Halloween 2011!

(Warning - overload on Halloween pictures, so prepare yourself!)

This year was definitely one of my favorites.  I have to admit that having all 3 kids to watch at different stages made it much more enjoyable. 

Our oldest is 8 1/2 now and really knows what he wants.  Zach has this thing with cowboys and policemen, so his costume (again this year as it was last) was a combination of the two - a cowboy sheriff! 

We spiced it up a little bit this year with a more cowboy like shirt and of course, a mustache - which he informs me all cowboy sheriffs have (don't know where he got that from, but I couldn't help but smile when he told me that!).

My favorite part was the sunglasses and how serious he looks with them on.  What a cutie!

Our middle child is now almost 6.  This year Hailey decided she wanted to be a cheerleader.  Luckily she has a complete cheerleading costume in her droves of dress-up clothes, so we were all set with everything we needed ...

... including her pom poms.

And because her brother had some fun drawing on his face, she had to have something too.  And because a mustache isn't exactly what she had in mind, she settled for me writing "Go Team!" instead.  I really do have better handwriting, but she kept moving and smiling as I was writing, so it was a bit sloppy.  Of course, she didn't care, she was just so excited to have it there!

Once they were each ready, they both were off to school for a bunch of Halloween fun.  Zach had a halloween parade with the majority of the school during the morning, unfortunately it was at the same time that Hailey had gymnastics, so we didn't make it to see him.  I can tell he's really growing up because he didn't seem bothered about it and told me not to worry about not being there.

But Hailey was a little more concerned about us being there, so Tate and I headed over in the afternoon to see the smaller parade for the afternoon kindergarten.  She was so excited as soon as she saw us.

She couldn't wait to show us her place on her table.

And here she is on her march.  It didn't take long, but she was all smiles and thought it was the neatest thing ever.

After a fun day at school, the two of them came home all smiles and excited to tell me all about the fun things they had done at school.

Later that evening, after dinner, we all got ready to circle the neighborhood for trick or treating.  Since I hadn't gotten any pictures of Tate in his costume that day, I thought I'd try and get one to have.  He was really excited (more because the kids were excited than anything else), so he had a hard time holding still, but I did get one pretty good one.  Isn't he darling in his little Dalmation Doggie costume?

Once we had everyone all ready to go, we grabbed one more quick picture and headed out.  (Notice Zach's updated mustache?  He won the box top drawing at the school earlier that day and happened to get a fake mustache as his prize, so we had an upgrade on that which was even better than the drawn on one from earlier - is that not perfect or what?)

I absolutely loved watching these three go from house to house trick-or-treating.  Zach and Hailey were so excited, they pretty much ran from door to door and ended up having to wait for the one with the smallest legs to catch up to them.  They were great though, and always waited for him to catch up before they rang the doorbell.

My absolute favorite thing of the night was watching this little one walking or running down the sidewalk - notice how the little tail wags as he goes!  DARLING!

Here's a picture of our 3 at a door in the neighborhood.  It was hilarious to watch Tate.  He would stand there with the kids and hold out his little pumpkin - then we would tell him to say trick-or-treat - which came out more like "trick-treat."  It was so cute.  Then after they would give him some candy, he would say "sank you" - his version of thank you and off he would run to his Dad to show him what he got.  He would run right up to him, hold out his pumpkin and say "NANNY!" or candy.  He just couldn't believe people were just giving him candy right and left!  It was so cute and I couldn't get enough of his excitement - it was so much fun to watch!

Tate did great at the beginning, but about 4 or 5 houses down, he started getting tired, so his Dad picked him up and walking him through most of the rest of the neighborhood.

Again, love the tail hanging down dad's back as he was being held.

Once we made it through the whole neighborhood, the kids came back home, sat promptly down at the counter, and starting going through their loot.  They of course got to have some candy (although, I'm sure they ate more that just some) and they were loving every minute of it.

Tate was having a blast playing with his candy - which he seemed more interested in taking out and putting it in or handing it to his Dad that actually worrying about eating it.  He was so darling, I just loved watching him have fun with the whole Halloween experience.

Home, warm, and surrounded with candy - what more could a kid ask for?

Tate's smile is the perfect ending to a very fun evening for all of us.  We all had a blast and it sure was a Halloween to remember!  And now the kids are already thinking about what they want to be next year!  Only 365 days until next Halloween!