Happy Halloween!

We had a busy day yesterday beginning with Juliana's Halloween Celebration at school. She decided long ago she wanted to be a butterfly. She wore her fairy dress with wings attached and I painted a butterfly on her face. She looked very cute and did a great job singing the songs. One of them she's been singing a lot and for the longest time I couldn't figure out the lyrics. Her version: "Oh, why are our moms in our classroom, I feel that it's for me, I can work I can play with my friends and sometimes just with me." Um...it just doesn't make sense, right? And then, after weeks, I tell ya, I could hear the ding when the light bulb finally went off in my head that the words to the song are: "Oh, I love my MONTESSORI classroom." Don't ya just love it?! Kathryn sang this song last year and my brain finally caught on. Well, you'd think my epiphany would help my child with her song. Yeah, no. Please remember I am the parent of a 4-year old and we all know 4-year olds know everything and I have one of the more stubborn varieties of the 4-year old species so she sings it correctly and that's the end of the discussion. After the parade and songs, we went into her classroom for donut holes and apple cider. She had a great time showing me all the different works and telling me about each. It was a treat because Kathryn was always very tight-lipped about school offering very short, generic answers to my questions about her days.

We hit Wal-Mart on our way home to spruce up Juliana's costume a little (it's always nice to have that trial run so you can see what needs work.) We got her a black leotard, black tights, and a black headband, pipe cleaners and pom poms to make her antennae. She looked much more like a butterfly with the modifications.

We invited several friends over for a playgroup and 3 of our neighbors (Ava, Jamie and Anna) joined us to play and decorate Halloween cookies. The girls (all around 4 years old) got along wonderfully and had a great time. Alexander went down for a nap and I had time to catch up with my friends, Lou Ann and Julie.

By the time Nate got home at 5:30, it was time to get faces painted and kids in their costumes. After a flurry of activity, they were off into the night. I manned the door and had a nice treat when the doorbell rang and I saw Alexander's face peeking through the window. I do love when my own little ones "trick or treat" me, as Kathryn says. They had a good time and all came back with a lot of loot that I'm trying desperately to keep my grubby paws out of today.

Without further ado, I give you the Butterfly, the Tiger and the Cow:




Alexander was the third and last to wear the cow costume I made for Kathryn when she was 2. He didn't disappoint in his role: every time Nate asked, "What do you say?", Alexander replied, "Mooo." He was so cute and it turns out I picked the perfect age to make the costume since 2-year olds don't yet have an opinion!

Stay tuned for past Halloweens in tomorrow's Friday Flashback post.