Last year in 2019, we took a spirit animal quiz to decide what to dress up as! The kids were a raccoon, a deer, a skunk and a bear. Adam and I dressed up too, he was an owl and I was a butterfly but we forgot to take pictures with us in them! Oops. We love to join in the fun but keep it simple. I talk a lot about our costume traditions in the post: Halloween with Two Sets of Twins. Here is my favorite Spirit Animal Quiz if you want to take it for your kids or yourself. We had a lot of fun with it!

Our older boy loves fire trucks and wanted to dress up as a firefighter, older girl loves animals and wanted to be a dog so for Halloween 2018, we combined them for this twin duo. The babies were pumpkins because who can resist babies dressed up as pumpkins!?

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The bigs were almost two for Halloween 2017 and it was the last one I really chose the costumes. I did base them off of their interests at the time, but they were still too little to give input. I can still remember how much they lit up when they saw themselves in the mirror for the first time.

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For Halloween 2015, I was way too exhausted from the twin pregnancy to do anything but stay in! It was the year rain poured all night, causing floods so I guess it worked out to watch movies and relax, inside. I was just starting my third trimester and we watched Beetle Juice, which I hadn't seen since I was a kid. The exhaustion of a twin pregnancy isn't even describable. 

We have always loved Halloween for the excuse to dress up! Check out this throwback costume when we dressed up as Meg and Jack White of the White Stripes. This was pre-babies in 2014. We were newlyweds!

I hope you enjoyed seeing our photos from our first six Halloweens! On Halloween Day, we’ll share this year’s costumes. They all picked their own out this year and I can’t wait. Don’t forget to subscribe to the email list and follow me on Instagram @halfadozentwins to see what they picked!

If you're up for a good laugh, check out one of the funniest things that ever happened...when the bigs were toddlers:  Twins, They Will Team Up On You, so be sure to check it out for a good laugh.

Amazon has endless choices for kids and adults and can be delivered last minute! 

Click the link below to shop Amazon Kids Costumes!

Pumpkin activities keep us busy all month long! Here are some of our favorites:
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Make Pumpkin Spice Play Doh
Homemade play doh never gets old. Here is my favorite Home Made Play Doh Recipe that brings out the spicy smells of fall!​​

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​Orange Rice Sensory Tub
​We bury plastic spider rings and vampire teeth in a large tub of orange rice. Measuring spoons and small cups are great for pouring and “measuring”. All you have to do is add some rice, red and yellow food coloring, and vinegar to a large ziplock bag, shake and let dry. Try to use a large tub so that it's less likely to spill on the floor. If it does, be careful because spilled rice is very slippery! Perfect time to get the robotic vacuum out! This one is my favorite. The kids LOVE this activity and to me it's worth the spills.​ To make the mixture, fill a freezer strength ziplock bag with desired amount of rice. For each cup of rice, add 1 teaspoon of white vinegar and yellow and red food coloring. Shake the bag until all of the rice looks like the color you're going for. The kids enjoy watching this process in addition to digging their little hands in, once it's dry and ready!
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​Pumpkin Painting
​We love to paint some of the pumpkins we picked out at the pumpkin patch!  I like to get all of the supplies out and ready before the kids even know we're painting. Don't forget the paint, paper plates, paintbrushes, paper towels and wipes! I have them paint the small pumpkins on a paper plate so I can move them to dry, easily. For young kids, I have them strapped in their high chair to help prevent a major mess. Make sure the paint is washable! Here is my favorite kid's washable paint for painting pumpkins.

click the pic above to buy my favorite kid paint

​Pumpkin Carving
We like to take all the seeds out, carve faces, count the seeds and talk about all of the senses we’re using. Read more about our Halloween Traditions and more, here!​ Don't forget to bake the seeds for a delicious, healthy snack! Here’s how to make buttery, salty pumpkin seeds. Delicious!

​Pumpkin Lanterns
I like to give the kids a kid hammer and large number of golf tee’s to hammer into the pumpkin. It keeps them busy as they have fun, developing their hand eye coordination! When it’s done, you can carve a hat and put a battery candle inside for a glowing lantern-look. So cool! Here are links to purchase golf tee's and crab mallets which work great as kid hammers!

click the pic above to buy online

click the pic above to buy online

I’ve also added five more Halloween books to the
Spooktacular Booklist:

Click the pic above to see the Top 10 Spooktacular Books for Halloween!

We just love to get messy and artsy in the fall when the weather cools! What are some of your favorite pumpkin activities to do this time of year? I’d love to hear in the comments below!
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Top 5 Sensory Pumpkin Activities:

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2019 Halloween Costume Photo

Spirit Animal Costumes: Skunk, Raccoon, Deer and Bear

Next week I’ll post more past Halloween Costumes!

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Halloween has always been one of my favorite kid holidays! From the pumpkin patch to the costumes, see how we halloween with two sets of twins! We’re still dressing up and parading but halloween will, just like everything, look a little different this year. 

