Happy Halloween!

As a little girl, I loved Halloween! In fact, my first 'real' job was working at a Halloween Costume store.  As much as I thought I loved Halloween, having kids made me absolutely BONKERS for Halloween.

The first year, I dressed my little baby up like a cow, and took him around the neighborhood to Trick-o-treat, even though he was less than 6 months old! I ate all the candy. 

FUNNY FARM 

The next year, I was a crazy busy mom with an 18 month old and twin 6 month olds, but it was so fun creating a little theme for our costumes. My oldest was a little farmer and the twins were little farm animals (a duck and cow).

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Surprise! Surprise! The next year, we added another baby to the mix and another character opportunity!  With my husband being from Kansas City, it made total sense to dress the kiddos like the characters from The Wizard of Oz: 

JUST THINK HAPPY THOUGHTS

The following year, my costume obsession continued, and since the kiddos were into Peter Pan, our decision was easy! I love and cherish these gorgeous shots taken by the talented Janet Howard. 

TO INFINITY AND BEYOND (or not... )

Last year, my Toy Story obsessed children made their first visit ever to the theaters to see Toy Story 3. They were all pumped to dress like the characters, and I was equally excited! To capture this moment, we had Janet come back out to take their pictures! 

Woody

Buzz

Mr. Potato Head

A very sad Jessie

This is where all my fun came to a screeching halt. My little girl, who was so excited to be Jessie,  boldly walked into her little preschool classroom for her little Halloween party to show off her costume. As the first girl at the party, all the teachers made over her, and she was just so proud! 

Proud, until every other little girl walked in as a princess. 

I could see her fighting back the tears, and then my 4 year old looked at me and said "I don't want to wear this anymore". She spent most of the party wearing her normal clothes.  

I felt so horrible! 

That night, my boys went trick-o-treating in their Toy Story costumes, and she went dressed as Snow White.  She agreed to put the Jessie costume back on for these pictures, but you can see that she was less than thrilled. 

At that point, I realized that my babies were growing up, and Halloween was more about them... than me!

So, it was the end of an era...

I have had SO MUCH fun over the years going out trick-o-treating with my little themed troop, which is why I am using this blog post to skip down memory lane. 

HOWEVER,  I am equally excited to see my little ones pick their own costumes! 

Tonight, I will be out and about with Spider Man, the Green Lantern, Belle, and Woody, and I really feel like I couldn't have come up any better combo of costumes! 

Happy Halloween!

xoxo 

Cow, Funny Farm and Wizard of Oz pictures by Picture People (www.picturepeople.com)

Peter Pan and Toy Story pictures by Janet Howard Studio (www.janethowardstudio.com)