Toby Mail!

Growing up, Halloween was a BIG DEAL in my house. My mom would pull out all the stops when the month of October rolled around. Years later, it's evident that her holiday spirit really rubbed off on me.

If you remember, when Toby was little, he had a mailbox we would use to put his personal mail in. It was just a tiny wooden mailbox and he quickly outgrew it. He didn't, however, outgrow his obsession with the U.S. Postal Service, UPS, or FedEx (probably because whenever they arrive there is, likely, something for him delivered.)

Ahhhh, he was so little :(

Recently we decided that since he gets mail pretty regularly (our families often send him cards/letters because they know he loves getting mail- and my mother gifted him subscriptions to three monthly kid's magazines) we decided we better upgrade his delivery service.

Halloween was the perfect time to do this because I was able to work in the idea of The Great Pumpkin. The goal is to use this mailbox much like his other one except he will also, occasionally, get prizes in it- year round. And, most importantly, his letters from Santa and the Easter bunny, etc.

When he woke up this morning and saw the mailbox for the first time he said, "Hey! Something funny is going on around here!" It was adorable and he was BEYOND excited.

His letter from the Great Pumpkin. (Drawing courtesy of my talented husband!)

His mailbox came from Home Depot and was under $15! The letters were under $2!
The Great Pumpkin left him a letter and gifted him a new set of personalized Halloween  magnets for his PlanetBox lunchbox!

The magnets on his lunchbox

The letter from The Great Pumpkin came complete with pumpkin-y fingerprints.
Toby was so excited to see the messy prints on his letter!

We were able to drill it into the wall by his bedroom door after he went to bed without him waking!

The only thing we changed from a traditional box was make a red paper laminated "mail flag" because I imagined he would come around the corner and clip the standard aluminum flag with his head. So, we just used red card stock and Velcro'd it on - so it's not dangerous.

This morning I stopped off at the Dollar Tree to pick up a few things to stuff in his mailbox between now and Halloween (to add to what I previously bought, because, well, I'm insane.) Blame my mother. It's all her fault that I go nuts during _________ (fill in any/every holiday.)

So, there you have it. A pretty inexpensive and personalized way for your kid to get mail (and prizes- hehehe.)

Halloween 2013

Growing up, Halloween was a big deal in my house. My mother ALWAYS made us our costumes because she was really (really, really) fun and creative.

In first grade my mother asked me what I wanted to be for Halloween and I said a seahorse. Mom didn't try to talk me out of it; she made me a seahorse costume. I wish I could dig up a picture because I remember going to school feeling like the prettiest purple sequined seahorse. I had such a sense of pride when I told people my mother made the costume. Looking back, especially now that I'm a Mom, I really appreciate the thought (and painstaking hours) she put into making our costumes. She did this for me AND my sister. Every single year.

When Toby was born I knew I would make his costumes for as long as I could (or until he wanted to be something I couldn't "make.") For right now, obviously, Aaron and I decide what he's going to be so it's easier to make the costumes. But, Aaron and I have also decided that we're going to dress up with him; it's more fun that way.

 

This year, in honor of one of Toby's favorite soundtracks, we were Mary Poppins and Burt the chimney sweeps. Everything was either borrowed, made, or already owned (except for my top hat and skirt [I bought those at Goodwill.])

 

 

Last night we went trick-or-treating. While we only went to a few houses we got a lot of compliments on the originality of our costumes and Toby made off with a pretty good loot.

 

 

Uncle Matt & Uncle Nelly were in Europe for Toby's first "real" Halloween, but they still sent him a Halloween card with some moolah for his piggy bank. Thank you Uncles!!


Toby has his own little mailbox. We leave him treats in it a couple times per week. If he gets any "mail" it also goes in the mailbox. He loves to check it and gets SO excited when there is something in it!

 



He tried, and eventually succeeded, in pocketing the money. I told him it had to go in his piggy bank!

 

Toby also received a card from his Nana and McPepe when he trick-or-treated at their house. They taped $10 in quarters to his card. He is going to have a field-day dropping all those quarters in his piggy bank! (He loves to put money in his bank! I love that he's a saver!! Just like Mama [most of the time.])

 

And finally, just before bed, in honor of it being a "holiday" we decided to let Toby watch a short Halloween movie. It was 11 minutes long (Angelina Ballerina: Henry's Halloween.) Toby lasted about 3 minutes before he lost interest. I guess the kid is like his parents when it comes to TV. We let him off the bed and he ran directly across the hall into his nursery and got a book off his shelf.

As you can see, he's thoroughly unimpressed. Oh, well. We'll try again at Christmas with The Grinch!
(Notice his big candy belly?)

And for a little blast from the past; Circa 2012.
Do you gnome these people?

We hope you had an AMAZING Halloween!

Wednesday, Oui? Happy Halloween!

It's no secret that Halloween is MY VERY FAVORITE HOLIDAY (yes, I'm yelling!)

 

This year was Toby's first Halloween! And wouldn't you gnome, he was pretty awesome. (I'm so punny!)

 

 

And of course, Bing and Manny weren't about to be upstaged

Happy "Hall-o-'oui'-n" from our family to yours!