Happy Halloween!

Today was a great day! We started it with the boys staying home and spending some quality time together and the three of us girls heading to town. I had told the girls last night that I would take them to Michael's this morning for their craft time.

So, at about 9:15, we headed out the door. But, before heading to Bellingham, we stopped at Starbucks for some of their Caramel Apple Spiced Cider. Yes, I would normally go to Woods but when Brenna and I were at Safeway the other night, the Starbucks stand there was giving out samples of their Caramel Apple Spiced Cider and we both just loved it! So, that is what we stopped for before heading to Michael's. We spent some time making the craft and then picked up a few items that we were needing from Michael's and WalMart and then headed back home.

We spent the rest of the afternoon making cupcakes and muffins for Noah Nite tonight and then go the kids ready to go. I love that my kids don't ever choose to dress up as anything that takes a lot of time...no make-up, no fuss.

This year we had our Lynden Lions Volleyball player (and a great player she is!)...
...our very own Hannah Montana...
...and a little boy who was suppose to be a pumpkin (that's all he has talked about for a month now) until 7:15 Friday night. He was on the internet with Brenna on PlayhouseDisney.com. They had been on for a little while when he turned to Jason and I and declared, "Mommy, I have decided that I want to be Handy Manny and NOT a pumpkin." Oh my! I had to get busy quickly. Thankfully, we have clothing close enough to what Handy Manny wears. We were going to just cover all of the Bob the Builder emblems on his tool set but then I found a template online for Handy Manny cardstock tools. I went with that! I printed them out, glued on craft sticks and taped the "tools" to the inside of my cleaning bucket. We didn't have a tool box for him to use while trick-or-treating so we were able to convince him that the bucket would be great for his tools and candy. He was fine with it once he heard that Uncle Tyler and Papa Duane sometimes carry their tools in a bucket.
Once we had everyone ready and had taken all the pictures, they were very excited to get going.
Our first stop of the evening was my mom's house. Of course, she doesn't just hand them a piece of candy or two. They each had a lunch sack filled with treats...stick mix, peanut butter crackers, and other goodies along those lines. No worries...there was candy also.

Alyssa couldn't wait to get that first piece of candy and eat it. She was caught red handed!
As we were leaving Mom's, I couldn't get over how beautiful these trees were. I just had to take a picture of them. I love to see God's creation changing colors during this time of year...the leaves are so beautiful!
From Mom's we went to Grandma Groen's and then to Uncle Todd and Aunt Trisha's. They had the cutest little lioness waiting to see us. I just could not get over how absolutely adorable Paige was in this outfit. This is only one of the many pictures that Auntie took of the little precious.
As we were leaving Todd and Trisha's, we quick took a picture of the kids with Paige.
We made one more stop at Jason's parents' house and then headed to the church for Noah Nite. This year we had a free community dinner and lots of games for the kids to play and they got a bunch of candy.

Dinner was chili dogs (or plain dogs if you wanted). They were soooo good!
After dinner we made our way out to the games. We came across this scene... This is our Children's Ministry Pastor, Ken Alsum. These girls had convinced him to let them paint his finger nails. They painted them BRIGHT pink. It was so funny and he was such a good sport about it. He is an amazing guy!! We are so blessed to have him working with our children!!
This was a new "game" for Noah Nite this year. It was so funny. The kids had to stick their hands up either one of the nostrils of this "nose" and they would either get boogers/slime or candy. Alyssa went first and I think she got slime but I can't remember.
Brenna was next and by the look on her face, there is no mistaking that she got slime. She told us she wasn't doing that again. We talked her in to doing it a few more times throughout the night and she did end up with candy for the most part.
Uncle Deryl and Aunt Shari had their big debut at Noah Nite this year. They had never worked a booth before and this year they each had a booth to work at. The kids loved seeing them there. It's great to people like Uncle Deryl and Aunt Shari there who enjoy playing with the kids. Thank you both for giving up your evening to make Noah Nite a success and a time for our kids to enjoy!! The kids really like Uncle Deryl's booth at the end because he was giving away the candy by the handfuls!!! SCORE!
The highlight of the night for Ethan was when he spotted his buddy Brandon. He instantly got the giggles and went running towards the table where Brandon was standing with a friend. Brandon immediately turned all of his attention towards Ethan to say hi to him. Brandon, you made Ethan's night!! It was so good to see Brandon...he is home from college for a 4 day weekend.
After Noah Nite, we made one more stop. We had chatted with Pastor Craig at Noah Nite and he mentioned that Debbie was home handing out candy. So, we told him we would stop by their place after Noah Nite. It was great that Craig had beat us there so he could be there when the kids arrived. These two people are amazing! They love our kids so much and make them all feel so special. We ended up hanging around for awhile and just chatting and catching up.
It was nice to finally get home and have the kids unwind a little before getting them into bed. I am so thankful for the extra hour of sleep that we are getting tonight! The kids need it...and so do dad and mom!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!