Halloween Rewind

The girls had a great Halloween and it keeps getting easier every year for trick-or-treating. No more whining that they are tired of walking and this year they weren't even afraid to go to the "scary" houses! It's all about the candy baby!!

Sooooo we are past the point of mommy being able to choose their costumes for them (as evidenced by Riley and Makena's choices this year). I still try to steer their decisions but darnit, they have minds of their own!

Steve made several trips to the Halloween store with them this year as they tried to make their final decisions as to what they wanted for costumes. We did try to convince them to wear their costumes from last year since they still fit, but that was a no go! When Riley came home expressing her desire to be a jailbird (because it reminds her of a zebra!) I had to laugh. No pretty princess or fairy costume for my girl. Makena quickly followed suit in her choice to dress the same as Riley (as usually happens with those two) and next thing I knew I had two jailbirds on my hands. Alyssa (my girlie-girl) DID want to dress like a princess, but I thought we just HAD to round out the theme and we convinced her to go as a police woman! It totally fits her rule-following personality too!

Two jailbirds and the Po-Po

Makena

Riley-making her mean face with a smile

Alyssa the Policewoman, complete with her pink badge!

Next year we will have a 4th girl to dress up! Can't wait!!

The Animal Farm

Halloween 2010 was a big success!

As far as the girls were concerned, warm costumes + candy = perfect evening.

We even made it home in time to see the Giants win game 4 of the World Series ;)

Here's the cast of farm animals.........

Alyssa as "Spot" the Dalmation

"Spot" with Riley as "Tony the Tiger"

And last but not least, Makena as "Banana" the Psycho Monkey

The Animal Farm

The Farm in action

The animals sorting their loot.

They have been busy cataloging each and every piece of candy in every way imagineable. Plenty of math lessons can be created from this holiday!

Who's Ready?

BOO!

The countdown to Halloween is on! It's looking like a totally random year in the costume department. I was almost certain that I would have 3 Disney princesses, but I think it's going to be more like a zoo around here (hint-hint).

My Litter

Of Kittens.....

Eventhough the kitty ears and tails that made their entire Halloween costumes were nowhere to be found in our entire house, I managed to get over my disappointment (with the help of a mimosa) and we had a great night. The girls didn't seem to mind that their costumes weren't complete. I guess the anticipation of TONS of candy will do the trick.

The girls trick-or-treated until their little legs couldn't carry them anymore. And then we came home, ate popcorn and watched The Wizard of Oz.

Is anyone surprised that the first question I heard this morning at 6:45 a.m. was, "Mommy, can I play with my candy?"

Uh huh.....me either.
I know I'm in good company with that scenario!

Wordful Wednesday-Pumpkin Patch

The girls had their first fieldtrip recently and I got to come along. It's always fun to see the girls in their preschool environment, but when I'm there they can't quite figure out how to act. Do we listen to the teacher like we normally do (think angelic behavior)? Or do we whine and fuss and pretend we can't walk and fall on the ground (think drive mommy crazy)? Overall it was 95 % angelic behavior so we all left in one piece.

The girl's highlight of the trip was riding a school bus to the fieldtrip. Personally, I could have lived with the fond memories I had of catching the bus at 6:45 in the morning as a Freshman in high school. Riding three to a seat and belting out Paul Revere at the top of your lungs with the other Freshman dorks kinda sticks with you. But this time we belted out Wheels on the Bus, so that is a memory I'll never forget.

Anyway, the pumpkin patch was a huge hit, as expected, and we will be going back at least one more time as a family before the Halloween season is over.

Makena

Alyssa


Riley


The trio


They cornered a goat....and a trip to a petting zoo wouldn't be complete without me yelling at them not to pick up the "little black balls" (a.k.a goat poop).

"Mommy, are you gonna leave us here?





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Halloween Sneak Peek

MEOW!!

Wordful Wednesday

"Is it Halloween yet mommy?" I hear this question many times a day now that Fall has offically started. And since we still have a couple of weeks before the sugar-rush and crash that is likely to follow, the girls are enjoying every single minute of Halloween celebration.

Which includes bumping into walls walking around the house with their trick-or-treat baskets on their heads. Riley a.k.a. "Slugger" gets a good three-feet radius around her when she is swinging her bat cause that girl has got a wicked swing!

Batter Up!!

