Carving Pumpkins

The time had come to get serious and carve up some pumpkins.

But first we needed a little sustenance.

Now....time to carve!

I have thankfully surrendered to reality and given up the need to control what/how/when my kids go about carving their personal pumpkin. It has saved us all a great deal of anxiety. This way I get to focus on mine and anyone else who can't wield a small, orange-handled, wavy-bladed safety carver.

That's just Laney this year. Although she did communicate to me her preference for a round nose and fangs. I was happy to oblige.


Mathew went minimalistic.


Ethan executing his vision for a scary jack-o-lantern.


Meggy did alot of her own carving this year and then went crazy with the Sharpie marker. She was jealous of Marks when she saw that he opted for heart shaped eyes and nose. She was kicking herself for not thinking of it first. Bummer.


All in all, it was a successful carve.

School parties done right.

Back in Arkansas we were brainwashed into believing that Halloween parades were a thing of the past. In fact, the kids weren't even allowed to dress up. For shame!

But here they not only dress up, they disrupt each others valuable classroom time by walking throughout all the classrooms in one large kid-snake. I love it and it reminds me of the kid-snakes of my childhood. The parents were invited to set up camp in various spots throughout the school. It was fun! And it was also were we realized the error of judgment we had made in our choice of the Dorothy costume. Dorothys are a dime a dozen around here.

First we spotted Mathew:

He was without his ninja swords because they were considered "weapons" and therefore banned from the school grounds. I can see that.

Then Ethan:


Megan attends morning Kindergarten, so we went to her parade and her classroom party earlier in the day. I have to admit she is one cute kitty.


This is her teacher, Mrs. Reves. One thing I have to mention about her is that she never ever ever stops talking like a kindergarten teacher. It's mind boggling. She talks to me the same way she talks to her students...even when I'm the only one around! It's a little weird...but I respect her commitment. And she is FANtastic at what she does.

Then there's Mr. Kerney, the principal. Hands down the best principal in all the land. Here he is letting the kids turn him into a toilet paper mummy. We love him. I was told that recently he let the kids turn him into a fruitcake. They met certain requirements and so they got to cover him with eggs and flour and sugar and milk. Isn't that seriously awesome?




Here is the Mega Kitty getting ready to embark on her parade. Laney and I trailed along and "brought up the rear". Gotta love that saying.



Oh...and just for good measure..check out these very awesome glasses Laney was stylin:

Now that is a Sonic toy I can support.

Halloween Costumes - the preview (oooh aaah)

A few years ago I got smart and started taking pictures of the kids' costumes ahead of the big day. It worked like a charm because I simply forget to do it on Halloween. There is too much candy, too many parties, too much trick or treating to do on the thee day. Then I'm left with the task of forcing them back into there sticky costumes to satisfy my photo needs. And who wants that? no one. not a single one.

Ethan chose the "Pit Crew"



I love the poses that they come up with for themselves. Like this: Chin resting on drill and scratching head. Awesome.

Mathew chose the ninja.


We paired this outfit with the deadliest of his blue church socks.

Megan wanted the black cat. Then we bought all the stuff for it. Then she wanted to be an angel. then she wanted to be a princess. So she was a black cat.




Laney started the day as Dorothy. She liked it well enough, but I had totally forgotten that when you live in Kansas, there are going to be alot of Dorothys. Also, it was a little chilly for bare legs.



So we dug out the monkey costume of Halloweens past! It was perfect and she really loved the banana necklace. Who wouldn't?



Not a bad year. Everyone was warm and full of sugar.

Troop 3783

A new state....a new troop!

This is Ethan's first pack meeting as a member of Troop 3783. He received his swimming belt loop and a silver arrow point.


Then they did a great skit using their homemade instruments.

His den leader is Emily Gammon and she's great!

The Pumpkin Patch

Another side effect of moving to a new town. You are starting from scratch when it comes to holiday traditions. We no longer have a solid foundation of trial and error from which to make our decisions on where to go for this years pumpkin patch/Christmas lights/horse and carriage ride/fill in the blank.

So we asked around and finally settled on Weston Red Barn Farm. It seemed to be a nice compromise. Mark and I differ on what makes a pumpkin patch a GOOD pumpkin patch. He likes low key, pick your pumpkin and get outta there. I like the maze, the train, the hayride, the corn cannon the petting zoo...you get the idea. The more we can do....the better!

By the time we drove out there, it was looking like it was going to start raining and the wind was really picking up. We scored an awesome parking spot when the attendant took one look at my hugeness and directed us to a handicapped spot. You know it!

We strolled around and perused the animals and tried to decide whether we would spring for the hayride out to the patch where you would pick your own pumpkin (from the vine!). I romanticize things on a regular basis and this sounded like something I would like to do. The kids were seduced by the rows and rows of huge pumpkins and my frugal side gave in. We picked a family pumpkin and took a few photos. We did a little window shopping in the barn stuffed with over-priced craftiness awash in fall colors. Rather that finding a treasure or two, I found myself saying, "I could make that for a couple of bucks" over and over and over. I did consider a very snazzy butter dish, but in the end didn't think having a turkey on top of my butter dish would work for everyday use. frugality frugality.

It was a beautiful place and excellent for the photo ops.









When all was said and done, we bought most of our pumpkins at Walmart for 2.50 apiece. It made it much easier to hack into them a week later.