All treats, no tricks: Part 2

So here's part two of our Halloween series of photos. Our second trick-or-treating adventure was Trunk 'r Treat at our church. Everyone knows how this works, right? Volunteers from the church park their cars around the parking lot, open their trunks, decorate their trunks, and hand out candy to trick-or-treaters that walk through the parking lot.

It's trick-or-treating with ease.

Here's little Rapunzel in all her purple glory.

A group of anxious/excited trunk 'r treaters. (Don't you just LOVE the little peacock's face?!?)

Here's what it's all about, people. Candy. Candy. Candy.

Look at that fine trunk 'r treat craftsmanship.

Who wouldn't be all smiles on a night like this?!?

Julia and her best bud.

I am positive that Lily dreams of swimming in a river flowing with candy.

And this is a remake of a picture I took about 2 years ago.

(Flashback: Here's the original candy-coated picture.)

Back to 2011, here's my friend and her two adorable little girls, out to get some candy.

More candy from the trunk action.

Next up: diehard trick-or-treating...

No tricks, All treats: Part 1

Alas, Halloween has come and gone. But not before my sweet little princesses got not one, not two, but three chances to don their ball gowns in exchange for candy.

First, we attended the Royal Fall Festival.

Okay. It was just Bethel FWB Church's annual fall festival. But I was trying to go with the princess theme.

Whatever you call it, the girls had lots of fun. Mimi had already bought both of them 20 tickets each, and they had no problem spending them.

They fished for candy.

They slid down the giant slide.

And of course they won lots of candy and prizes.

And we couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a shot of the cousins together in costume.

(For some reason, Julia's really proud to be an American in these pictures.)

Random Moments

Two blue-eyed blondies having fun on a Chick-fil-A playdate.

"I want some o' yer tea, Mama!"

And lastly, it turned a raw, windy, blistery 50 degrees outside today, so naturally, some of us put on as many socks as possible.

rewards

A few weeks ago I purchased a chore chart from Toys R Us. Only I'm not using it as a chore chart, I'm using it as a reward chart. For every day that Julia obeys at school, and for every day that Lily obeys at home, a little magnetic star is added to their chart.

At the end of 3 starred days, they get a reward. Right now that reward is going to our local "jumping place." You know, the kind of place where you pay by the hour for your kids to run around and jump like crazy on some of those inflatables you usually see at big birthday parties.

Another reward is going to Dollar Tree to pick out one thing. I actually told Julia that if she could go a whole month without missing one day of adding a star to her chart, I might would take her to Toys R Us to pick something (small) out. She promptly replied, "OR we could go to the Dollar Tree and pick out something!" Ah, I wish they would stay this young forever...

don't hate me, shutterfly!

I've been journaling/posting pictures/posting videos over at my Shutterfly share site for almost three years now, but I've secretly been wanting to start another blog. Specifically the kind that allows you attach pictures in the middle of your journal entry. I think it adds so much to the "story" you're trying to tell. Anyway, over at Shutterfly, I wasn't (and still am not) able to do that with the journaling feature, so here I am. With a brand new blog. With the same name. (sort of.)

Okay. Here's my first picture-infused blog post:

I love fall. I am sure it's my second favorite time of the year, behind winter/Christmas. I get really excited when October hits, and feel just a smidge sad after New Year's Day. 'Cause I know spring is coming. And while I really love flowers and spring and all, I am pasty white by nature, and, well, I'd just rather wear winter clothes, that's all.

So the first exciting fall tradition we Barnhill's participate in is visiting the pumpkin patch. We used to live on the other side of town, and this particular pumpkin patch was closer to us then. The pumpkins aren't perfectly round (I've even been known to call them ugly) and they're kind of reddish-orange, instead of the usual yellowish-orange, and it usually takes us a while to find the one we want to take home. But we've been taking pictures in this pumpkin patch every year since Julia was 10 months old, so it holds a special place in my heart. I even think the ugly pumpkins have character now. So without further adieu, here are a few of our annual pumpkin patch photos.

On the hunt for the perfect pumpkin.

My two sweet pumpkins.

Making funny faces with the funny-faced pumpkin.

We found our pumpkin!