Halloween Recap

Cat ears - DIY // Baseball Tee // Black Leggings // Moccs

We went to our church Halloween festival for some easy and safe fun with Anabelle. I decided to dress her up as a cat with simple glitter embellished cat ears, a plain baseball tee, black leggings and Potato Feet moccasins. It was super easy, and she totally adored it! We were practicing working on our, "meow" all week long. She totally nailed it.

She had a carpet burn on her sweet face from jumping off the bed (no idea where she got that from), and it was freezing outside, but we had so much fun! She played a few games, ate a waffle burger straight from a food truck, went trick or treating inside the church and managed to consume just a few pieces of candy. She finally crashed around 10:00pm, which is the latest she's ever been awake! 

I loved the simplicity of this year's Halloween! The look on her face when she got to wear makeup like mommy was priceless, and it's a look I hope to never forget. I soaked up every minute of Halloween, since I'm positive next year, she'll be able to tell me exactly what she wants to be. With a smile and a head tilt. And it won't be as easy, but it will be just as fun. 

Until we meet again, Halloween.

Check In: October Advent Calendar

Here's the four-one-one from our October Advent Calendar list. We completed almost the entire list, and I'm pretty proud of our progress. 
1. Plant a pumpkin. 2. Drink spooky hot chocolate. 3.  Make Halloween tees 4. Visit Blessington Farms. 5. Decorate the house. 6. Have a dance party to Halloween music.  7. Make candy corn pics.  8. Make pumpkin cookies.   9. Have a boo bath. 10. Go on a nature walk. 11. Visit zoo boo. 12. Watch a scary movie.  13. Have a mini pumpkin painting party.  14. Paint monster rocks.  15. Make Halloween garland. 16. Plant a fall harvest. 17. Try pumpkin beer.  18. Train ride. 19. Try on Halloween costumes.  20. Make coffee filter spider webs. 21. Make Halloween party hats.  22. Make pumpkin pizzas.  23. Tell ghost stories.  24. Make cat headbands.  25. Go to the festival. 26. Make bat crafts.  27. Make herbed butter.  29. Make Halloween necklaces.  30. Watch a scary movie. 31. Go to the church festival. (tonight)

Looking back at this list, I'm so glad that I did this with my little nugget. We had so much fun this month! Instead worrying about the laundry or running errands, we put everything else on hold and enjoyed time together as a family. Sometimes, I tend to get lost in everything we have to do and forget that this time with Anabelle as she approaches two years won't last forever. And let's face it, those three piles of laundry will wait for you. Forever. 

We made it to another festival, played it as smart kids and wore our summer clothes and hats. Even though Anabelle was exhausted before we even made it there, we still enjoyed seeing the famous Olate Dogs, petting Huskies and grubbing on food truck grilled cheese. Hearing her squeal in excitement to go to another festival didn't hurt either.

Tank // Shorts
We also made Halloween party hats and tried on Halloween costume accessories. 

I wanted to make pumpkin pizzas, but I couldn't figure out how to make the face, so we made spider pizzas instead. Anaballe "helped" by eating the cheese and pizza sauce straight off the dough as I made a sad attempt at creating a spider web. 

Tee // Rolled jeans

Even though our pizza was riddled with toddler hands, it tasted incredible. I swear those are spiders. 

I totally failed at the zoo boo, since I was flying solo one weekend. I attempted to brave the zoo alone, until Anabelle had a total meltdown one hour upon waking. So I panicked, and we ended up going to the playground. There were lots of other kids there, so it was almost zoo-like.

Herbed butter will be made in November. That sounds like a good side dish for Thanksgiving, right? I think so. Bring on the leggings.

Happy Halloween everyone! Calories don't count today. Get it.

Our Halloween Decor

Candlesticks - Homegoods and TJMaxx // Advent Calendar - DIY // Halloween Garland - DIY

Frame, Candle and Wicker basket - Homegoods // Pumpkins - Blessington Farms and Target

Since I've managed to let an entire week escape from the blog (hello wife and mommy duties), here's a few pictures of our Halloween decor around the house. 

I felt a little festive and made some Halloween garlands to string on the mirror at the entry way and on the mantle, along with our advent calendar, a few black candles and pumpkins, we're all set and ready for the holiday! 

I'm a minimalist decorator at heart, which probably explains why most of my walls are still bare. That's why holidays are my favorite, since it's an excuse to decorate without making any permanent decisions. 

I hope your Monday is wonderful, friends!

Halloween Monster Rocks

We're knee deep in our October Advent Calendar over here, so things have been a bit hectic because I want to do allthethings. Anabelle doesn't mind it one bit. 


