The Heckman Family: Phew...Halloween Re-Cap

This past week just about did me in.

We've been going non-stop around here with Fall Festivals, Halloween parties, class parties, birthday parties, a school parade and a partridge and a pear tree. No, wait... wrong holiday.

I've done my best to savor every moment of the holiday craziness, knowing that next year, the boys will be a year older, and things will continue to become more "baby-ish" or "un-cool" to them. I couldn't get Payton to do any Halloween crafts this year. He just didn't seem to have any interest. And while I always knew there would come a day when he would grow out of wanting to do crafts with his mom, I just don't think I realized it would be quite this soon. Kinda one of those "wish I would have seen it coming" moments.

And despite the fact that we couldn't even see Payton trick-or-treating most of the night last night because he was far, FAR in front of us with all his friends, I did still feel the child-like magic that comes from dressing up in costumes, looking at spooky decorations and enjoying way to much candy...even from my very cool 8-year old.

And while I'm looking forward to a much slower month in November, I know we'll ramp things back up in December for a month-long Christmas spectacular celebration. But in the meantime, here is a major photo dump from the past week of Halloween festivities...

We did finally visit our favorite pumpkin patch and take some photos of the boys. The ones below were taken with my friend's DSLR camera that she is letting me borrow. I can't believe the difference a good camera makes!

This is the first year Payton has carved his own pumpkin. It made this mama very nervous to see him stabbing and sawing away, but he did great and the pumpkin turned out just perfect!

Parker is so photogenic sometimes.

Instead of having the kids dress up in their Halloween costumes, Payton's school has a book/vocabulary parade every year. Depending on their grade, the student chooses either a book or a vocabulary word and then dresses up as that character/word. This year, Payton teamed up with one of his good friends to be the word, "Jack-O-Lantern."


Parker anxiously awaiting Payton in the school parade.

Immediately after the parade, the class had their Fall Centers. They made adorable crafts and yummy treats. It was really fun.

Then I raced from Payton's school, over to Parker's school for his Fall Party. The kids made foam sticker crafts, listened to fall books and then had a fun snack.

How cute are these little munchkins?

Particularly, this little munchkin. :)

And then of course as the sun went down, the spooks and gouls (and Superheroes) appeared for a night of trick-or-treating.

Yes, that's Payton behind that scary costume.

Parker doing his "Spiderman Shooters." (Don't mind the mismatched shoes, it's his signature look)

Sorry for the blurry pic. That's what you get when you ask an 8-yr old to take the photo.

Personally, I think they're much cuter withOUT their masks on.

Basically this was our view for most of the trick-or-treating... all of the kids' backs. (Someone definitely thought he was one of the big kids.)

Parker really got into trick-or-treating this year. I think 2 is the best age for holidays. He is awe-struck by just about everything. Each bowl of candy was a new adventure for him.