halloweenies.

 i did not tell them to pose like this. they are seriously gazing at each other lovingly.

i really overdid it. i've always made costumes for the girls, but this year i got a little too ambitious. the girls are finally in a stage where they can entertain themselves and leave me alone (for longer periods of time, at least) to do big projects. so when ellie got her heart set on being merida from brave, i found a pattern online and made it into my own. i didn't want poppy to be left out, so i got an equally intense snow white pattern and told myself i could do it.

well, several trips to the fabric store for the right materials, lots of ripped seams, lots of interruptions, lots of chocolate, and some long nights later, i did it! they turned out really nice, and they are washable and durable so they girls can wear them for dress-up, too. part of me is more than ready for the next sewing project and the other part of me hopes that next year's costumes can be done with some makeup and a hot glue gun.

 we get this face a lot lately.

as usual, the days leading up to halloween were so exciting. every time we went to the store we had to visit "the spooky aisles" and the girls would shriek and laugh and want me to tell them about all the "pooky" and "cary" stuff. on halloween day we walked past a woman dressed as a witch at the store and the girls immediately started screaming their very best screams. i didn't even see her until they started screaming and the poor woman was so startled. then the girls started laughing and i explained to the witch that they loved spooky things and being scared. i think it made her day.

she loved that it was a good dress for spinning. 

the girls did trunk-or-treating one night and regular trick-or-treating the next, with a halloween party in between. it was just about a full 24 hours of partying. we're so lucky to have so many things to do and such wonderful people to do them with us.

on halloween night, we trick-or-treated in grammie and popop's neighborhood. ellie got tired pretty early and told me she wanted to go back to their house.
"what about candy?" i asked.
"i can just get candy from poppop."
how about that for strategy?

they both ended up helping with handing out candy and i think they enjoyed it more than trick-or-treating. they were yelling at kids in the street to come get candy. poppy kept saying "kids! come ova heah! kids! come on!" and she handed them candy out of her own bucket. ellie helped herself to the candy while she waited for kids to come by (and i think that's another reason why she liked handing it out). they were so sweet, i think my heart almost burst. toward the end, ellie said, "this is a great night."

she was right.