Halloween!

I'll be honest.  Halloween is usually not my favorite holiday.  I do not enjoy being scared, and I'm definitely not into anything gory or creepy.  However, with the baby due 5 days after Halloween this year, I was really excited to see pumpkins and bats and witches showing up on my neighbor's porches early in October.  It made me feel like my due date was approaching faster!  My mental due date was "after Halloween."  And if you asked the kids when the baby was coming, they both knew to answer "after Halloween."  So I was really looking forward to the holiday because I was really looking forward to having a baby!

The kids and I went shopping for their costumes mid-October, and of course they had to try them on immediately when we got home!

Cassie wanted to be something "scary" this year, and she chose a black cat.  Benson is pretty passionate about trains right now, so he chose Thomas the train.

 Naturally, they had to try on each other's costumes as well!

I did a Halloween recital with my students this year, which was a lot of fun!  Some of their songs were "scary" sounding, but for the most part it was just a fun recital where they got to wear their costumes and have treats afterwards.  It was perfect timing with the baby coming- I am done teaching until January!

The cute two-year-old in the front is not one of my students, but her older sister had to leave early, so I guess she is standing in for her. :) Cassie IS one of my students, though!  I started teaching her at the beginning of September, and she played "Old MacDonald had a Farm."  She loves playing piano and is really catching on to everything quickly!  I will probably keep teaching her a little during the next few months.

We squeezed in some pumpkin carving the afternoon before Halloween.  The kids both chose to carve their pumpkins to match their costumes.  So...Benson's pumpkin is a train.  Don't mock my carving skills.

The cat looks pretty good though, right?

Cassie is taking dance from one of my friends in our neighborhood, and parents were invited to come watch class the day before Halloween.  I loved seeing Tanya teach (She is awesome.  I really can't say enough good things about her teaching!) and seeing what Cassie is learning.  Cassie is the skinny black cat in the pictures. :)

Benson and I went to the Kindergarten Halloween parade at Cassie's school, and Benson dressed up in his costume as well.  Here he is waiting for the parade to start (I really can't get enough of his "cheese" face.  Isn't he cute?)

A fuzzy picture of my favorite black cat in the parade:

Grandma and Grandpa K came trick-or-treating with the kids on Halloween night.  It was the perfect evening!  I made soup, so we all ate a little to warm up before and after trick-or-treating.  I let my parents and Trevor walk the kids around the neighborhood while I sat on the porch with a bowl of candy and just had fun talking to all the neighbors and seeing all the cute kids in their costumes.

I caught a blurry nighttime shot of the kids holding hands on their way down the street:

Here they are, post trick-or-treating and pre candy-binge.  (Just kidding- they only got three pieces that night, and they get one or two each day from here on out.  That candy should last them at least through Thanksgiving.)

Reading bedtime stories with Grandma and Grandpa:

I am glad to say that I really enjoyed Halloween this year!  I think having kids will make me like this holiday more!