Halloween 2017

This Halloween, I allowed my children to dress up in what ever way their little hearts desired.  The "holiday" really snuck up on us and every time we went out looking for costumes, we either found nothing worth buying or the costumes were way overpriced.  I just felt that spending $60.00 x 3 kids was financially irresponsible. With that being said, it seems almost backwards that I did offer my kids a $50 bill EACH to skip dressing up altogether and head downtown for a yummy dinner and a treat to The Candy Store.  It didn't matter what temptation I threw their way... they wanted to do what every child in America wanted to do... trick or treat.  I decided to just accept it and to appreciate it because after all, they won't desire to do this MUCH LONGER.  Needless to say, as my children get older, capturing the moment/event gets harder.  It's DARK and my kids RUN from house to house.  SO... this is all I've got people.  

Above: You will see that my children did get some goodies in their lunch boxes and the school teachers got some awesome gifts as well.  

A little something goes A LONG way.  I just gave them a little draw string bag, note, and their favorite "pack" of gum, Ice Cubes, along with a Halloween pencil.  I made the note below.  Click here, if you would like to use it.  

I laid out some SMALL goodies for them when they returned home from school. AGAIN, a little something goes a LONG way.  My twins SQUEALED.  Ty had practice, so he didn't see this until close to trick or treating time.  

Jax got to work FAST. He used his play foam and created a heart for me.  So sweet.

I made the below printable TOO! Truly something to think about and something to beware of. I am realizing MORE THAN EVER that people are NOT truly who they proclaim to be sometimes.  

Lilah was Miranda Sings at one point, for a Halloween Party, but she felt like it was TOO MUCH to be Miranda for Halloween.  Her hair needed to be dyed and straightened and she just wasn't up for it.  SO... I allowed her to be a very simple unicorn.  Short and sweet.  

This will go down as the year that I gave up complete control and let my kids design their own Halloween costumes.  I'm really not sure what to call them other than embarrassingly weird, but they were so proud and happy.  In the end, that's all a mom really wants... for her kids to be happy, right?

I left our trick or treaters a little note that asked to politely take TWO pieces of candy, so everyone has a chance to trick or treat at our home.  

We went trick or treating with the Harris family and the Schoonover family. It's kind of a tradition at this point.  The Harris family goes for a quick 45 minutes, lol, and the Schoonover family meets us when they leave and then we finish up the night with them.

These two are so adorable together.  Just like sisters...

I didn't dress up per say... but I did have on some adorable Halloween leggings on and sported a FUN, spooky, Halloween lipsense combo: Blackberry and She's Apples LipSense.  

Anyone who knows Darren, knows he loathes candy of all kinds. He out right thinks candy is DISGUSTING.  GROSSSS! He does love to organize it though, so ....

I hope you all had a fabulous Halloween.  Until next year...

Cami Turns 13!!!!

I

It's hard to believe I met this sweet girl when she was 5 years old and now I am taking photos of her 13th birthday!!!! Cami is my pastor's daughter and Ty's crush (since he was 4). Lilah thinks Cami is both her big sister and her BFF. It's adorable. Cami goes along with it and it's one of the biggest reasons I love her. She's never too good or too cool for the little girls who admire her.  I had the pleasure of taking photos of her and her besties. Gretchen, Cami's mom and my dear friend, and Lilah came along as my helpers. Lilah was the prop girl and Gretchen was amazing at helping me place them in the proper spots. She would fix their hair and be frank about someone not "cooperating".  Hehe. Clearly, they were willing to cooperate, they just couldn't tell they were not in sync with the others. Aaron and Lisa Fernandez gave me permission to use their yard and we also utilized Green Hill Park. The weather was GORGEOUS, but the sun was working against me. I think we managed to capture some special moments. I pray this is a memory that far surpasses any gift I could have given her. We sure do love her and certainly wouldn't mind if, ONE day, she became a part of our family. :) Happy Birthday Cami! You are a sweet, kind, gentle, loving, sincere, classy, fashionable, young woman who has a big heart and serves her King rightly, not to mention an amazing role model for our little princess!!!!! We love you!!!!

So... I am NOT a professional photographer, but I was able capture many photos that are definitely worth putting in a frame! It beats shelling out $450.00 for a photo shoot. LOL! To see everything that I captured today, please double click on the picasa web album below.  YOU MUST be on a landline computer in order to have access to view it.