Halloween 2018 has come and gone, and it was absolutely wonderful! I am sitting here, reflecting on the fact that it is November 1, and wondering how in the world so much of the fall season is already behind us?! I wish we could just double the length of October and get rid of a different month, like cold, rainy February!

Like the last two years, I teamed up with my aunt to create the kids’ Halloween costumes. She handled all the sewing (thank you, Grauntie!) and I added all the detail pieces (thank you, glue gun!).Isla has developed such a fascination, and love for, honey bees and bumble bees this year, so this seemed like the perfect costume for her. She requested that her costume be “really realistic” and I’m pretty sure she was hoping to fool someone into thinking she was a genuine bee. The second we put the costume on her, she’d go straight into character, buzzing around and hovering next to flowers. I sure do love this little bee and her big imagination!Isla’s flowery trick-or-treat bag was perfect for a bee. To make the bag, I hot glued a sheet of green felt to one side of the bag and then cut out some simple felt flowers and leaves and attached them with hot glue. The bag made it 3/4 of the way through the trick-or-treating before the bottom of it got damp and all her candy spilled out. Ooops! Thankfully, Cole was happy to let Isla use his bag for the remainder of the evening.

Isla’s wings were once fairy wings from the Dollar Store! With her permission, I transformed them into bee wings by removing the sheer glittery fabric, bending the wires into a longer shape, stringing iridescent pipe cleaners across each wing, and then hot gluing iridescent pipe cleaners along the edge of the wings. I attached the wings to the back of the Isla’s costume with hot glue, but then quickly stitched around the base of the wings just to ensure they stayed attached.

Isla’s stinger was a foam cone I painted silver and (you guessed it) attached with hot glue.Hanging out in the lavender, “just like a real bee.”

To make the bee eyes, I took a foam egg and cut it in half with a serrated knife. I then covered each half with sparkly black fabric. I secured the edges of the fabric on the underside of each eye with hot glue and staples.

The antennas were sparkly black pipe cleaners, attached with hot glue. We’ve been calling Cole “Baby Bear” since he was born, so his Halloween costume was pretty much a given. He definitely is our baby bear! Grauntie did all the work on Cole’s costume; I just had to dress him in it! Cole is a big fan of soft, cozy textures, and every time he sees his costume he hugs it and snuggles his face into it. It is the sweetest!

Sometimes they’re into posing for photos together… sometimes they’re not. When Cole doesn’t want to stand, he is pretty great at turning himself into jell-o.Cole was farm more interested in our neighbor’s Halloween decoration. He kept saying, “Huh-wo!” (hello) to the skeleton and giving it high-fives.

Isla asked if we could take some photos of her on the swing, so it would look like she was flying.

It was fairly dark and drizzly on Halloween morning. Though the forecast had called for rain all week, we somehow made it through trick-or-treating with only a few sprinkles. Hooray!Our sweet little skeleton after our morning walk and Isla’s jack-o-lantern. She was incredibly proud that she carved the eyes entirely by herself.Our fabulous 2018 Trick-Or-Treat crew! Loved celebrating with these cuties and their wonderful parents!Baby Bear was absolutely transfixed by all of the Halloween decorations around our neighborhood. I cannot wait to see him with Christmas lights!We love, love, love the effort everyone in our neighborhood puts into decorating for Halloween- lights, skeletons, inflatable creatures, and cobwebs galore. It makes for such a magical trick-or-treating experience!

Baby Bear was starting to get the hang of trick-or-treating after a few houses. He was so proud of his candy!These chocolate eyeballs were the hit of the night for our little bee!After a successful evening of trick-or-treating we headed back home with our friends for pizza, drinks, and a few pieces of candy. The kids had a ball handing out candy to the trick-or-treaters who came to our door throughout the evening. Gathering together like this has become such a warm and happy tradition, and we’re so thankful to have the opportunity to host each year.  It was the perfect way to wrap up our day. Happy Halloween, friends!