Halloween

This year Olivia really got into Halloween.  A few months ago we were talking about what costume she would wear.  I suggested a strawberry, but both she and Matt vetoed that.  As I continued to suggest potential costumes, she said no to each one.  So I finally asked her what she wanted to be and she replied "an M&M!"  Matt and I both laughed because she is obsessed with M&Ms and this is her go-to treat, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought it was a cute idea.  I set out in search of an M&M costume, but couldn't find one little enough for her.  After some inspiration from Etsy and Pinterest and a long pep-talk from my mom, I decided to try and create my own costume.  I think it turned out pretty cute!

Here are some pics from her school's Halloween parade

After the parade, the school has their Fall Festival.  We have never been before because Olivia always seemed too little, but we were so glad we went this year.  She had a blast and still talks about all the games she played!

And, we decided last Sunday's rainy morning was the perfect time to decorate our pumpkins and bake some Halloween cookies for her teachers.

She had 2 pumpkins this year, so she declared she would make one happy and one sad one.  Matt expressed some less than positive comments about carving a pumpkin, so when I found these foam stickers I quickly snagged them.  I think it was perfect for Olivia (and Matt).  It was quick enough to hold her attention and low-maintenance enough that she could do everything on her own!

Olivia has never really helped me cook before.  Matt and I are paranoid about sharp knives and hot stoves/ovens, so we usually try to keep her as far away from the actual kitchen as possible.  But, I figured that making sugar cookies was harmless enough and when I asked her if she wanted to help, she got SO excited!

She really loved it that we had to melt the butter.  She still talks about how the butter was hard and then soft! But that pretty much was the end of her excitement about the cookies.  She half-heartedly stirred the batter and then begrudgingly scooped some of the dough onto a cookie sheet.  After putting down about 3 cookies, she told me she was "all done" and that she wanted to jump.  So...she got off the stool and stood in the middle of my kitchen yelling "jump! jump! jump!" and 'jumping' (note: her feet never actually leave the ground) up and down, while I finished making the cookies.

Her enthusiasm peaked a bit when the cookies were done baking and it was time to decorate.  I got some sprinkles and some candy eyes to decorate them.  Again, she was less interested in actually decorating the cookies than eating the icing and the eyes.

 (Note: she looks mad here because I told her that she couldn't eat any more of those candy eyes!  I figured 10 was more than enough!)

After I saw her lick her fingers and then touch the cookies, I decided these 3 would be for our family and I'd decorate the ones for her teachers myself!

And finally the big day arrived! There were torrential showers until about 3:00 when the sky cleared up, the sun came out, and parents all over Houston breathed a sigh of relief.  We continued our Williams-Dean trick-or-treating tradition and everyone had a ball!