Happy Halloween!!

We had a fun Halloween this year! We started off our morning by having gingerbread skeletons for breakfast- yum!  Jacob and Ephraim both got to wear their costumes to school, so I got everyone dressed and we went out to take some pictures.

Don't my boys look handsome? They looked so awesome in their costumes. Since we were going to the costume parade at Jacob's school, I dressed Amelia up too. So I got a picture of all three of my kids in their costumes. Hooray!

AND they are all looking at me and smiling! Wow!
I figured while we were at it I might as well take pictures of each of the kids. So here is Jacob the fighter pilot.

And Ephraim the astronaut!

I love how shiny Ephraim's costume is! It was really fun and we got a lot of compliments on it. Amelia even sat on the porch for me for about 2 seconds. Long enough to get a picture!

Then she decided that not only did she need wings, she also needed wheels.

What a funny girl!

Amelia and I went to Jacob's school and watched the Halloween parade. It basically consists of all the kids walking around to all the other classrooms in the school. We waited in the library until Jacob's class finally walked by. Then we went and exchanged books (since it was Wednesday!). Then Amelia and I went home for a minute.

Since we had some time, I went and took some cute pictures of Amelia in her costume.

As you can see, she was feeling particularly attached to her bear that morning. So we just let him tag along for the pictures.

I love how well Amelia's costume turned out. I found the T-shirt at Kohls after I had already made the tutu. I actually bought the wings last year on clearance!

I had to use two different colors of tulle, but they blended to make the right color. Isn't she a doll?

I wanted to go take fun pictures of the boys in their costumes, but I haven't had time yet! I may not get to it, but at least I have the cute pictures I took in the morning!

After taking pictures, Amelia and I went to pick Ephraim up. He had a great time at his preschool Halloween party! Amelia took a nap and it wasn't too long before Jacob got out of school. I told the boys I would take them to "Treats in the Park", which is where they go to the PG city park and go trick or treating. But they decided that they would rather just stay home and watch "Wild Kratts".

Fine by me! Instead I gave Amelia a bath, which she thought was a great idea.

She even got to play outside for a while before we had dinner. Then we got dressed and headed to the trunk or treat.

Since Joe had to teach class on Wednesday, I took the kids to the trunk or treat myself. Looking back on it, I probably should have brought a stroller. I totally overestimated Amelia's ability to follow me. So I ended up carrying her most of the time. Phew!

So as you can imagine, I didn't end up with very many pictures of the trunk or treat. Especially not any of me in costume. I was actually wearing a pilot's jumpsuit and headset too. So I fit right in with the boys.

Amelia didn't quite get the purpose of trick or treating. She just wanted to open the candy and eat it! She ended up with so much candy in her mouth that she gagged on it and spit up all over her tutu. Yuck!

It wasn't too long after that we headed for home. By the time we got there, Daddy was just pulling up in his car. So I gave Amelia to Daddy and took the boys to Melinda's house. She was nice enough to take a picture of me and the boys. We also went trick-or-treating to 15-20 houses in her neighborhood. Just enough for the boys to get the experience.

Then we headed home. On the way home I realized that I was missing one of my diamond stud earrings. My heart fell to the floor. I was pretty sure that I must have lost it at the trunk or treat. So after putting the kids to bed I went over to the church parking lot with a flashlight and searched for it for over an hour with no luck.

I was really devastated because they were the earrings that Joe bought for me for our anniversary several years ago. I have worn them every day since then, for probably 6 years or so. We searched everywhere I had been in the house and still didn't find them. I was so sad!

I prayed several times that night to find my earrings, practically the entire time I was searching and later on that night. But there was no sign of my earring. Then the next morning as I got out of the shower I spotted my earring in the bathroom rug! I was SO excited! I know that I had checked there the night before and so did Joe, but neither one of us found it. I could very easily have vacuumed it up sometime without ever seeing it. I am so glad that I have my earring back, and I know that Heavenly Father answered my prayers. An earring may not be a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but this one was important to me.