HALLOWEEN 2018

It's been a weird week with crazy weather and switched up schedules and lots of costume changes.  But, we have made it to the end of October.  We are running on fumes and were in bed, asleep, by 10 last night (super early for us), but we made it.  I *think* November might be less crazy, but our kitchen remodel is ramping up starting tomorrow, so I could be WAY off on that. 😜

We were the Spenst Seasons, which included Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy (isn't that a season of life?), a Halloween Fairy, 'Merica and Cupid.

The Tooth Fairy had a toothbrush wand and a floss tiara.

The Halloween Fairy utilized her dance costume and added orange leggings, plus a Halloween headband and wings.

The Easter Bunny loved her costume, which included a cute little cotton tail.

Santa was so excited to ride Rudolph around the neighborhood.  So funny.

'Merica was a good sport putting on his 4th of July outfit.

We enjoyed Family Fest at our church on Sunday night, though they did NOT enjoy having their picture taken, except Violet.



The predictions for Wednesday's weather were so bad that most of Little Rock moved Trick-or-Treating to Tuesday night.  Our kids racked up the candy, which we totally needed more of.

Tonight, on actual Halloween, we had friends over and did a movie night with the kiddos sans costumes.  It was actually really relaxing, something which can certainly not usually be said about Halloween with kids.  We were under a tornado watch the entire time, but it mainly just rained a ton.

I also had fun with the little Halloween baking I did this year.  Again, with our kitchen getting underway, it's been hard to plan.

I'm glad that we are through it all, because though I love the fun, I am ready for a slight break in the costuming department.

Here's a trip down Halloween memory lane!

{2017} {2016} {2015} {2014} {2013} {2012} {2011}

BELLA'S AMAZING RACE PARTY

John and I are Amazing Race super fans, and in the last couple of seasons, we've started letting the big girls watch with us, which led to Bella requesting an Amazing Race party when she turned 8, and I was more than happy to oblige.





We sent out invites in Amazing Race clue envelopes.



I found a fabulous printable set through Etsy that I used to create the clues and race markers.  I used a LOT of ideas from Millions of Miles party that I changed to work for us.

We ended up having the most gorgeous fall day for our race, which was an unexpected bonus.  I had toyed around with the idea of going all over town, but realized with kids mostly ages 7-12, we were probably better off staying in the neighborhood.  As kids arrived, everyone drew a colored bandana to determine partners.



I gave them a few ground rules and handed them their first clue.

Once they had on shoes, their next clue pointed them to the backyard.  Finding enough pennies from 2010 was actually tricky for me.

From there, kids had to race to the park in our neighborhood.  Some asked for directions, and some just took off running, the long way.  Which is a lot like what happens on the actual race.  But, everyone made it, and they definitely had their fill of candy and cereal from the little cups before they found the smiley faces.

Once they found a marked cup, they were directed to a race vehicle to be driven to their next clue, where they received a poem that had to be memorized and recited before they could move on.

From there, everyone headed back to our house for one of my favorite things to watch - Make a Pucker OR Make Butter.  Life is full of difficult choices.  About half the kids swallowed the peppers, while the other half gladly shook their butter.

Once they had completed one of the tasks, I handed them the next clue to go do a 48 piece puzzle.

For one final test, teams had to walk up and down the driveway carrying a golf ball on a spoon in their mouth before they could check in to the PIT STOP and finish the race!

The Pink Team won the grand prize of $10 each, and the birthday girl had a blast, even though she didn't win.

We cracked into the snacks, cut the cake and mingled with the sweet friends and family that came to celebrate our Bella girl.

We sent racers on their way with cookies.




Honestly, I felt like I was throwing this party together at the last minute, and it was so fun and relieving to see it come together.  It also made me want to plan other Amazing Races, and it is really fun to have kids that can read clues and follow through tasks.  Special shout outs to my mom and John's parents who helped make this possible, as well as dear friends that agreed to run down the hill with the kids (even when I hadn't given her exact details 😬) or man the station at the park or drive vehicles with wound up kiddos or answer their door and pass out clues.  And John always get a party MVP award, because he is game on to help with any craziness I have cooked up.

The Amazing Race was a great way to celebrate Bella turning 8!

To see past Spenst parties, click here!