest time!
Payton as Padme
Colt as a Ninja (which was always Zach’s fav costume as a kid too!)
Courtney won for her Flo costume!
Tess was more interested in eating suckers 😉
Nemo, the scuba diver and Darla!
Aunt Karen came as Mother Nature! Super awesome!
Fred and Wilma (none of our kids had a clue who they are!)
Cowboy and Indian!
It’s SO FUN how into it everyone gets and it really does make the whole thing so much more exciting and fun when people get dressed up and think up such creative ideas!
These two live at the food table 😉
Eli also won for best costume. He was SO SERIOUS about being Spiderman!
Tess is my filthy child. She ALWAYS looks dirty and magically has random stuff all over her face that I have to wipe off constantly.
The girl’s school doesn’t allow Halloween stuff so we went with stripes for Halloween outfits 🙂
We had a BIG crew last year so this year I suggested to do dinner at our house before trick or treating. It really went great! We kept it simple with hot dogs and chips and the kids got to fill their bellies before running like mad to each house!
It was also great because all the friends who came last year also invited some friends to come this year! Kelly brought these adorable pudding cups!
Already sweating!
G-Mama always gets all the kids photo ready
The Crew!
Mr Rusty surprised us all with a HAYRIDE!!!
Tess got the hang of it really quickly!
Mom Squad
Tess is the most Mommy-attached child I’ve had. It SHOCKED me when we were on the trailer and she told me she did NOT want to sit with me…
and instead wanted to sit with Eli!
He has her wrapped, and by that little smile he knows it too 😉
Trick or treating is basically a huge massive race of children running from one house to the next. I’m SO thankful we went with a large group so Tess wasn’t the only one lagging behind! It was great that she had Carter and Eli to stick with and they all did a great job!
Here’s a video of Tess and Carter
And Tess saying Trick or Treat 😉
The hayride was SO FUN!!!
Sweet Millie on her first Halloween
A favorite every year is what my kids refer to as “The Ghost House”
Since Tess rejected me and Kye had Colt and Britt had Payton that meant I got to snuggle up with my Carter! I cherished these moments because I rarely get one on one time with my niece or nephews!
Tess was all about the noise maker lips!
Of course Casey and I get things crunk wherever we go 😉 She got a chant started that really took over the night and got stuck in everyone’s heads for the days to follow!
My lap was lonely without Tess and at one point Eli cuddled up with me and he was SO adorable doing the chant (here’s a video)
We got back a lot later than usual which was fine BUT it meant we didn’t have a lot of time to pass out candy before trick-or-treating ended. Y’all. I had bought ALL that candy and had SO MUCH LEFT!
Tess got to help for awhile this year with the passing out because we had such a short time period and I didn’t wanna waste that time putting her in the bed!
Best way to spend my last day of being 31 🙂 We had an AWESOME time and loved having everyone come with us! Can’t wait for next year!!!
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