Fall Fun

We didn't throw a big party for Kendall's birthday, Evan's birthday was yesterday and then Halloween falling on a Saturday seemed to be enough reasons to invite some friends over for fun!

I really love having people in our home and I'm thankful that I learned it from my mom. She was really good at opening up their home to people. She never felt the need to be elaborate--she would find a new recipe to try out or buy a new serving piece--just something to make the event special. My parents never lived in a fancy house or had fancy things, but they entertained anyway, and entertained all kinds. Oh how I cherish these lessons!

I think we ended up with about six families at our house this evening. It's always so neat to see how space and food expand! At the beginning of the week, there was a 70% chance of rain and I came really close to cancelling, since the plan was for the kids to play outside. I knew I could clean up the basement for some extra space, but what in the world could we do inside with the kids??? By yesterday morning, the rain chances decreased to about 20%, and we ended up with no rain at all! It all came last night, and the weather ended up being decent enough for the kids to enjoy being outside.

The great fall comfort foods of hot dogs and chili were served, and we ended up having enough chili leftover to send some home with one family, plus more for us to put in the freezer! I made homemade iced sugar cookies in the shape of pumpkins and leaves for dessert. I also had each family bring a bag of candy and we set up a "candy bar" for the kids to fill paper sacks.

Costumes were optional, although I think most ended up being dressed as something. We had a puppy, Yoda, Snow White, Beauty Queen, Dallas Cowboy football player, a bride, a dinosaur, and a lady bug. All the kids were super cute!

I have to be honest and say that I've really struggled with Halloween costumes for Kendall in the last two years. I don't know...I guess I'm cheap. She's not really "into" anything yet, and it's not like she's got a sibling that I can dress in coordinating costumes. I looked at a couple of costumes with wings and masks, and even showed Evan, but he didn't think it was worth it because she probably wouldn't keep them on for very long. I just can't fork over the money for a costume that she will only wear once unless it's something she could put in her dress up basket. Maybe next year I will come up with something...we'll see!

For the party, I was just going to let her wear jeans and a fall shirt, but Evan said, "She can be a Razorback cheerleader!" So we put her in her cheer-leading uniform and she was cute all the same, especially since she wore her red and black lady bug boots to match.

The kids spent most of the time outside playing. The swing set is always a hit and Preston and Erica brought their inflatable bouncer over, which was tons of fun for the kiddos.

I think Kendall's dinner consisted of a couple of bites of chili, two Capri Suns, and lots and lots of candy. She was in bed before 8:00 tonight without ever hearing a peep! Hopefully, she'll sleep right through that extra hour we gain tonight! :)

It was a fun way to spend the evening!