Halloween...bleh

Ugh. I don't like this "holiday" much. Just call me a Halloween Grinch (thanks to my cousin Lorna and Dr. Seuss for the name).

I don't like the blood, gore or general mayhem. There are a few things I love about the day, though.

I love the treats. I eat way too much candy. Maybe my stomachache is adding to my grumpiness. These are the Gingersnap Jack o' Lanterns I sent to Kelly's class party.

I love carving pumpkins. Thanks to the Elder's Quorum who threw a fun party Friday night that included a pumpkin carving contest. My owl won me a big chocolate bar :)

I also love seeing the kids dressed up and having fun. I usually (except late at night while I type, apparently) suppress my bad mood and try to have fun for their sakes. Aren't they adorable?

Naomi the Princess

Michael the Knight

Kelly the Cowgirl

Gwen the Moon

Heather the Greek Goddess

Rachel the Hippie

Happy Halloween

I am not a big get-ready-for-Halloween-early person. Actually, I ban the kids from even talking to me about how they want to dress up until two hours before they need to be dressed, because they change their minds until then anyway and because I am a Halloween Grinch.

We did a few fun things, though.

The Saturday before the Saturday before Halloween, while Summer took the ACT, the six other kids and I went to a Halloween party at a park, mostly because they advertised free pumpkins. There was also a free carousel. I like free.




The kids liked the candy. Naomi figured out how to be efficient and eat both her lollipops at the same time.

Gwen wanted nothing more than to climb on instead of go through, the straw maze, so as they were closing down, I let her.



It was an especially fun day because we went to dinner at the home of some friends from back East who recently moved to our neck of the woods - Parrish and Mindy for those of you who know them. Our kids really like their kids. After we left, Heather said being at their house was the best day of her life.

The Monday before the big day, we planned on carving pumpkins for FHE. Rachel's friend from school had never in her life carved a pumpkin, so she joined us for the festivities.




Last night, we went to the Trunk or Treat at church. Michael was a farmer and Naomi was a princess, and is wearing our home teacher's wife's sweater, because she was so cold.

Kelly was a pioneer and Gwen was another farmer. We have a sort of fascination with overalls going among the younger set around here.

My costume was a glow in the dark fimo clay mustache necklace because I like any excuse to make jewelry (even cheesy-when-will-I-ever-wear-this-again-jewelry).

Today, we finished off the candy and cake and cookies and brownies (from the cake walk) for lunch. Woo hoo!

Happy Halloween

Summer took all the pumpkin carving pictures, including the one below.

Rachel isn't really mad, she is just teasing Summer by being photographically uncooperative :)

I like the contrast between their expressions.

Michael was so excited to be a frog, I had a hard time keeping him from hopping during the picture taking.

Heather and Kelly - pioneers

Gwen - cowgirl

Michael - frog

Naomi - fairy princess

Monsters

Kelly is getting ready for Halloween...

getting in the spirit of things...

drawing monsters!

LIfe is too busy for pumpkins.

We didn't get around to carving our pumpkins for Halloween. Starting three weeks before, we kept trying to do it for FHE, or on Saturday, but we were always too swamped. The kids got so desperate to unleash their creativity on the orange fruit in the living room that they dressed them up one day. If you look closely, you can see that each pumpkin has headgear, shoes, clothes and hobbies. The gourds are twin babies - a boy and a girl.

I finally promised Rachel one day when she asked me when, "Before Thanksgiving!" Well, we barely made it. Here they are yesterday, the Saturday before every self respecting pumpkin is a pie, carving faces.

Stan and I were (still!) too busy to help carve, so our pumpkin got dressed up again rather than going under the knife.

Halloween

Stan took this picture of Grandpa Dale, the kids and me at the Annual Trunk or Treat. Grandpa Dale enjoyed the chili, cornbread and homemade ice cream dinner after six weeks in the Phillippines. He flew into LAX and stayed with us for a quick weekend on his way home.

This was Summer's excuse for not wearing a costume.

Rachel was a cowgirl.

Heather was a clown.

Gwen was a cat.

Kelly was a fairy with a baton.

Michael was a pumpkin. The prospect of all that candy made it impossible to hold still for the photographer.

Mo was a chicken. Now that Halloween is over for the year, we can pass the baby costume on.

Scary, Scary, Scary

We had a fun Halloween this year. For FHE Monday night, we started by carving or drawing on (depending on the age of the artist) the pumpkin/zucchini hybrids we grew last summer.

Here are the masterpieces, in order from left to right - Rachel's, Kelly's (in back), Summer's, Michael's, Gwen's and Heather's.

Tuesday night, we headed over to the chapel for the annual Trunk or Treat and got the car set up and decorated.

Here are the kids, anxious for dinner to end and for the festivities to begin. Kelly is a bee and Michael a cow. He charmed everyone with his moos. Rachel is a Greek person (she made the laurel wreath herself) and Gwen is a REAL princess (you'll have to ask Summer or Rachel for an explanation). Heather is a pixie and Summer is a hula girl.

It is a tradition in our house to dump all your candy in a pile on the living room floor and eat as much as you can Halloween night. Michael, even though he was new to it this year, caught on quickly.

And finally, something truly scary - my mom asked to see a picture of my belly to help make my pregnancy more of a reality across the miles. Here I am, right out of bed, ready to racewalk in the backyard the morning after Halloween.