While Macie and I napped, Mom and Uncle Will put the finishing touches on our Halloween decorations for the house. They were still working right up until dusk when my friend Bella and her family came over to join us for some trick or treating!
Here are a few shots of the House- my favorite part was the fog coming from the Zombie crawling through the graveyard in our foyer...
You can't tell by simply looking at the pictures, but we had all sorts of noise activated devices in and around the yard. To set them off, Mom taped bubble wrap to the sidewalks; when someone walked to the front door they would step on the bubbles and make a loud popping noise which would set off a plethora of moving spiders, booing ghosts, shrieking ghouls, and flashing lights.
I was proud of all the hard work we put into the pumpkins, because they helped to make the house look super spooky!!!
Bella, Macie, and I put our costumes on in a rush as we were super excited to go trick-or-treating! Here are some pictures of Bella and I dressed as a scary ghost and a creepy zombie.
Mom dressed Macie in her fire costume since it was the only one she would actually keep on, and she joined us for some pictures before we went out to hunt for some candy.
Macie had a ton of fun playing with Dad's flashlight as she went up and down the street yelling "I FIRE, I FIRE"!!!
Although I was a little slower than normal, I still had a great time!
Macie enjoyed her first "real" Halloween (at least the first one she could actually participate in), but wasn't too interested in keeping up with the pack- she kept wandering off the sidewalks, meandering along....
Here she is in action...
Macie was really only interested in the candy, and while no one was looking would eat the candy as fast as possible (wrapper and all.)
Macie was really only interested in the candy, and while no one was looking would eat the candy as fast as possible (wrapper and all.)
Here are some videos of all of us in action:
After a half an hour of trick or treating we made a pit stop back home to pick up Hayley, John, and Holly for round two. Hollywood dressed up for the occasion...
John dressed as a Vet, which to those of you who know John didn't require much effort since he is one. At least he dressed up, all the other adults were boring this year!
Back out for round two I could barely keep up- my little legs were worn out, and my poor little body was struggling to hang on.
Macie felt much better than I did and hammed it up for the crowd (good thing her personality is big enough for the both of us)!
I didn't last long as I progressively felt worse and worse as the night wore on. We threw in the towel shortly before 9, and went back home to survey our assortment of candy and watch some Halloween cartoons before going to bed.
Macie had already eaten most of her stash (and the wrappers) while we were walking from house to house, so there was only a little bit of candy left when Mom looked through her pumpkin sack (Mom was dissapointed she couldn't raid the chocolate- lucky for her Miss Jaime stopped by at 9 and brought 3 full bags of chocolate for Mom to consume...I have to give Mom some props, because she managed to eat a whole bag of fun size snickers without getting sick!!!
We all slept in the next morning, grateful that we didn't have anywhere we needed to be. I don't think any of us left the couch and moved around till 10am!
Uncle Will came over to help Mom clean up the Halloween decorations outside, so Macie and I lounged in the garage. When the yard was "back to normal" we all went in the house for some lunch. While Macie and I were eating Mom and Uncle Will went on a hunt for Eddie Van Halen- no one had seen much of him that morning, and Mom was concerned that he may have escaped while we were going in and out of the garage. After almost an hour Mom spotted Eddie- can you find him???
Will took Eddie out of Mom's tulle while Mom scolded him for getting into her stuff...it's funny, he looks just like Macie and I do when we are getting reprimanded...
The weeks following Halloween were spent at home recovering for the "crud" that we all managed to get. When Macie and I had enough energy to get up and move about we would go out back and swing on the swings. Check out how great Macie is getting at pumping all by herself!!!
Mom tried many different things to make us feel better, but the best medicine was time with our Dad!!! Nothing heals us better than him!!!!
Just as we were beginning to recover, Mom got hit pretty hard and was wiped out. Macie and I did our best to help her feel better.
I think it worked, because she managed to muster up just enough energy to smile!
While Mom took it easy on the couch, Macie and I took advantage of the lack of constant supervision and played games we normally wouldn't be encouraged to play- here we are playing "dogs"...
