Halloween Was a Scream

This weekend was a lot of fun. The girls had a great time dressing up two days in a row, and we were all very excited to see my parents (i.e. Mimi and Papa).

Mimi and Papa came for almost 24 hours. They didn't get to stay for long, but we are so glad they could come. They showed up for a late dinner on Friday evening, and then hung around with us on Saturday. They left from First Fest (Houston's First Baptist's Fall Festival). Below is a picture of my mom with the my little cupcake bakers. These little bakers were labeled as chefs, cookie makers, strawberry shortcakes, but mostly just cute.

We got these cute little costumes from Granny Ruth a while ago. I originally thought it would be fun to dress them up as little cowgirls, but then I remembered these outfits, and couldn't go back. I love the picture of them below. They look as sweet as can be.

 After we got to First Fest, the girls jumped, played, petted animals in the petting zoo, received candy, and had a grand ole' time. I only wish we would have made it there a little earlier. It was hard for us to decide when to go this year since the festival is during nap time, but we had a great time with the hour and a half we had.

 The group of four below is (from left to right) Kelly Matte as Olive Oyl, Amber Cessac as Kelly Matte, Joey Cessac as Gregg Matte, and Pastor Gregg Matte as Popeye. How fun!

 Lydia and Julia were very into the candy this year! Well, they still are very into the candy. And, admittedly, so are Dave and I. Dave and I both took some to work to help get rid of it a.s.a.p.

We were all sad that we only got to see my parents for such a short time, but the girls rallied their spirits tolerably when they realized there was another night of candy collecting awaiting them. Dave and I wanted to use Halloween as another opportunity to get to know our neighbors better. We got lawn chairs and sat outside chatting with them until we went door to door and asked for candy. It was a lot of fun to re-learn every one's names and get to know them better.
My mom told me she wasn't allowed to go trick-or-treating when she was growing up because her dad felt like it was begging. I was sorta' in agreement with Grandpa this year. At least we gave away candy as well. Below is a picture of my little candy-mongers.

 Below is a (blurry night-time) photo of Julia chatting it up with Cinderella.

And, I also took a picture of some of the candy. So many people encouraged the girls to "take as much as they want". It was sort of hard to politely turn down the offer as my children scooped handfuls of candy into their bags, but we did our best. (One of the ladies had full size candy bars. They let the girls take from her bowl more than once.)

The girls had a great time, and way too much candy. They got to stay up a little later than normal, but we did have to cut out a little early because the girls started school today. It is an at-home preschool that we are trying out. They had a great time this morning, so I am curious to find out what the rest of this week is like and how the following week goes.

I had a really fun time at work too. I got to sit in on instructional classes for realtors wanting to learn how to better use social networking for their businesses. I learned a lot! I really think I am going to enjoy my job, and I didn't even feel like I didn't get to see my girls. There were a few tears this morning when I dropped the girls at preschool. However, they didn't come from my independent, inquisitive daughters. Just me.

I am so excited about these next few months. We are already listening to Christmas music in the car, and I am looking forward to a cooler week. Lydia loves the "Tinkerbell song" which is actually the well-known nutcracker song. Julia asked me if we could take her to the ballet to see them dance to the nutcracker song today. Of course, I am just dieing to make this happen now. We'll see. Anyway, thanks for reading. You all are the best! -Amber