I decided to get a little ambitious and with the help of my super.crafty.professional.scrapbooking.neighbor.April we made these sweet invitations to our little one's party.
They read:
"Come dressed as a pirate or a ghost that says, "BOO"!
We'll have pizza and ice cream and a cupcake, or two!
Then off we'll go without skipping a beat
as we head out for the night to say,
"TRICK OR TREAT!"
These are a few of Ryan's 1 year pics
I didn't get her "professional" pics back in time to get her invitations made, so with my mom's help we perched our little punkin on a rock in the front yard and had a session of our own!
This wasn't our first attempt at getting some shots. We had the girls loaded, outfits packed, camera batteries charged, made our way to the Dallas Arboretum where we took Kella's 1 year pics in the same outfit. When we got there we got turned away twice saying it was full! What? How many acres is this place? Lots!!!! So, we kept driving and headed to the great fair of Texas (those pics to come...)
Gettin a taste of a plastic pumpkin!
This is the one we decided on for the invitations.
Here's my birthday girl the morning of...
Moving on to the party...Since it was, well, Halloween, I decided to have all of our favorite sweets. First our guests got their fill of pizza, then moved on to the candy bar followed up with a sundae with all their favorite toppings at the ice cream bar!
This turned out to be my favorite.... the kiddos (and some adults!) could dig through the dirt (crumbled chocolate cake) for their favorite gummy treats! The tombstones helped make the treat a little more spooky.
Party favors
I set up a little backdrop to get pics of all the kids to include in their thank-you cards. Here's a couple of the girls.
Kella with her buddy, Paris.
Some other treats that were a big hit was the smore station!
Okay, so I'm definitely NOT used to boys. I looked out at the playhouse as it was getting dark and someone had stuck Kella's umbrella in her chimney! Crazy kids!!!! Thanks to Cole for getting it down for me!
I learned from Kella's 1st b-day to keep the candle at arms length. She reached out and put out the candle while we were singing and almost started crying, so I kept Ryan's away right up until it was time.
Not quite sure what to do. Plus, she's never had such a crowd while eating. You can't tell by the pics, but there were about 10 kids about 2 feet away from her trying to get her to eat. All she wanted to do was look at them and laugh.
She really didn't get that interested. We thought once she actually got a taste in her mouth she would dive in, but.....not this girl! She only got all the icing on her hands because a couple of the boys were taking her hands and rubbing it on the cake!
The grandparents (and Ryan) took advantage of the golf cart once everyone headed out for trick-or-treating!
Some of our neighbors have this haunted house cut-out on their front porch which makes for a perfect backdrop for pics. We've taken them here every year that we've lived here.
Kella was fascinated with this spider. It had a string attached to the door, so it would raise when the door was opened. Kella thought that was amazing!
Thanks to Heather & Chad for always coming up to share Halloween with us! Luckily I had here there last year when Ryan was only hours old to help with handing out candy!
Kella helping out sweet Claire!
This turned out to be my favorite.... the kiddos (and some adults!) could dig through the dirt (crumbled chocolate cake) for their favorite gummy treats! The tombstones helped make the treat a little more spooky.
Party favors
I set up a little backdrop to get pics of all the kids to include in their thank-you cards. Here's a couple of the girls.
Kella with her buddy, Paris.
Some other treats that were a big hit was the smore station!
Okay, so I'm definitely NOT used to boys. I looked out at the playhouse as it was getting dark and someone had stuck Kella's umbrella in her chimney! Crazy kids!!!! Thanks to Cole for getting it down for me!
I learned from Kella's 1st b-day to keep the candle at arms length. She reached out and put out the candle while we were singing and almost started crying, so I kept Ryan's away right up until it was time.
Not quite sure what to do. Plus, she's never had such a crowd while eating. You can't tell by the pics, but there were about 10 kids about 2 feet away from her trying to get her to eat. All she wanted to do was look at them and laugh.
She really didn't get that interested. We thought once she actually got a taste in her mouth she would dive in, but.....not this girl! She only got all the icing on her hands because a couple of the boys were taking her hands and rubbing it on the cake!
The grandparents (and Ryan) took advantage of the golf cart once everyone headed out for trick-or-treating!
Some of our neighbors have this haunted house cut-out on their front porch which makes for a perfect backdrop for pics. We've taken them here every year that we've lived here.
Kella was fascinated with this spider. It had a string attached to the door, so it would raise when the door was opened. Kella thought that was amazing!
Thanks to Heather & Chad for always coming up to share Halloween with us! Luckily I had here there last year when Ryan was only hours old to help with handing out candy!
Kella helping out sweet Claire!
Our other neighbors own a golf cart supply, rental & repair shop. They got ours back up & running just in time for the party and brought one home to take along as well. It's hard to tell from the pics, but it has glowing green lights underneath. It was hysterical to hear people's comments all night regarding the carts. One kid said to his friend, "You think you've seen it all 'til you see a pimped out golf cart!"
I love how our neighbors go all out. This house had a fog machine (reason for the blurry pic) and the skeleton was mechanical looking like it was raising, or digging really, out of the grave. Kella was, again, intrigued. She kept wanting to touch it. She must get that from her dad!
We are in Texas Ranger country down here and the Rangers were playing in the World Series that night, so notice how most of the adults were wearing Rangers attire, some were shouting scores along our Halloween trail or this fella brought his flat screen onto his front porch not to miss an inning while handing out candy!
Our newly pregnant, mom-to-be, Heather was getting a little uncomfortable with all the walking, so she hitched a ride with our little ones.
Okay. This house, by far, goes ALL OUT!!! They truely have a "Tunnel of Terror" in their front yard. Kipp walked through with Kella and a guy dressed as Pinhead, among several others, were inside & out ready & waiting to scare those that dared to enter. Looking back, I don't think this was the best choice to submit our 3 1/2 yr old to, but she wanted to go. She said, "MOM! Is that boy going to get me? The one with the sharp hair!"
I love how our neighbors go all out. This house had a fog machine (reason for the blurry pic) and the skeleton was mechanical looking like it was raising, or digging really, out of the grave. Kella was, again, intrigued. She kept wanting to touch it. She must get that from her dad!
We are in Texas Ranger country down here and the Rangers were playing in the World Series that night, so notice how most of the adults were wearing Rangers attire, some were shouting scores along our Halloween trail or this fella brought his flat screen onto his front porch not to miss an inning while handing out candy!
Our newly pregnant, mom-to-be, Heather was getting a little uncomfortable with all the walking, so she hitched a ride with our little ones.
Okay. This house, by far, goes ALL OUT!!! They truely have a "Tunnel of Terror" in their front yard. Kipp walked through with Kella and a guy dressed as Pinhead, among several others, were inside & out ready & waiting to scare those that dared to enter. Looking back, I don't think this was the best choice to submit our 3 1/2 yr old to, but she wanted to go. She said, "MOM! Is that boy going to get me? The one with the sharp hair!"