When Mom was finally mobile again, she dressed us in warm clothes so that we could make a grocery run- I enjoyed getting ready and dolled up to rejoin society,
but Macie wanted nothing to do with it and threw a fit as we walked out the door...
As time went on, both Macie and I returned to our normal selves- Macie tortured Eddie Van Halen at every chance she had (mostly carrying him under her arm like a football),
and I resumed my role as the house "diva"...
When Sunday rolled around Dad was ready for some football, but since we don't get ANY good games televised in AZ he had to go to the Packer bar down the road. After our naps we dressed in proper Packer attire and joined the crowd of Cheeseheads to cheer our team to victory.
The bar was packed with tons of televisions, screaming football fans, and every type of fried food you could imagine. Mace and I opted for some corn dogs and fries, but poor Macie was still to under-the-weather to even enjoy the experience.
I had a great time watching football with my Dad, and the crowd LOVED our outfits!!!
The following week our friends Jack and Kaya came over to play. While Kaya and I were swinging outside Macie and Jack had a little indoor fun of their own:
After what seemed like FOREVER, our family was all well enough to have our Arizona family (Hayley, John, and Uncle Will) over for Sunday dinner.
We made cupcakes to properly celebrate Uncle Will's arrival in Arizona, and after dinner were allowed to dig into them- as you can see by the pictures, we both THOROUGHLY enjoyed them!
We spent most of the following week at home again, this time due to Mom having an upcoming craft fair. While she sewed we swang in the backyard with Uncle Will. From time to time I would venture over to the other side of the yard to climb my tree (a new hobby of mine), but Macie couldn't be lured off the swing for anything!
Mom needed some help modeling clothing and accessories, so I stepped up,
Macie on the other hand, was not too interested in taking pictures for Mom...
After 10 different attempts, Mom finally managed to trick her into smiling...
After her sewing was done, Mom took Macie and I back to Vertuccio farms to reward us for our "good" behavior at home. Miss Jackie and Bella joined us for the fun!
Right when we walked in the gates Macie hopped on the cow train and a BIG smile stretched across her face!
All three of us enjoyed the train ride around the farm,
and afterwards we shared a snack together.
When our bellies were full, we milked a cow and played some games.
Macie had the most fun climbing the tires in the corn maze- here she is, Queen of the World!!!
Mom bought us some feed for the animals, and while Macie chose to feed the turkey's,
I opted for the goats...
We had a fun day with our friends at the farm.
When the Saturday came Mom was busy with her craft fair, so Macie and I spent the morning at Lifetime with Dad. In the afternoon we took a picnic lunch to Mom's craft fair to show her our support!! We all had fun seeing Mom in action!
Before we knew it, Thanksgiving week had arrived and Mom frantically worked hard to get our house ready to host the festivities. One evening while she was clipping coupons, Mom spied Macie through the patio window-we don't know when it exactly happened, but sometime in the past month Macie had taught herself to ride a bike!!!
The day before Thanksgiving I went on my first "date" with a boy (without my Mom or Dad, though Miss Deborah was with us.) We went to the movies and saw Happy Feet 2- the movie wasn't that great, but Riley and I enjoyed spending time together.
Our family spent Thanksgiving Day at home, and while Mom and Uncle Will cooked,
Macie and I played in the yard with Dad. Bella and her family came over for dinner that evening.
After playing dress up (Macie dressed ALL BY HERSELF!),
we all enjoyed a special dinner with family and friends.
After dinner, Dad and Ben watched some football while Mom, Will, and Miss Jackie cleaned up the kitchen. Here Macie and I are hanging out with Ben!!!
When our little tummies were ready for more, Macie, Bella, and I got to bring the picnic table into the house and eat desert while watching a movie!
Here we are full and tired on the couch together in our cozy jammies.
Our family had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and all took the time to reflect on the things we are grateful for; Mom, Dad, Macie, and I all agreed that we couldn't be more grateful for the family and friends we have in our lives.
