Bzzz said the Bee

For Halloween, Grace was the cutest Bumble Bee around! The best part was I only spent $5 on the wings and used hand-me-downs and clothes she already had for the rest of it. :) She kept saying she was a "honey bee" and when I tried to ask what she says when she wears the costume (hoping to hear "trick or treat") she would say "bzzzz". That works!

As a funny side note: Grace pronounces "trick or treat" as "gick o geek". haha I love it.

This year, with Halloween on a monday, our ward held their annual Trunk-or-Treat on the saturday before. Unfortunately, Ryan was in Florida for a National Honors Society conference (they paid for him to go) on the day of the ward party/carnival. Grace and I REALLY missed having him there with us. Our primary presidency and those who helped put on the carnival did such a great job with it though! There were several rooms with different activities and games going on, and the kids would get a prize or a treat from each one. Surprisingly, Grace seemed a little overwhelmed by everything, and also probably a little freaked out by all the strange clothes everybody was wearing. She didn't say a single word, wanted to hold my hand the whole time, didn't wander off or run around, barely cracked a smile once, and didn't even want to eat the cupcake we won in the cake walk. It was very strange for her, but she still participated in all the activities and brightened up a bit when we saw her little friends there too.

Honor, the pirate, and Grace, the bee.

Fishing for prizes

Getting a pink flower painted on her cheek by the YW. She was so calm and patient, I couldn't figure out where my outgoing Grace had gone... But it worked well during face painting.

Grace and her BF Anderson coloring pictures. ;)

Throwing beanbags into the pumpkin's mouth.

The last activity inside the building was the costume parade. Still no smiles from her...

The trunk-or-treat part was really stressful for me. I wanted to be able to hand out candy but I knew Grace wouldn't sit still and let me do that right at first. So as I took her to the first couple of cars and tried to remind her about how trick-or-treating works (we'd been talking about it for a few days to get her prepared) she started to flip out. She didn't understand that someone gives you candy in your bag and then you move on to the next car. She was pretty hysterical for the first few minutes and I hated that she was such a distraction, so I tried to walk away from the other people to talk some sense into her. I admit I was so stressed out and feeling lonely without Ryan's help that I almost burst into tears right then! Then the idea came to me that I should open a package of skittles and hand her one at a time throughout the truck or treating process. Genius! So finally we made it down the line of cars. I was able to have a friend help give out some of my candy while I was out with Grace, hoping I could give out the rest when Grace was done. Unfortunately by the time we got back to our own trunk to hand out candy, all the kids were done as well. :( So it wasn't a very successful night, and I truly missed my husband, but oh well! Grace had fun... I think... And I finally just sat her in the trunk with a sucker and she was quiet and content for 5 minutes like that.

On the actual day of Halloween (monday), Ryan had the day off of work so we just hung around, went to the park, and I went to two doctors appointments. Our good friends the Redds watched Grace for the last one so Ryan could come with me, and they invited us over for pizza afterwards. By the time we left their house, it was time for Grace to get ready for bed. I'm pretty sure nobody goes trick or treating in our apartment complex... because we didn't have anyone at our door, and I can't think if we ever have in the last 3 years. So we didn't take Grace out at all that night. So boring, I know, but I felt like we covered that part of it at the ward party at least. I hope wherever we move to next year will be more into Halloween than they are here in Henderson. Maybe it's a bigger deal in particular neighborhoods and not in the apartments.?

I have to admit though, I'm so excited for Christmas this year that I'm perfectly fine with just moving right along on the calendar and getting to the other holidays!! Yay!