Halloween Party!

we held a first ever halloween party at our house on friday for the kids!

harper has reached the age where activities like this bring her so much excitement and fun. tanner was along for the ride and had fun too, but harper understood alllll that was going on and the anticipation working up to the party was so big for her.

I tell ya, holidays just keep getting BETTER the more kids we have and as they reach new ages and stages. 

I've never been one to celebrate christmas until thanksgiving passes, but because of these kiddos and how fun it all is, we might jump ship a little sooner this year ;)

...but first... HALLOWEEN!

this party was so fun to put together. and it really was pretty quick + simple too.

we started the party with pumpkin painting for the 'older' kids. I say older loosely because it's referring to the five 3-year-olds :) who really aren't that old at all!

then a little pin the nose on the pumpkin!

for food:: I made a couple snacks/treats, we had pizza delivered, and a few friends brought a goody along with them too!

...and then some little goody bags to send home with our friends!

♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

we're so looking forward to some good trick or treating tomorrow night and ready to throw those costumes back on! if it were up to these kids of ours, they'd be in their costumes every day + night.

happy halloween, friends!!

can't wait to see everyone's costumes and enjoy the excitement of this holiday!

Xoxo

-Brittney

follow along on instagram @brittneyhjelseth

sunshine + fall + our hjelseth life

it's been busy over here and yet not busy at the same time.

I think life with two kids is just 'busy' now. and always will be :) with a two year old and a three month old, our days have been full of potty trips, nursing, diaper changing, snack/meal making, napping, house tiddying, and such. and then we threw in loading up/unloading + packing/unpacking all four of us for a sunny week getaway. a whole lot of busy with some relaxing too! I tell ya, flying is so much work. Brandon an I both said our next trip away we are HIGHLY considering driving. 

we had such a great time in palm desert! Harper LOVED swimming all day long. Tanner often napped by the pool. and it gave Brandon and I the best view watching our precious children. they are such a blessing and as cliche as it sounds, I don't know what we did before them. there were also times where we were stuck inside the condo because napping babies make for happier babies. 

spending the week together as a family and with our favorite people tyler, angela, and lleyton was so refreshing (and no question at times so hard because of babes being off their norm). but we're back to the real Fall weather and I'm actually enjoying it! the everyday 90 degree weather was fabulous, and now we're back to the 50s and rolling right into these holiday months! and speaking of holiday months...

HALLOWEEN. 

I see all these posts/pictures of moms who nailed it with their kids' halloween costumes... 

I am not one of them. thanks to amazon prime, Harper's costume (should- fingers crossed!) be here today and I JUST picked up a semi costume for Tanner to wear yesterday. 

but hey. that's life. and we will still have just as much fun celebrating this day. and thank goodness my kids aren't old enough to know the difference yet! ha!

we're so excited to go trick-or-treating tonight. even though it's Harper's third (what??!!) halloween, it feels like her first. she gets it now and the hype and excitement is there. she's been talking about wearing her costume and trick-or-treating for days now. and once she realizes what that's all really about she's going to have so much fun! holidays with kids really are better :)

Happy Halloween, all!!
what is it you're most excited for today?!

Xoxo

-Brittney

HALLOWEEN 2015

HALLOWEEN.

Hasn't been my favorite of holidays over the past few years.. I mean, adults dressing up is (kinda) fun, BUT now Halloween with a one year old makes the holiday SO FUN!!

Last year was fun dressing up our little 3 month old as a mouse, but we didn't go trick-or-treating and she of course didn't have a clue as to what was even going on :) BUT this year! She still may not have known what was really going on, but all that mattered was that it was F U N!! And she knew it! Although her facial expression here doesn't quite show her excitement ;)

I think this will start to be a favorite holiday for me. Seeing the joy and excitement it brought to my sweet Harper - I could let her wear costumes + eat candy every day! I won't. But I could ;)

Pre-Halloween I was a little nervous as to how she would handle wearing her costume. I was feeling pretty certain that she wouldn't want the hood anywhere near her head. But boy am I glad I was wrong. So wrong! This girl absolutely LOVED wearing her costume!

Friday night the Y held a 'Harvest Fest' that we took Harper to. Numerous different booths with activities for the kids (Harper was still a bit too young to participate) but it was fun walking her around. She enjoyed some good ol' 'people watching' since there were characters of all sorts wandering the gym :)

On Halloween day we went with some friends of ours to take our girls out for some trick-or-treating to some of the local businesses downtown. Not too long before we went out it was complete down poor raining. It was still raining when we first started, but about half way though it let up and Harper was able to get down and walk the street. She got a hang of things quickly! She would walk herself over to where the other kids were so that she too could have some of what they were getting :)

Ladybug Harper + Monkey Aubrey

Once we were done gathering our treats we headed back to Jacob & Kaylani's for some food + relaxation + and of course story time!

Doesn't Brandon look good with two on his lap ;)

I made this Halloween candy bark and it was TOO good + TOO easy to eat! Like we really needed any more sweets...

The recipe is here.

...and like I said, she loves her costume. s t i l l wanting to wear it the day AFTER Halloween.
But with how cute she looks in it, I just can't resist it either :)

We had a great Halloween + now looking forward to the holidays ahead of us!

xoxo

-Brittney

OUR TABLE || HALLOWEEN SNACK MIX

Hip hip hooray! It's here! Halloween marks the first holiday into the 'holiday season'!

Two of my favorite things about the holiday season are food and fun festivities. And I love even more when the two are combined!

So here we have it. With today being Halloween Eve, what better time to share this festive Halloween snack mix concoction that of course too can be nibbled upon all Fall. Mmm... Mmm... Good!!

Ingredients:

Muddy Buddies - recipe here

Pretzels

Cinnamon Life

Whole Grain Goldfish

Craisins

Peanut M&Ms

Reese's Pieces

Candy Corn (of course!)

The sweet and salty combination is calling your name!

I mean it sure did call mine because this mix is now g o n e. Yep. Time to make a second batch :)

I'm so excited for this weekend and all of the fun that is to come! Costumes, candy, and good friends. 

Happy Friday + Happy Halloween {Eve}!!

xoxo

-Brittney