Trick or treat. 2009

Aaargh.
Oh my goodness. What a night.
It was my first Halloween to go trick of treating with TWO little girls. We had Gabbi Girl last year, but she was only two months old, so she didn't make the rounds. She DID make a cute Indian though! Remember? Anyway. We go to a neighborhood KNOWN for its trick or treating. Staci and Don, and Paula and Johnnye, and Tommy and Cynthia, (and soon US!) live in the very, very back of that neighborhood. I knew we needed to get there early as to avoid being trapped by a bunch of traffic!
We left the house around 4:00pm, in FULL PIRATE ATTIRE!
I found Gabbi Girl's costume on Etsy at a site called, Rae Gun, several months ago. I thought it was so cute. Simple, and uncumbersome.
I also found these so, so cute pigtail holders there too! I think they were at a site called onceuponabutton, also on Etsy.
I contacted RaeGun once I got Gabbi's costume and asked if they could make one for a two year old too. I found one I liked and forwarded her the general idea for Ellie Sue's. I thought it turned out really sweet. (for a pirate, I mean!)
Can you even believe Gabbi left this earring on her ear? all night?

There was a little issue with the boots, though. These were Maddi hand me downs. I am pretty sure that Maddi was wearing these boots THIS year earlier, say like February-ish. Would you just look at em on Gabbi? Little chunky monkey! They weren't even KINDA going to zip up!
And did I mention we found a little black cat to go trick or treating with us?
Aren't they just the cutest?

Oh, and you didn't think I would do Halloween without a "cos-cume" (another Ellie-ism), did you?
I must say, with all that happened last week, (and I know I havent' really elaborated, but let's just say, every blue moon, owning a business is completely overwhelming!), I was not all that festive as I usually am for one of my most FAV-O-Rite holidays.
We piled all the chillin in the back of the car and headed toward the front of the neighborhood. We usually avoid this area, and actually, within about 30 minutes, we were looking for a ride BACK to the back!
How cute is this one? I may have to get it blown up! Maddi is going to have a little bunk built in at our new house, so I will have to decorate her spot for her too.
Well, Hellllloooo there, Fancy Nancy!
Isn't Emma the cutest? She is getting so big! She is only a month younger than Jake, so I use her to realize how old he would be when I "forget". Can you even imagine him this age?!
Ok, so this was kinda a general theme throughout the night. I am standing back, HOLDING Gabbi, who as you know has little to no interest in walking! I am also carrying a bucket, just in case we trick or treat for her a little, AND a big ass camera.
Ellie would STROLLLLLLLL up to the house, after everyone else was running away with their bags full onto the next house. She was NOT in a hurry. After all, she had her mouth full of candy usually!
If I said, "Come on, Ellie" one time, I said it 10,ooo times!

I would get a little relief every now and then. Staci helped, and I had a childless (on this excursion anyway) friend, Kristi who tricked with us and helped me with Ellie.
Please note once again, Little Mama, swimming against the stream. Come on, Ellie!
Once we hijacked a vehicle for a ride to the back of the neighborhood, we did the SMART thing and thumbed a ride on a trailer! duh! This is our friend, and fellow gymnastics star, Jansen.
And this is Andrew. His dad was the driver of the four wheeler and trailer.
And Cole, ONE of his little brothers. He also has Jack, who was Ghost Rider for Halloween. Pretty clever, Jack! They also have one month old, Sam, at home, and little sister, Ella Kate, who you will see in just a bit.
Oompa Loompa Doompety Dooo....
See what I mean about the STROLLLLL?
I must admit... I thought it was pretty cute for a barely two year old to do the trick or treating this independently! I was taking pictures from the trailer, and actually was quite amazed at her independence. Can you see Staci at the front door with Maddi? Staci is in a gray and gold shirt. Staci, is that my shirt?
This right here is why I was still on the trailer.
Gabbi had found her a little personal playground!
Poor little no boot fittin, Gabbi Girl!
Have I mentioned she likes DumDum suckers?
and that she looks like Nanny McPhee?

To demonstrate the community project it was, that is Cynthia carrying one of mine. She is the mother to the FIVE I was mentioning earlier.
This being the only girl of the FIVE. This is Ella Kate. And do you love her tutu pumpkin cos-cume? Well, Lindsay can be thanked for that creation.
When the other kids were trick or treating, Tommy would go really really slow and let Gabbi Girl have a little fun of her own.
Ooompa Loompa Doompety Doooooo.....
Yessssss, Cynthia, I am getting you copies of these pictures. How doggone cute is this one?!
Here is our crew. Anja wore HER costume too, thank you very much. Come on, people, it is Halloween!! Anja is the one I mentioned before who is Staci's new business partner.
One of the houses we visited was Linda Lou's. There was a line out the door when we got there, but I did what any mature adult did and said, "MOVE OVER, kids" as I trudged my way to the front to get pictures of her with my babies.
Isn't that so sweet?
These little ones really acted so big as they went right up to those doors and held out their buckets. I was so proud of MIss E, as she pretty much always remembered her manners with a "Thaaaank you."
Yep. Staci, I think that IS my shirt.
At the BACK of the neighborhood, things were calmer. However, there was still wall to wall trailers. Only they were mostly LITTLE kids.
Coy made his first trick or treating trip with us. This is ANja's boy.
Finally, home sweet home. My arms were about to FALL off! Soooo glad to see Pops. Here, Pops, hold a sweet baby pirate for a while!
As usual, the boys were in the back watching football, namely LSU!
And to Todd's mom who asked, "Where was Todd?" when I sent her pictures of the night, HERE is where Todd was.... alllllllllllll night!!

Todd IS the resident cook. Everyone knows this. He preps the grill, mans the grill, and cleans the grill. No one even THINKS about trying to cook when Todd is around. He is the Grill Master! Period.

Ahhhhh, and a Nana was there too! Yessssssss. Here, Nana, hold a COUPLE of sweet baby pirates for a while!
Inside, the crew was gathering.
and my kids were getting ALLLLLL hyped up on candy. Halloween only comes once a year, so I said, "let er rip"!
And that concludes our Halloween story 2009. I have recently made a few more big ol' encyclopedia looking books out of my blog. I look forward to sharing these stories with my girls one day. This blog and those books are serving as my scrapbooks for the time being. Two little ones I know will NOT let me enter the art room without their company. So, I tend to avoid glue, glitter, stickers, etc. This blog lets me chronicle all these memories and stories in a non-glue, glitter, sticker way!
For future reference... Girls, we had a ball! Trick or treating with you was a fun experience. I hope to dress up with you and go out (on a trailer!!) for many years to come! Love you both more than you can know.

Mom