Happy Halloween!

 We officially carved our pumpkins last Sunday... approximately a week before Halloween and ironically we carved pumpkins five years ago on the same day, not knowing that our little Maddox would arrive the next day! Daddy had fun carving pumpkins to look like each of the boys' current smiles.  This marks the 16th year that Zack and I have carved a pumpkin together! Time flies when you are having fun!

We typically have our church's trunk or treat on the Sunday before Halloween but due to social distancing requirements ad safety protocols our annual fall festival looked a little different.  The church had some food trucks and an illusionist show instead.  The boys got a bag of candy on their way out!  Maddox was called up to help with one of the magic tricks which was pretty cool.  It is crazy to me how big he is getting.... he got called to the stage and easily walked up there unassisted!

On Monday we celebrated our birthday boy with all his favorite things... a room filled with balloons, breakfast at McDonalds, cupcakes and snacks brought to school, a bubble fight in the front yard and dinner at the house with our family (he requested Dairio take out).  I know he probably wanted a big party but he also was just as happy getting to blow out the candle on his cupcake and play with his new toys and the balloons in his room!

Zander finished out his fall season of machine pitch baseball.  He had a blast!  His teacher, Mrs. Richmond, came to his last game.  In his final game, Zander hit a couple doubles and got all three of the outs in the final inning at first base.  I know we are going to miss cheering on #21 on the ball field but now that it is getting darker earlier, I think we will also enjoy being home more evenings and having a little more time to relax as a family!  Zander also lost his 8th tooth last night.  He wiggled it out all by himself and came running out of his room after I had already put him to bed, enthusiastically showing his tooth!

Maddox loves dressing up so I should not be surprised that he was wearing his costume when he woke up this morning.  He came out of his room proudly wearing a Cat Boy costume and decided that while he was a dinosaur last weekend, he wanted to be Cat Boy on Halloween.  Burke joined in the fun by rocking one of his old costumes as well... there is NEVER a dull moment at our house!

The boys decided to wear their costumes all day.... including a visit to the science center and lunch at Freddy's afterwards.  Maddox even got a sweet treat for his good behavior at school all week!  Halloween might look different this year but these boys are embracing whatever the holidays of 2020 have to offer!  

We trick or treated around our neighborhood and it felt great to have some sort of "normal" in the craziest year I've been alive.  The Flowers family came to join us... I think all four kids loved collecting candy from our neighbors.  You will see that Burke and Zander matched as a cop and robber duo.  Tanner also was a police officer and Peyton was a princess!  

Zack created a "socially distanced Halloween candy chute" for us to slide candy from our porch to our neighbors.  The boys loved handing out candy through the chute as much as they loved trick or treating.  They tested it out many times before we started the evening festivities.  I didn't realize until the end of the evening that Zack had spelled "socially" a little differently... haha! The teacher in me was sad that it had been wrong the whole time, but the wife in me was proud that my husband had come up with a creative way to entertain the kids as they came to the houses on our block.  So it had to be documented...correct or incorrect! ;)