A Haunted 4th Birthday

This weekend we celebrated Vera's 4th birthday with a "Monster Party". She was pretty adamant that we have a Halloween theme this year, and I was all too happy to accommodate her. We went a little overboard on the decorations, but why not? I've collected a giant array of curiosities over the years, and I finally put them all out at once. Vera was thrilled and loved everything. She wasn't scared of anything except for the werewolf in bathroom. She refused to go potty without an adult to ensure that the wolf stayed put and would not get her. Lucy loved it all and wasn't one ounce of scared. 

Lucy hanging out with Sulley the skeleton. He helped keep kiddos off the stairs.

I painted a few signs and picture frames to add to the spooky atmosphere. 

Thanks to Uncle Dan's fingers and foot, we were able to create a cabinet of spare body parts

My little monsters with my homemade picture frames

And then they were done taking pictures

Waiting for her friends to arrive in her saddle shoes from Aunt Heidi. Thank you, they make the outfit!

Hilarious

We painted pumpkins and then made "bone"  necklaces out of spray painted pasta. The kids had a blast and my entryway was filled with glitter. 

My neighbors even came as Anna an Kristoff. Amazing!

Then we headed outside for some pumpkin bowling and "mummy" races. Vera said her favorite part of the party was wrapping me up in toilet paper.  

She wanted to eat my "monster" cupcakes all day.

Lucgoose ate about four. Every time I turned around someone had given her another one. She had purple icing all over her, hence the bumblebee costume and not her actual costume for the big night. 

The was my  Pinterest fail. Vera wanted a monster cake  and I found an "easy" version online. My first mistake was that the orange and blue "fur" was pastel and not boldly colored. The second mistake was attempting to put eyes on the monster. I finally just quit while I was ahead and called it a Halloween cake. It did taste good, so I guess that saved the day.

Lucy after her third cupcake

And then we had a pinata. It was hilarious. All the kids slowly chanted for each other as the took turns beating the tar of the pumpkin. As you can see, Veve was really hoping that the candy would fall out here.

Sixteen 4-year-olds charged the busted pinata, screaming in delight as they grabbed for sugary goodness 

"What happened to all the candy," questioned Lucgoose?

We sang and ate cake; I love Vera's face here. Pure happiness. 

My sweet Veve. I can't believe she is almost four! She is such a blessing to us, and we love her to pieces. 

After all that fun, the kids went back outside and had a blast trashing the backyard. It looked like a frat part went down. Let it never be said that a Terry girl doesn't know how to party! Happy birthday Veve! We love you bunches!

Pumpkin Patch

We live a block away from the neighborhood pumpkin patch. As a result we visit it multiple times a week, all month long. The girls love it and act like they have never been before every time.

Every princess needs to visit the patch at least once

Sweet sister kisses

Showing off her boots

Vera will only stick her head through the ghost face. whatever. 

Looking ornery as tar

Lucy wants to do everything Vera does. 

Lucy wanted to put her head through the werewolf so badly, but she was just a smidgen too short

It's the Great Lucgoose! 

We have to visit the pumpkins after dance class on Mondays 

A pumpkin patch sister picture swing and a miss. We've had a great time visiting the patch all month. Until next year...

The Many Faces of Ve

The other day at the park Vera was explaining emotions to me. I snapped a few pictures because she made me giggle. 

Vera called this her angry face, believe me, it's not. 

Not to be confused with her "silly face"

Her "shy" face

Sweet and happy Ve; this i.s my personal favorite Ve

Buzz

Matthew has been really busy with work lately, so when he returned from traveling to California, we forced him to go to Magic Kingdom with us. 

Holy cow, we're all looking at the camera 

Lucy put her head in Buzz's hand and kept it there for two solid minutes. Everyone was laughing, but I think Lucgoose found her happy place. 

Matthew encouraged the girls to play with Prince Charming swords in the middle of the store. I applaud a girl who can handle a deadly weapon, but not in the Fairy Godmother's store.

The girls in front of Cinderella's dress

Lucy and Matthew taking a ride on Buzz; please note that Matthew's score labeled him a "Galactic Hero" while Lucy was a mere "Star Cadet".

Lucgoose giving Cinderella one of her patent-pending lean in hugs

I love that Vera just sits down next to her like she owns the place.

Lucy really looks up to Rapunzel

Boo To You

October in Orlando means it's time for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. I love Halloween and see this becoming a tradition for us. This year we all dressed up as 50s people; Matthew even greased his hair.

On our way out after a wonderfully spooky time. Vera, thanks to a late nap, made it till midnight. 

In front of the spooky castle

Vera and me in Frontierland waiting for the Boo to You parade to start

Being silly with Daddy

This was the best we could do. Veve was in a sugar induced giggle mode.  

Trick or treating on Tom Sawyer's walkway. My favorite was walking through the Enchanted Tiki room when it was all decorated for Halloween. A close second would be the Haunted Mansion. All the workers had special makeup and there were special ghosts around. Super fun!

Watching the Villains stage show

Watching the Boo You parade in her Daddy's arms. 

Watching the ghosts from The Haunted Mansion twirl by. One even stopped by to say hello to us. Cruella DeVil came over and scared the tar out of Vera too, she couldn't scoot back fast enough. 

Goofy and his candy float. It actually made the street smell like fresh cotton candy. Well done Disney. 

My greaser and his steady gal

Yo ho, yo ho, trick-or-treating for me!

Trick-or-treating at Pirates of the Caribbean. It was a wonderful night with my favorite people!