Halloween 2017

 

Camden had been asking to be a fireman for Halloween for oh, just the past 2 months or so. He loves everythinggg about fire trucks and fireman (don't get me started on how many times per week I hear him scream "Mommy!!!! I hear firetruck!! Weeee oooo!"), so it's not that surprising when I tell you that he's been "practicing" for the main event for the past few weeks now - wearing his fireman boots around our house and going up to our doors holding his hands out saying, "trick-or-treat...thank you!"

And he perfected it alright! Cam trick-or-treated his little heart out...he ran up to each porch and then was right back at it again sprinting to the next house, only to pause to ask for another sucker (still his fav!)

Dressing up Grayson as his little dalmatian puppy was just a given! They both looked so adorable. Since I pushed Grayson in the wagon for most of the time that he was out trick-or-treating (which wasn't long since it was so cold-he was content watching it all and being by mommy!), Camden often asked for a piece of candy for his brother and would run back to Grayson and say "here Gray!!!" and put his candy in his bucket. He was such a good big brother! We were also thankful for my Dad who came over to help and pass out our candy for us...the boys loved having him there too.

Also, Kona got a pass this year. Totally forgot to buy her a costume, but next year it's on!

Every Halloween with these boys gets better and better...there's not much more to say other than I truly feel so lucky to be their mama and and see the joy in their faces! It means everything to me.

PS: Backing up a few days - we have all been sick for the past week and while Camden got over it pretty quickly, a few days ago we were told Grayson has bronchitis! He had a bad cough that turned into really high fevers (103.5) and has just not felt his best at all. Yesterday, on Halloween, was the first day that he really started to feel better but he still just wants to cuddle up and be held most of the time instead of playing. This was another reason we decided not to keep him out very long for trick-or-treat..just enough to go to a few houses :) Anyway, so that's why I've been a little MIA! I know you all know how hard it is when your littles are sick (and when us parents are as well! I'm just now starting to kick my cough!)

I hope all of you + your little ones had the best Halloween! I LOVED seeing all their costumes on instagram! xo

Halloween 2016

I am that mom sharing her kids Halloween pictures a week late...

Sorry, but there's also no way I could skip it all together! This year was bittersweet for many reasons. Camden was too young to go trick-or-treating last year (he wasn't even walking-time goes way too fast!), so he knew he needed to make up for that this year by trick-or-treating twice as hard. We "practiced" a few days prior around the house and every time I mentioned Halloween or trick-or-treat he went over to the door to try to leave, and go get all the candy right NOW! Secondly, having Grayson be with us for his first Halloween was really special, too. Babies in costumes just don't get old and I will dress him up for as long as he will let me! With that being said, we were still missing Rocky and that was hard. We would always dress him up and he loved getting attention from all the kids and neighbors. It just didn't feel quite the same without him, but we did have a great time with the boys... I mean, my little shark and nemo :)

 

 

Cam acted like he has been trick-or-treating his whole life. We couldn't believe how well he did! Even when given the opportunity to stick his hand in a bowl and grab as many candies as he wanted, he still only grabbed 1 and it was always a sucker. He was more of a eat on the go type of guy (who could blame him?), so the hour that he lasted trick-or-treating he had about 8 different dum dums. Since he doesn't get candy much, we decided to just go with it and let him go to town. He was loving it to say the least! Hearing him say "treat pwease" was just too much for this mama heart. 

 

We also took the boys to Boo At The Zoo for the first time. Everyone kept laughing and commenting on Cam's costume since he fit in so well with his surroundings... :)

I also decided that since I made Camden sit inside a pumpkin for Halloween last year that I had to do it again with Grayson. I'm glad I did because I can't get enough of this sweet boy and these pictures! (I'm sure both of them will be SO HAPPY WITH ME when they're older and I show them...)

And just like every other holiday, this year makes me even more excited for next year when Grayson will be able to trick-or-treat as well and Camden, I'm sure, will show him exactly how it's done!

In the meantime, Christmas is right around the corner which means bring on all the matching holiday pajamas and outfits.

PS: If you haven't entered this giveaway, make sure to do so before it ends. xo. 

4 Halloween Firsts {Camden's First Halloween}

 

 

{ONE}

Being able to dress up our little man in a Halloween costume! 

I know I sound like a broken record here, but is there anything better than babies in costumes? JUST as good and fun as I imagined it to be! When we were trying to decide what Camden should be for Halloween, we saw this monkey costume and thought it fit his wild and all over the place personality perfectly! He looked so adorable in it and loved the banana rattle that came with it. I wish I could say I had planned the whole time to dress up as a banana to match him, but I actually randomly found this youth sized costume a few hours before trick-or-treat when out shopping. It was the last one left and I knew I had to get it, no matter how ridiculous I looked! Gone are the days of dressing up to actually look cute...ha.

We had so much fun dressing him up for trick-or-treat, even if the whole experience was mainly for our benefit. We took Cam to about 6 or 7 houses, went on a long walk in our neighborhood so that he could see all the costumes and kids, and then we all (Rocky too! he got a pass at wearing a costume this year) sat in our driveway and passed out candy to all the kids in our neighborhood. I know that I can speak for both me and Billy when I say it was our most memorable (and most rewarding) Halloween yet...so special.

{TWO}

When you're a first time mom and have a baby that can fit in a pumpkin, you take the opportunity to cut two holes for little legs to fit through, strip your baby down to just a diaper, and laugh and photograph like crazy for the next 10 minutes (or until said baby is completely over sitting in a pumpkin.) 

And this is how he really felt about it...

 

Nailed it! "Look at my muscles, ma!"

OK, we actually got a pretty cute one too...