We used the (free!) rocks we collected from our nature walk, and painted Halloween monster rocks. But first, we had a quick snack sesh. Anabelle was running around having a tea party with her stuffed animals, and didn't want to go downstairs to eat. So, I brought snack to her like a princess, and grabbed a kale salad for myself. Kale is my jam. 

We brought out our fancy dishware that consists of a toddler tea cup set, and blue-striped bowls from college. You can even spot a chip on the side if you look closely. True life. I could use a set of new white dishes. My birthday is coming up. Are you reading, dear husband? After we discussed her snack time fullness, I brought out several colors of Tulip fabric paint and let her pick whatever color who heart craved. Her first choice? Red. Probably because she's an intense mini creature on an emotional roller coaster ride. 

While I held onto the paint tube, I let her dip the paint brush inside, and told her to cover the entire rock in paint. I like to take risks and live dangerously, which is why I've never placed a drop cloth on this beautiful table her grandparents gave her. Put that on my list too, husband.

Monster rock painting takes serious concentration. Shhhh, please be quiet while the artist is at work. Also, no feeding the animals.

She made through three rocks, and about ten minutes of painting before she put the paint in her mouth. Game over, Anabelle. Post clean up was a melt down, but eating paint isn't like wine tasting, friends. I didn't want to make my first call to poison control. I imagine the call would go something like this: Mommy: My toddler licked the cap of the fabric paint several times.  Operator: Okay, ma'am. Where did the paint come from? Mommy: Uhh... we were painting monster rocks. Operator: .... That would be a story to tell.  Anabelle isn't coordinated enough for monster faces, so I took over at this point. After the tantrum melt down, I painted a silly face on each rock, and threw on some glitter. What's a monster without a few speckles of super fine gold glitter that eventually landed all over my desk and carpet? And I keep finding on the bottoms of everyone's feet. While I was trying to take a quick snap shot of the monster rocks in the yellowy early morning light, her grubby little hands snatched one away. Take one.

She ran away to her play kitchen, rocks in hand, and threw them in a pan on the stove top. After a few whisking motions, they weren't cooking fast enough, so she popped them in the microwave for a minute or two. Monster rocks for two is served. This toddler is a chef in the making.

Glitter bottomed feet and rock filled bellies in this household. I bet older kiddos with imaginations can draw any kind of monster they desired! 

October Advent Calendar

I thought it would be a fun to put our toddler friendly October bucket list into an Advent Calendar. I've wanted to do this for quite some time, but I'm so disorganized, I can't seem to get it together! New Year's resolutions, anyone? See, I'm getting ahead of myself again, and it's barely October.  I bought black paper sacks from Michael's along with some "grown-up" stickers. Inside each sack is an activity written on Halloween themed scrap book paper. I really love the way it turned out! The calendar gives our mantle a festive pop, and Anabelle already exclaimed, "ooooh!" #winning

I won't take credit for this brilliant idea, though. I originally saw it on Pinterest, and after much digging, found the original link at The Coterie Blog. I modified the design and made it more suitable for my taste. 

The activity to kick off the first day of October was pumpkin planting. I found this cute little pumpkin starter kit in the Target dollar section aka the black hole of all things you really don't need, but somehow negotiate with yourself in two nanoseconds. 

Anabelle planted the pumpkin seeds, with her helpful mommy assistant. She insisted on dumping the seeds and dirt out on the grass. It took several coaxes to get her to gently place the pot inside the garden. I think she did a pretty fine job.

And like a skillful gardener, she went back to check on the new addition. Like a sneaky smart little toddler, she scooped up the pot, seeds and all, and took them to her playhouse when I wasn't looking. 

Her sidekick, Joey came by to help, too. They are like Batman and Robin, these two.

Fall has got some major fun plans for us. I can't wait to enjoy them with Anabelle and share them all  with you :)

Toddler Friendly October Bucket List

Happy October! Since it's the first day of October, I wanted to share our toddler friendly October bucket list. Instead of having Fall loving ideas floating around in my head, I thought it would be a better idea to write them down. I'm so excited to enjoy the Fall season with Anabelle. Last year, she was too young (read: cranky) to do anything much, so I'm doubling up our fun-filled activities for this year. 

And here's a sneak peek on something we're working on that I can't wait to reveal tomorrow! Hint: it has something to do with the aforementioned bucket list. 

Have you guys created a bucket list for Fall yet? I can't wait to see your ideas. 

I'm linking up with Jess and Ashley today. Thanks again, ladies.