Halloween: Then and Now

When we went to go trick-or-treating this evening, I was reminded of this family picture we had taken a neighbors' house a year ago. Ethan was only about 6 weeks old and Madeline was about to turn 2:

So, when we arrived at their house again this year, we were excited to get another family picture:

Here's Ethan on Halloween Day one year ago. I didn't dress him up in anything. He had a black had that said "BOO" but I couldn't come across any pictures of him wearing it:

And here's the little guy now: Madeline a year ago:

again:

and again:

And Madeline today:

Neighborhood Halloween Party

The kids have had several things to dress up for already, and Halloween is still six days away! Our neighborhood did a Halloween parade and party today. We didn't make it in time for the parade, but of course made it to the party!
Madeline got to decorate a little pumpkin with stickers:
and Daddy and Ethan just hung out:

Madeline cheating at a ball throwing (not dropping) competition:

Our neighbor, Alyssa, trying to convince Madeline to do the pin-the-mask- on the person:

She was not successful. Madeline was a little scared of having her eyes covered:

but she LOVED playing outside:

She loves her Cinderella costume. When she is wearing it she wants to be called Princess Cinderella, not Madeline (and she'll ask you to call her by the right name!)

Madeline makes friends soooo easily. It just blows us away:

Princess Belle became her best friend there:

Madeline talking up a storm to the girls:

I asked Madeline if I could get a picture of her with her brother and she said, "Sure! Come on Belle, let's get our picture!" So I ended with a picture of Ethan and 3 princesses:

Obviously I had to do some cropping here:

Although she was very hesitant when we first got there, Madeline got her face painted right before we left. She just wanted a pink heart:

It looked cuter than it does in this picture:

Pictures By Madeline

A sampling of some pictures Madeline took today:

Her play table that is off limits for Ethan. We have it tucked behind a play-yard gate so he can't get to it. This is where she plays with all of her toys that has small pieces:

She thought this picture was so funny! She couldn't stop laughing.

Daddy still sleeping:

Daddy just woke up and is coming to get Madeline:

This one made me laugh the most:

My attempt at being Green (and cheap)

The kids have been really into Thomas recently, as well as climbing in and out of boxes. So I decided that when the ladies came over on Saturday night for Craft Night, I would attempt to make a Thomas rather than scrapbook (since I usually can't concentrate well on the scrapbooks).
I used a diaper box, construction paper (that had been scribbled on as you can see), and a paper towel roll. Here is the finished product:
Ethan found the smoke pipe quite interesting:

..and since he's one...he tore it off!

but he wasn't too sure he should have done that...

...so he tried to put it back on:

Can you see Madeline's reaction in the background?? She couldn't wait for her turn!!

She managed to fit in it too!

A pretty fun, new toy that didn't cost a dime!