Monday, October 31, 2011

First Haunted House

While I got my flu shot on Friday at Walgreens, Granddaddy kept Helen Grace entertained with the inflatable haunted house at the front of the store. {Maybe this could qualify as her first haunted house?} The girl has started cackling like crazy when she really gets tickled, and she rivaled the wild laughing of the witch that the house played when the motion sensor was set off. She  could have stayed in this house all day. I think Grandma needs to get one for next year…. ;)

2011-10-28 12.42.16“You not scary!”2011-10-28 12.43.412011-10-28 12.44.34 

Extreme Trick or Treating

To say that our neighborhood takes trick or treating lightly would be like saying that Ole Miss fans just grab some McDonalds before a football game. I was not properly prepared for the craziness that fell upon us after the sun set.

Since our neighborhood has lots of long driveways, our HOA asks us to hand out candy at the end of our driveways instead of at the door. Our neighbor invited us to go on a hayride, so I really hadn’t put much thought into handing out candy. At least my mother was forward thinking enough to throw together a really snazzy table situation for us while I was at work today. {Reason #1,231 that I’m so happy she has retired!} She also had dinner and cupcakes ready for us when we got home which was a lifesaver as I rushed to get Helen Grace dressed.

While Helen Grace and I rode on the hayride to do some trick or treating, her daddy and grandparents manned our table at the end of our driveway. Throughout our tour of the neighborhood, we saw people with stand up heaters at their tables, a projector tv playing the NFL game, full-sized animated skeletons, strobe lights, and even a casket. Buses of church groups from all over the county parked at the entrance to the neighborhood, and the streets were packed with trailers pulling loads of kids.

Even though I spent most of the night with my mouth hanging open, we really had a great time soaking it all in. Helen Grace thought the ‘hayride’ and ‘more houses’ were really cool and loved getting on and off the trailer. She was pretty brave at saying Trick or Treat on her own, and I’m so glad that Bubba and her grandparents were here to watch it all as well. What a fun night!

Getting our night started off rightP1010760 Scaring Grandma and Peggy- “BOO!”P1010763 And Bubba too.P1010764 And then Granddaddy. We were all terrified of our little ghost.P1010765 P1010767 P1010775IMG_0902 IMG_0906 IMG_0907 IMG_0912First hayrideIMG_0920P1010779Trick or Treat!  IMG_0916 We even saw Bert and Ernie. HG thought that was really cool that they were handing out candy.IMG_0919 More houses!IMG_0928 Clowning around (and warming up) with PeggyIMG_0933

Zoo Boo

We kicked off our Halloween festivities with Zoo Boo on Friday night. This was our first time to go, and Helen Grace LOVED IT!

Weeks ago, I bought Helen Grace an Olivia (the pig from the cartoon) costume, but when I asked her what she wanted to be, she said a ghost. I thought it was just a random choice and assumed she would soon forget…and then she continued to ask to be a ghost for a month. So last week, I called my dear friend Rachel and asked her to throw together a ghost costume like one I had seen on Etsy, and HG couldn’t be more pleased with the result.

Helen Grace was really excited about going to the zoo for Zoo Boo and getting to wear her costume, but she started to balk as we approached the zoo. When she saw other kids walking in with their costumes on though, she quickly asked us to help her into hers. She was very hesitant about going up to the people giving out candy- she kept wanting me to ask for her- but she slowly starting warming up.

The highlights of the night were the boat ride and the dance party. Since all the other kids were riding the rides, she wanted desperately to ride as well. She had so much fun on the boat ride that we had to immediately get back in line. Then we found the dance party in the amphitheatre near the pandas, and I thought we’d never get her out!

We will definitely be making Zoo Boo a Halloween staple for our family- great times!

IMG_3064Not too sure what to think about all these peopleIMG_3074Checking out the map to tell us where to goCIMG9665 IMG_3080IMG_3094Starting to warm upIMG_3111Watching the singing pumpkinsIMG_3116IMG_3126IMG_3142The straw maze was pretty cool, especially since it was tall enough to be over the kids’ heads but short enough for parents to see over!CIMG9673 IMG_3161Once she got on the boats, she was giddy and so proud of herself.IMG_3178 IMG_3180 

IMG_3199IMG_3210IMG_3222IMG_3224Shaking her BOOty at the dance partyIMG_3227 IMG_3235IMG_3249

Our best attempt at a family pictureCIMG9705 Fun with DaddyCIMG9707 We ran into our friends, Jack, Lindsey, and Jackson, but this was the best pic I could capture of the kiddos during the dance party.CIMG9711

Sunday, October 30, 2011

A Pumpkin Painting Machine

I thought we’d try our hand at painting a pumpkin this year, and Helen Grace thought that was the coolest thing since sliced bread (or since Fresh Beat Band in her world). She basically refused to let me document with photos, so I just have a few at the beginning and then one of the finished product. :)

CIMG9652 CIMG9654 CIMG9655 CIMG9656

Friday, October 28, 2011

Cookies, Hosanna, & Flu Shots (Oh, Shaw!)

Last week, Granddaddy and Spiffer kept Helen Grace for us one night, and John and I went to see Memphis, the musical, with the Hudsons. We had a delicious dinner at Itta Bena and danced and sang our way through the show. When we got home, my mom had the cutest story from putting HG to bed that night. She was laying next to her in the bed, and when HG turned her back to Spiffer, my mom started scratching her back. HG rolled over to face her and said, “I’m twying to sweep, Siffer!” Well, excuse me!

Helen Grace and I were sitting on the couch, and John sat down next to us. Helen Grace squealed, “We’re a family!”

When I was putting her down for a nap, I put my head on her shoulder. Now, she will often pat her shoulder and ask, “Mommy, want head on my shoulder?”

HG requested sketti for dinner, and as I sat it down in front of her, she exclaimed, “I love you!!!” and blew me a kiss.

Helen Grace has fallen in love with those Pillsbury sugar cookies, especially the ghost ones for Halloween. She asked for one the other day, but we had already eaten them all (heehee, you just can’t stop yourself!) so we headed for Kroger. We struck out on the Pillsbury ones, but we found some other ones with sprinkles that seemed to satisfy her cookie need. When we got in the car, I gave her one and then let her hold the box on her lap. As we drove home, she held one cute little finger in the air asked, “Just one cookie, Mommy.” When I reminded her that she had already had one cookie, you could see the wheels turning in her head. She quickly popped up one more little finger, and she changed her request- “Just two cookies, Mommy.”

This Kroger trip was hilarious for another reason too. On the way there, I started playing a mp3 of the Hosanna song that she sings at school.  She FLIPPED OUT when she heard it! She was so excited that she didn’t let go of my phone throughout our entire trip. “Again, Mommy!,” she said. “This is my song. I sing it with my friends at school.” I’m sure we made quite the scene at Kroger, jamming out to a kids praise and worship song and stalking cookies like mad women!

Getting her Gracie Bleu fix last weekendgracie bleu 

She took a nap in my bed this week, and after an hour, she woke up, crying uncontrollably. She wiggled and whined her way down to the end of the bed, slid off onto the floor, curled up into a ball, and went back to sleep. ????nap

We were sitting at dinner the other night, and out of nowhere, she says, “Oh, shaw!” Peggy has been trying to teach her this Irish expression for months, and HG was so proud to put it to use. Now she can’t get enough of it. Lots of ‘shaw’ around our house!

Today was flu shot day. I’ve been trying to get her prepared for it for weeks, talking about how Caillou got the flu and was so sick and how shots hurt at first but keep you well. The deal was that we would both get our flu shots today (HG at her pediatrician and me at Walgreens). She was calm the whole way to her doctor and mostly in the waiting room, but when she saw a nurse, she lost it. We finally got it done though, and she calmed right down. I think the BandAid made it better. She showed it off proudly like a battle scar for the rest of the day. I treated her to an ‘upcake’ at L’Oven, and she was very excited! She then changed her mind about going with me to get mine, so after lunch, Granddaddy and Spiffer entertained her at Walgreens during my turn. cupcake 

Hugs, kisses, and cuddles for Granddaddygranddaddy