Definitely going in the baby book. I'm sure Cam is going to love me for those later on in life...

{THREE}

Baby's first trip to the pumpkin patch!

It has always been a tradition of ours to visit at least one pumpkin patch every year, so of course this year we were more than excited to have Camden with us. He was particularly interested in standing on all of the pumpkin's and trying to climb over them...

 

We had a pretty good day for it but it was still pretty chilly with the wind, so we used our JJ Cole Collections Bundle Me on our stroller to go for a long walk through the patch afterwards. It's the perfect cover for the fall/winter to keep Camden comfortable and warm! He really likes when we put him in it as it's so soft! (We actually used the original Bundle Me on our car seat all the time last year when he was much smaller.)
I wanted to share/show this toddler version because it fits onto the stroller perfectly and zips up easily around him to keep him warm. I highly recommend either of them, depending on the size of your little one, for the colder months! We plan to use it all winter so that we can still take our walks outside and give Cam (and us) some fresh air!

(this is the Urban Ice color, I believe! #bundlemegood)

{FOUR}

Attended our first trunk or treat! A church just a few minutes away from our house hosted this event last weekend and my parents decided to come with us. They had food, beverages, candy, and a hayride - it was so much fun!

Basically, it gave us another reason to put him in his Halloween costume and swoon over it...

 

Such a memorable Halloween for us as parents, and hopefully for Camden too! Loved every minute of it and let's be serious, I'm already looking forward to next year...

And dare I say it, Christmas. (I KNOW some of you are with me on this one)

Hope everyone had a great Halloween! 

Cinnamon and Pumpkin Spice Apple Chips

healthy, crispy, cheap, and addicting!

If you want a yummy snack perfect for Halloween weekend (ahem: to help you from sticking your hand in the trick-or-treaters candy bowl every other minute) that is easy to prepare and healthy, then this is for you!

Apple chips are so simple and if you're like me lately then maybe you have been trying to find ways to use the delicious apples that you picked up from the pumpkin patch or the store. Well, this is a good solution. It doesn't require a made from scratch pie crust (who wants to come over and help me with that?) and 50 ingredients that fill up your counter. Just get yourself some of your favorite apples and spices to sprinkle on top.

Cinnamon and Pumpkin Spice Apple Chips:

Here's what you can do to get those perfectly crispy apple chips...

+Slice (and core) your apples very thin! Thinner than some of mine pictured below. ;) The thicker they are, the more mushy they will be. Not mushy in a terrible way, but just not as crispy as you want these to be.
+Use parchment paper to cover the baking sheets for easy clean up and no sticking.
+More isn't necessarily more when seasoning these apples. I sprinkled cinnamon on just one side of half of my apples, and sprinkled pumpkin pie spice on the other half of the apples. I didn't do both sides (but you can if you want!) and I accidentally sprinkled a little too much on some of the apples that I wished I wouldn't have. Aka: you still want to taste the apples, too! ;)
+Bake at a low temperature in the oven (200-225 degrees) for one hour on one side, flip, then bake for another hour on the other side.

Then, enjoy! 

Have you made apple chips before? What do like to season them with? 

I ALMOST PEED MY PANTS WHEN....

+I watched the movie ET for the first time. I don't care what you are, that neck length is NOT normal. And the noises. Just no. Make them stop.


+I was getting ready to walk down the aisle on our wedding day. I wasn't nervous to marry Billy - I was more nervous about all the eyes being on me. I had a slight panic attack and cut off my Dad's circulation in his left arm because I was squeezing so tightly.

+We bought our first home. Something about a big stack of 53 papers and only understanding 1 sentence. The part about signing a portion of my life away is all.

+My girlfriends and I were sneaking out a basement window (the ones that you just pop open with a lever) and it fell on my friends stomach and she got stuck. We were laughing so hard I'm pretty sure I did pee my pants a bit.

+I saw Matt Damon on the streets of NYC and we locked eyes.

+I was working at a retirement home in high school and I accidentally stepped on a gentleman's oxygen tank when serving him dinner. I had no idea why he was holding his throat and coughing for a solid 30 seconds until I looked down and my foot was cutting off the circulation in his tube. I felt terrible and mortified - which then leads to peeing my pants out of sheer panic.

+I saw Lake Tahoe from 10,000 ft up. Favorite. place. in the US. I know - I sound like a broken record with this one.

+It was around Halloween.We were in college and going to pick up something from Billy's friends house, and his house was located back in the woods. Billy told me to just wait in the car while he ran inside real quick. About a minute later as I'm just sitting there, I turn to look out the window and Billy pops up wearing a Michael Myers mask. I honestly screamed so loud. Clearly at the time I had no idea it was him and it scared the crap out of me!

+We were driving to pick up Rocky to bring him home with us.

+I bought these pretties the other day.....

Hunter flats in Navy. SO excited for these to show up at my door, I may just scream. :)
__

Post inspired by The Coffeehouse

What moments have made you almost pee your pants?

C'mon...don't be shy, we all got 'em!

Tonight, I plan on baking some yummy treats (similar to these brie cups I made a while back, but with green apples and using the puff pastry a little differently), dressing Rocky up in his costume (check for that on instagram-@katiewkrysh), watching Nashville, and passing out all the candy to our trick-or-treaters.

Ohh, I almost forgot! Random.org determined the winner of the Charleston Naturally giveaway is Elizabeth. Thank you to those who entered this giveaway and congratulations, Elizabeth! I will be emailing you. :)

What are you doing for Halloween?

**Who is linking up tomorrow for round 2 of Saw It. Pinned It. Did It?! I hope to see many of you linking up tomorrow!!

I leave you with this...
Happy Halloween!