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Ladybugs and Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

I had to share one last picture of my ladybugs that I snapped last night. I consider it a successful picture when all 3 are looking at the camera and 2/3 are smiling! Notice the plastic pumpkins that they have to collect their candy in. After Alyssa's fit on Thursday morning, I found these at Safeway for $2.00 each. I'm hoping next year they will be in love with the super cute personalized bags that were lovingly given to them as a 1st birthday gift.

So we are off to a playdate today with Auntie Jessica and The boys next door, Auntie Ly and her kiddos and some old friends from highschool and their kids. It should be lots of Halloween Hangover fun! I was in charge of making sugar cookies that the kids could decorate and I wanted to share this fantastic recipe. Trust me, you will not be able to eat just one cookie.

1 cup of sugar
1 cup of butter
3 ounces softened cream cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg yolk
2 1/4 cups flour



Combine sugar, butter, cream cheese, salt, almond extract, vanilla and egg yolk. Blend well. Stir in flour and mix well ( I use an electric hand mixer). Chill dough overnight ( I put my dough in foil).

When you are ready to bake, take dough out of the refirgerator or freezer and allow it to soften. Roll out dough with rolling pin. (Use flour on hands, cutting board, and rolling pin to prevent dough from sticking to surface) and cut out cookies using your favorite cookie cutters.
Bake at 375 degrees for 7 to 10 minutes.

Photostory Friday and Happy Halloween

The girls had their Halloween party at school this morning and the sugar high lasted until 7:59 since their bedtime is at 8:00.

My fellow triplet mom Loren can attest to how difficult it is to get a good picture of three year old triplets in costume. Although, she was up all night sewing her girl's costumes while my non-creative self bought ours at Target.

We almost didn't make it out of the house in one piece this morning when Alyssa threw a fit because she didn't like her personalized trick-or-treat bag because it was a spider. She wanted Riley's pumpkin, eventhough it has Riley's name on it. I tried to talk up how cute the spider bag was and even named her "Sally" but Alyssa wanted no part in it. Riley saved the day and let Alyssa use her bag. So the girls walked into preschool with their bags all switched up!

The girls with Teacher Diana--Notice Alyssa with the huge grin on her face and Riley's pumpkin bag on her arm. And Riley (on the right) looks totally perplexed..."Dude, my sister stole my pumpkin."

Alyssa and Riley sharing Riley's pumpkin

Dragging each other along

Who's your pumpkin?

My ladybug fairies

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Photostory Friday and The Pumpkin Patch

We made our annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch last weekend and the girls managed to come home with 3 pumpkins each. Unfortunately, most of the small pumpkins have not survived the week after being dropped on the tile floor repeatedly. We had a great day and I just might take them back to the pumpkin patch for one more visit this year. We missed out on the tractor ride and I think they would love that!

There was so much to see and do. First up was climbing to the top of the haystacks.

And then 2/3 cooperated for a picture.

And then it was off to pick out a pumpkin.


It was a contest to see who could get their pumpkins into the wagon first. Riley is in the heavyweight class and managed to grab two pumpkins at once.

And then she found the perfect pumpkin.

Next, it was off to see the animals. The rabbits were glad they had a cage to hide in. Thirty fingers poking you at once can interrupt your nap.


Mr. Goat said hello to the girls.

The chickens got a visit also.

After all that walking, the girls hitched a ride with daddy in the wagon.

And our last stop of the day...."Another Fall, Another Foot."
Check out my post from last year to see how much the girls have grown.





Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Lotsa Halloween pics....

Cousin Sophie, the cheerleader

Cousin Katie, the good witch

Our 3 poodles in their wagon

Triplets X two
The Albiani triplets and our girls

The whole gang

The girls first official "trick or treat" house

This picture just about sums up the whole night...it was SO slow getting the girls from each house. The infatuation with their candy bags didn't help! One would fall, one was sidetracked by her candy and one is just watching the whole ordeal...

Lil' Punkin Calum just chillin'

The poodles meet up with Evan, the monkey

On our way home from my brother's house, Steve and I could smell chocolate from the back seat. Our little rats had chewed their way into the M&M's bag!



One bag of M&M's polished off and Riley decided that a Butterfinger was next on the list. Here she is taunting me to try and get the candy bar away from her.

"Cheese"

I can say "cheese" too!


We won't talk about how obnoxious my 3 little poodles became after a small bag of M&M's and a few bites of butterfinger. Thank goodness Halloween is only once a year!