The bigs pumpkin carving on their second Halloween.

• Decorate the house near October 1st- decorating is a morning activity and the kids love to join in and help! The kids decorate their own rooms and I do the mantel. It’s fun to let them be involved in how we decorate. See velvet pumpkin decoration at the end of this post.
• Buy (or Make) Costumes Early- We’ve had sooo much fun with dressing up for Halloween! Dressing young kids up as animals, especially their own spirit animal, is the cutest! I like to buy the costumes a little big, so they will definitely fit on Halloween and they can get use out of them through the year! I just add them to our costume bin, after the big day. I also like to try them on as soon as they arrive so we can make sure they fit ok and wash them beforehand. About a week before the big day, we dress up and have a photo session! This makes Halloween night so much more fun because I can just post the photo that I have already taken -- one less thing to think about! On Halloween, we get action shots and enjoy the kiddos and the fun of the day! Next week, I’m going to post photos of all four kids from past Halloween celebrations, so please check back! I like to do twin costumes but this year, they’re choosing their own so they will all be individual. 
• Pumpkin Patch- We love to go pick out our own pumpkins at the patch. Sometimes we do the hayride (this year, we're going to skip the hayride because of Covid) but we always see the animals. It is the one time of year we have donuts and cider for breakfast! 
• Pumpkin Carving- I love this! It grosses Adam out... I usually carve the pumpkins while he’s at work. We like to take all the seeds out, carve faces, count the seeds and talk about all of the senses we’re using. Some of my kiddos enjoy this more than others. It’s funny to see who takes after who with the gooey mess!
• Pumpkin Seeds- We love to bake the seeds in the oven with just a little salt and butter. Just mix them in a bowl with a couple teaspoons of butter and pinch of salt, pop them on a cookie sheet for 45 mins at 300 for a delicious and healthy snack.
• Candy- This is not my favorite part of the holiday but it is the kids’ so I try to remember to keep it light and fun! I’m usually pretty strict about refined sugar and junk food. In the past, we've let them have one piece at the end of the trick or treating event, and then one piece after dinner for a couple of weeks. The kids collect their treats in a bucket and we stash them in the pantry in individual zip lock bags. We’ll see what happens this year! 

This year, I plan to try to make our night as similar to what we do traditionally while keeping our bubble (our family, plus the four grandparents), safe. We will dress up, walk through the neighborhood, like a parade. If people leave bowls of candy at the end of the driveway, we will take one piece each but if not, we’ll just walk. I’m planning to leave a bowl at the end of our driveway and bring some candy in our stroller, just in case.

Velvet Pumpkin and Aunt Deb’s (Adam’s Aunt) Halloween artwork.

Halloween and fall have the CUTEST decorations. I can’t get enough of the colors and warm, spicy feelings that come with the new season. These little velvet pumpkins are adorable and definitely a halloween trend this year.

These adorable velvet pumpkins are my favorite new decoration!
Click the picture for more info or to purchase!

One of my favorite ways to get into the holiday spirit is by bringing out our Halloween and Fall books. I store the books away in the winter through the summer which makes it extra special when we take them back out. We like to try new books, too! Do you have any favorite Halloween book recommendations for us? Please let me know in the comments, below.

Here are some of my favorite Halloween books (click the pics below to order online!):

One of my favorite Halloween books is The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin. It is a story about a very special pumpkin who saves the day by being unique and not judging a book by its cover.

This book, Little Blue Truck's Halloween is from the Little Blue Truck series. I love the illustrations and the lift the flaps are sturdy enough for toddlers!

Pumpkin Soup has a lot of heart! When one of the friends from the old white cabin feels sad and leaves, the others realize they should have been nicer. They are best buds who learn to take turns and work together in this adorable book with beautiful illustrations.

I love Ten Timid Ghosts because it is a countdown book that brings numbers and number identification to storytime! The kids love the spooky story and pictures!

We love Pete the Cat, Trick or Pete from the series, Pete the Cat. There is also a Pete the Cat show on Amazon Prime that has fun, blues music. Our frogs croak when they hear the theme song. If you aren't already a Prime Member, I highly recommend Amazon Prime for many reasons including free Amazon shipping, Subscribe and Save, and Amazon Prime Shows and Movies which have great options for kids. 

Click the pic above to try Amazon Prime.

Photo By: Sarah May

I can't get enough of dressing young kids up, they're SO cute! This is a throwback from the bigs‘ first Halloween! Next week, I’ll post photos of all four of our past Halloween costumes as well as my favorite Halloween activities. Get ready for some cuteness overload!  Sign up below and never miss a post.

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Comments, questions, wonderings? Please direct your questions and wonderings to the comments below or on one of the social media accounts, above. I am happy to answer questions and would love any suggestions for future blog and vlog topics! Thanks for following along.

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