October Recap

Hi!  So I wanted to do a quick recap of our October/Halloween fun.  This month has been a little crazy for us schedule wise, so we didn't get everything on my to-do list done, but we got some it accomplished.  We took Sarah to the pumpkin patch and corn maze right by our house on the 12th.  It was a beautiful afternoon and we all enjoyed being outside and showing Sarah the pumpkins, corn, goats, bunnies, etc.  It was so much fun teaching her things now that she is getting big enough to understand a little of what is going on around us.

It's still amazing to me to see and hear just how much she has learned this past year.  We've talked about farm animals for such a long time, that she was so excited to feed a goat, and to see a bunny hop. And to be able to tell me she saw pumpkins.  It was super important to me to get books and talk about fall and Halloween with Sarah for the whole month of October.  So I started searching for toddler books at thrift stores, Goodwill, Ebay, etc. (Hey, books are expensive!) to have a good stock built up long before the month started.  Then I changed out most of her books to just be fall/Halloween so we could really talk about the changing weather and that Halloween was pretend, and give her a good understanding of trick-or-treating, pumpkin carving, changing leaves, face painting etc.

This next picture is just super cute to me, because Sarah has recently been really into sitting on things that are just the right size for her.  She loves to find little places just big enough for her to sit, so when we went into the pumpkin patch, she insisted on sitting on one of those round fat pumpkins that was the perfect size for her.  The only problem was that it was exactly cooperating staying upright, so Mike had to help hold her steady, but when she made it work, this was her smile.

Other than this day, Sarah go to go to her little gym's Halloween party.  I kid you not, from the time we walked through the door, to when we left, Sarah did not stop jumping.  She only stopped long enough to zoom from one end of the gym to the other to continue to bounce.  She loved pointing out the different kids who were dressed up that she recognized, as Minnie Mouse, or pirate, monster, etc.  I told myself, after that party, that if this was the only thing she got to do for Halloween it was enough, she has that much fun!  (Plus she slept great that night, holla for gym time right before bed!)  In this picture she was pointing out the jack-o-lantern snacks they had set out.  They were little clementine oranges with faces drawn on.  She loved counting them, and they were a health snack when it was all over. (I may steal this idea for next year;) )

But luckily this wasn't the last Halloween fun Sarah had.  On Halloween here, it was rainy and windy.  Some communities decided to post-pone trick or treating until the next night, but where we were planning on going decided not to.  I didn't necessarily want to take Sarah full on trick-or-treating, as she is not even two, but I wanted her to have a taste of the holiday.  So I ended up taking her to a trunk or treat at our local church that they moved inside.  I just wanted her to be able to see the other kids in costume and to get to say trick-or-treat.  She was so well behaved y'all.  It still warms my heart to think of just how sweet she was.  She stayed right with me and Grandma (daddy had to work), holding one of our hands.  She had fun pointing out the decorations and putting the candy into her pumpkin (yes, she insisted on putting in herself) and she said "Thank-you" to each and every person who gave her something.

After that experience, we took Sarah back to Grandma's to trick-or-treat with Papa.  I thought this would be the one house she'd get to do traditionally, but when we got there, my mom informed me that some of the neighbors were expecting to see her, so I took her to (3) houses.  Of those (3) houses, she got (1) trick and (2) treats.  I can explain that in another post if anyone is interested.  But of the two treat houses, they were so excited to see Sarah, I'm pretty sure she was the only spook they got all night, and were just thrilled that I took the time to bring her by.  We made one last stop before bed to see Gammy (Mike's mom). And that concluded our Halloween fun!  Mike and Haley were able to carve up our pumpkins one night.  Which they had a blast doing, and I made roasted pumpkin seeds.  I took them over Grandma and Papa's on Halloween so they could be on their porch and be viewed by the neighborhood.  (Our house is just too secluded for anyone to ever see them and they deserved to be on display)

So that was it for our family.  Did y'all do anything fun for October!?  Oh and hooray for piggy tails!  Sarah's hair is finally long enough to do some cute hairdo's, which just happened in October :D

Oh! Here's a little bonus video just for my blog readers: