Halloween 2012

This year's Halloween celebrations seemed to stretch out F-O-R-E-V-E-R. The fun all started the Friday before Halloween, with our church's Trunk n Treat. The following Tuesday Delaney had her preschool's Halloween party and parade. And then, of course, Wednesday was Halloween. So really, my kids were on an almost week-long sugar rush. It was fantastic!

As for the costume selection this year, both kids dressed up as parrots. Yes, this cat-loving, bird-fearing gal allowed her children to dress as parrots. You can blame Delaney and her outside-the-box thinking. Initially, she requested to be a princess. Seeing how she dresses up as a princess daily, I said no. I'm in the business of crushing dreams. Not really, but princesses are a dime a dozen on Halloween. Later, she asked if she could be a school bell and Jude could be a post office bell. Really?! What does that even mean or look like? When I nixed that odd request, she settled on an owl. Delaney said that she'd like to be a sister owl and that Jude should be a brother owl. I got behind this idea 100%. Later, when I asked for further details, Delaney told me that she wanted to be a pink, red, blue, green, and white owl. I told her that those were parrot colors, not owl colors. So we landed on the parrot idea. Thankfully, my dear friend Taryn had made a parrot costume for her daughter last year, and I was able to stuff Jude into the costume, complete with a turtle neck onesie and girl leggings. Poor Jude. He was called a she-parrot by a few well-meaning elderly folks on Halloween night. His mullet didn't really help matters either.

Let's get to the pictures, shall we? For all of the activities we participated in, my photo selection is a bit sparse. Sorry. I was busy wrangling a couple of parrots.

This was our Trunk n Treat night, and the only picture I managed to get. Yep, we were rolling in the Squareback!

Jude and I were able to "help" in Delaney's classroom during her party. Jude did more mischief making than help, but it was great fun.

During Halloween story time, Jude was actually fairly attentive. Go figure!

This was our attempt at a class picture of everyone in their costumes before the parade.  There was a lot of energy in that room!

OK, this was the "parade." I use the term loosely, because really the kiddos just marched around in a circle  a few times, but it was adorable. After they circled twice, they stopped to sing their Halloween songs. You'll get to see the parrot perform her songs shortly.

Mrs. Carrasco, Miss Stalder, & Delaney. Our girl is so well loved by these two, and they really are celebrities in our family's eyes.

On Halloween day, we took a trip to Target. Gramps and Grams sent treat money-- can you believe how spoiled these kiddos are? 

Crazy parrot girl, on Halloween night.

Jude the BOY parrot and Daddy. 

After we had passed out candy on the porch, eaten dinner with Nana, Papa, and friends, toured the neighborhood and trick-or-treated, I finally got around to taking a few pictures of these two. So yes, they weren't at their best, and just wanted to eat candy.

Delaney was more into the picture taking than Jude.

And, as promised, I give you the parrot and her Halloween songs: