October- The Lil' Steelers Do Halloween

A friend of ours got the twins Pittsburgh Steelers football and cheerleader outfits at our school baby shower the month the twins were born. This was a monumental event for Cliff as he attended it solo since it was in February, and I was in the NICU with the babies. I remember him coming into the room after the shower, exhausted from having just opened a thousand gifts (and many were still unopened for me). Naturally, I couldn't wait to hear all about it- who was there, what kind of food, the decorations, the presents, etc. etc. As I'm sure you can imagine, I had to pull the details from him painstakingly as if I were pulling hairs from his head one by one. The one present he did manage to mention (without much prying on my part) was the Steeler outfits. I remember his exact words, "They are going to be sooooooo cute." From then on, he would ask every few months or so, if it was time yet for the Steelers outfits (the clothes were 18 months so I had to explain that they couldn't wear them as infants). Who would have guessed then that we had our second Halloween costumes?!

For their first Halloween Daniel was a cow, and Anabella was a ladybug. And neither were overly happy about it. Unlike this Halloween, the weather last year was warm; and since their costumes were fleece, they were hot and uncomfortable. Especially considering they had to pose for pictures for what must have seemed an eternity in their short little lives.

Daniel:  Moooonough already, mooonough already!

Last year Halloween was on a Sunday. The Credles were visiting, and LaRue and I took the babies to Front Royal for the day. We had lunch at Granny's with Mom, Allie, Ryan, Hayden, LIndsay, Dave, Caleb and several other family members. After lunch, LaRue and I took the babies to my goddaughter Sara's birthday/Halloween party at my best friend Beth's house, who also lives in Front Royal. We changed them out of costumes and into "baby's first Halloween" outfits; and though they were more comfortable, I still don't think they were entirely sold on the idea of celebrating Halloween.

Here they are ready for their first Halloween party!

And here we are at the party.  Isn't Sara precious?

This was our first family photo (with Solomon and Shilee) at our

new house, which we moved into last October.

This year Anabella and Daniel really did enjoy celebrating Halloween! Since Halloween fell on a Monday this year, I was worried about how we were going to visit our family in Front Royal and manage to go trick-or-treating here that evening. Leave it to Granny to find a solution. She thought ahead (several weeks in fact), and suggested to Mom that she take the day off work so that we could  all spend the day together. Mom, who is always a little jealous that the twins get to see Granny more than her since Granny is home during the week, was happy to oblige. So, on Halloween morning we made our way to Front Royal (still in our PJs) to Mom and Dad's (unfortunately Dad had to work).

In the true spirit of Halloween, they started their day with some

Halloween crunchies.

I like Halloween, thinks Anabella. (Daniel's mouth was too full)

Soon, we changed into our costumes.

My dad is also a Steelers fan, so Anabella and Daniel had fun trying on his hats. They also enjoyed exploring his Steelers bar/wildlife arena. They were more interested in the hats and Steelers memorabilia than the actual animals, but needless to say, they found lots to do! In the picture above, Daniel is working on the remote to make sure it works for this year's Super Bowl!! Granny came to visit later in the day, and we left for home around 3 pm with our Halloween goodies- new flashlights and trick-or-treating bags which we would put to use in just a few short hours!

Three to be exact. We started trick-or-treating around 6pm, even though it wasn't quite dusk. We figured we would only go to a few houses along our street since the babies were probably tire quickly since they only had a short 30 minute nap on way back from Front Royal.

Daniel found one of our trick or treat bags

(for the fifteenth time since I'd put them out)

as we were preparing to leave.

Anabella: You guys go ahead, I'll just stay here in the office

and look through your wedding album.

She closes the door now when she sneaks into the office; she loves to look at picture albums, and ever since I showed her our wedding album, that's always the one she opens.

Okay, fine, I'll go trick-or-treating. Which of these bags do I use?

Is that a man on a mission, or what? (Who is that leading the way...
well, it's none other than Sol Credle)

At our first house Solomon and Shilee showed them how it was done. They were a little apprehensive at first, but when they saw there was a nice lady handing out candy, they willingly took some. Our next door neighbor is a teacher, and in typical teacher fashion, she had treats appropriate for all ages. She gave Anabella and Daniel each a pack of fruit snacks. Anabella took hers and was ready to move on; Daniel wanted one for both hands. Then, he gave one to Anabella and turned for another. So, they each left with two bags of fruit snacks. Now how's that for looking out for his sister?!

 Our second stop was at our neighbor's house across the street. Do you

 So we set out for trick-or-treating around 6 pm.  We returned at 8pm. I remember thinking that we'd go to a few houses and then they'd be tired and ready to come home.  Not the case. They loved it! And they didn't want to be carried or ride in the wagon.  In fact, there were tears on the way home when we finally made them get in the wagon to come home.

We went to six houses on our street and then three or four on the street one block down where our babysitter lives.  Daniel and Anabella gave a lot of waves and smiles but there was only house where they  blew kisses- and that was to Miss Melissa, our babysitter, a GMU graduate student who sits for us occasionally when we need a date night.

What a Happy Halloween for our Lil' Steelers! Solomon and Shilee had fun too, though I have to say it sure what have been easier had we left them at home. But, then they wouldn't have seen their friend Chloe....just married.

So they said they were thankful that we let them go.