Halloween. 2013 Edition.

So, in thinking about this post, it occurred to me that a good portion of the readers of this blog are also my Facebook friends. And yes -- I did post photos on Facebook, too. So for this, I tried to come up with a few different shots, but some of the Facebook-shared ones were irreplaceable. So if you feel like you've already seen some of these, ....... well, you probably have. But it's worth a second glance, right?

And every time I start a sentence with, "So," it reminds me of the movie, "National Treasure 2" (I think it's the second one), where Nicolas Cage is talking to his friend, and describes his failed relationship by saying, "She began starting sentences with "So" "...... maybe you know what I mean? I hope you do, because I am NOT going to explain it now. 

So.

We do love fall and Halloween around here. You can probably tell, because every year, I keep taking a ton of pictures. It helps that we have Emma, and having a young child helps us to see it through her eyes and with a thought of making it fun for her. No longer have we "outgrown" a holiday.

Truth in Advertising: These photos are from different days, leading up to Halloween. We didn't actually have it all happening at once. Even *I* am not that busy.

Miss Emma picked out a pattern for her pumpkin that was a witch. Which shocked me to no end -- I didn't think she was really into the scary characters of Halloween. But rather than jump through the hoops of asking if she was *sure*, we said, "Fine!" and she got her witch:

 

Which witch was carved by Todd.

Now I have the Munchkins' song running through my head...

"Whi-i-i-ich was not a healthy sit-uation for the wicked witch!"

 

And now you have it running through your head, too. You're welcome.

 

We grew pumpkins again in the garden.... but it wasn't the bumper crop of 20+ that we had last year. But we managed to get 5 decent-sized pumpkins for carving, and another half-dozen or so that never progressed from green, which I used with the dried cornstalks as fall décor. Emma went out with Cameron to harvest the orange ones:

 

It's like the pumpkin version of Simba (Lion King), right?

 

She carefully washed the dirt off them...

 

But she could not hold or carry one by herself, so Cameron helped her out.

 

Oh, how I love those kids!

 

Hide and seek behind the pumpkins.

 

She got to dress up an extra time when her preschool group went trick or treating at a nursing home. We could have done more dressing up and trick or treating, but I really didn't see enough good coming from it to make it worth our while. We certainly don't need extra candy around here. And I think if you trick-or-treat too much, then it makes the fun of it a little too common.

 

So Emma went as a Pirate Princess this year. She had a number of Disney princess outfits that she plays in, but this was new and she really loved it. We stopped at Welenco to show Daddy, and that's when we snapped these pictures.

 

 

"Aaaaargh!!"

 

Little-know fact about me: Whenever I can get the footwear to coordinate with the whole costume, I give myself a pat on the back and an invisible tally-mark in my head. Score!

 

 

(She was checking out a witch decoration at the nursing home -- and I thought it was cute.)

 

Here's the whole group of preschoolers:

 

Are they cute or what??

It was so nice to see the elderly residents as the kids came by. Their faces lit up and they loved handing out candy and treats as much as the kids enjoyed getting it.

 

The people in Physical Therapy were probably the most active and responsive, but they were all just so sweet. It was a good day there.

 

Pumpkin carving happened for Family Home Evening before Halloween. Except mine -- which didn't happen until Halloween night. At least I actually got it carved this year. Some years...... not so much!
Left to right in the photo below: Cameron's, Alyssa's, Todd's, Emma's and Darcie's. 

 

At the church parking lot for the Trunk or Treat. (My pumpkin is second from the left here. You can't see Cameron's because it was on the ground when I took this photo. We moved it back with the others a few minutes later.

 

 

Darcie was keeping warm under her blanket.

Emma saw one of her best friends right away...

 

 

... and made silly faces!

 

One of our favorite traditions is to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house after the Trunk or Treat, and have pizza and play games together. This time, Grandma also had some glow necklaces that the kids played with.

 

You wouldn't believe the strange people that come out on Halloween.....

 

 Yep, Uncle Wade still has a drop of holiday spirit left in him!