Halloween 2011

Halloween is a busy day around here.  There's a preschool trick-or-treat around the downtown stores, and then in the evening we always trick or treat around our neighborhood.  This year was no exception, although it's hard to believe that after six years, this will be my last year taking a child around downtown.  These kiddos are getting big!

This year Caroline was a character from her newest favorite book, Ladybug Girl.  The girl in the book is even named Lulu, and since we call our girl Carol-lou, or Lou, or Lula, she seems like a perfect match.  Caroline was extra excited because she had outgrown her rainboots last year, and we've been waiting for her size to come in at the army surplus store down the street--and on the weekend before Halloween they finally did: so my ladybug girl had ladybug rainboots to wear just like the ones in the story.  I don't think you can see them in any of these pictures, but they might make it into some other photos this winter. 

Jack was a pirate again this year, with the addition of his talking parrot, which was fun to take to school.  He was wanting to be something scary, and we decided that the parrot startling people would be scary enough (just ask Grandma Jo--once the parrot said something when she was babysitting and the power had unexpectedly gone out.  That parrot can be scary!)

The rest of the pictures tell the story of our day.  First we have Caroline with her best monkey friend Marilyn, ready to go visit the downtown shops.

 

  

 Lindsey, Graham, Marilyn, Caroline and I.  Check out the next picture for an explanation of my outfit.  I am awfully lucky to have such a close friend who lives so near, and with kids similar ages.  Marilyn and Caroline also go to preschool together, and they're such good friends that Linds and I have both mistakenly called them Mar-oline and Car-ilyn.

 Caroline as a pumpkin. 

 Do we look alike?  Could we be sisters?  We were Waldo for Halloween--or actually one of the other girls at the store, Khrista, was Waldo, and we were the imitators.  Or maybe we were Wenda?

  Two kiddos ready to go trick or treating around the neighborhood.  Doesn't that pirate look tough?  He's pretty good at saying "Arrrgh matey," "batten down the hatches," and "shiver me timbers."  Trace even taught him a pirate joke: where do all pirates come from?  Arrrrgh-kansas.  I'm not sure Jack knows why it's funny, but he repeats it with a nice growl!

Oh, in the middle of the day Caroline had her Monday ballet practice.  In the midst of getting two kids, their costumes, and a Halloween snack for Jack's class (this was easy and cute, but time-consuming), I forgot Caroline's ballet bag with her ballet and tap shoes in it.  The first part of her class is ballet, and then the last fifteen minutes they work on their tap moves.  I ran home and got her shoes, so I missed the ballet, but I thought I'd share this video I took of the little girls, in costume, practicing their tap to Kermit the Frog's Happy Feet.  Too cute!

Pumpkin Fun

In their four and six years, my kids have never carved a pumpkin.  They've painted them, drawn on them, and decorated them in other ways, but we've never carved one before.  Come to find out, Trace has never carved one before either, so this was a first for our family.  We all had a blast!

     These first two pictures are the pumpkins the kids did themselves, with sharpies.  This one is Jack's, and this pumpkin came out of our garden!  Jack made it scary with silver sharpie.

This is Caroline's, and it's intended to be cute.  I think she succeeded! 

These are the bouquets the kids have been picking with fall flowers and leaves.  Aren't they sweet?  One has been added every day this week.  The little perfectly round pumpkin in the middle came from our garden too, and we're convinced that it's the cutest pumpkin ever--but we might have a little gardener's pride.

Here is Caroline scooping out the innards of her pumpkin.  She didn't love doing it like I thought she would--she said it felt like spider webs.  I told her it was more like spaghetti, so then she was willing to help.

Trace used the big knife and cut the pumpkins open.  I guess I have these two pictures in the wrong order.

Caroline took this picture of Jack and I working on his spider pumpkin.

Jack worked hard on this pumpkin.  We printed a spider template from online, traced it, and then carefully cut it.  He and I worked together, and our hands were tired by the end!

In this picture he's showing the scary drawings he did on this lid of his pumpkin.  There's a spider and a few jack-o-lanterns.

Trace carved Caroline's pumpkin, with her input.  She had chosen a large pumpkin, and then she wanted it carved into a kitty cat.  That was a little complicated for a four year old, but she was willing to watch Daddy work on it.

Trace working hard.  I think his hands got tired too!

Posing for me with their pumpkin.  Cute!

While Trace and Caroline were working on the cat, Jack turned his pumpkin around and drew his own face and then carved it entirely himself.  Here's his proud smile for a job well done.  Now he's got a reversible pumpkin: spider/jack-o-lantern.

Jack's pumpkin face.

Two lit pumpkins sitting on the front porch.

Putting in the candles was the best part--both kiddos had a giant grin when they saw these faces smiling at them!  It was great fun for all of us!