If You Go Out in the Woods Tonight...

Yes, Halloween has come again and with it all the traditions and fun! This year we had so much fun carving pumpkins and no even lost a finger! Always considered a success.

This is one tradition that holds many happy memories for me. As the oldest child in my family I often wielded the knives for pumpkin carving with the little kids. I loved helping them make their ideas come to fruition and then sit around later that night and stare at the ghoulish jack-o-lantern faces with yellow flickering shadows dancing on the walls of the front room. What joy to do the same things with my own children and see the light and excitement in their eyes.

Because I found some little LED tea lights, each of the kids got to take their glowing pumpkins into their rooms that night and enjoy the creepiness and coolness of their inventions. I love how each of the faces they created are so individual and reflective of the other art I see coming from their imaginations. Parker's one-eyed goblin is particularly signature right now as he has created a whole world of cartoon characters in this style.

Are you feeling the love Whit has for hers? And, yes, Superman beanies are par for the course in Whitney's sense of style right now. It is very eclectic.

The obligatory pictures on the front lawn before trick-or-treating. And staring into the sun no less. As soon as Parker saw the whoopie cushion costume on line it had to be his, oh yes, it had to be his. All night long as people made comments about his funny costume Parker would proceeds to make the accompanying sounds. Toward the end of the night he informed me that MOST of the farting noises were fake. Lovely.

I found the mermaid tail at a little shop and thought Whit would love the idea of mermaid. We kind of pieced the costume together but I LOVED the 3-foot-long wig. The first time she tried it on and looked in the mirror she said, and I quote, "Blond hair does not really suit me." Nevertheless she had fun putting it all together and looked gorgeous.

Spencer has made it his life's study to become a master with the light saber. Many wars raged on our sidewalk in Texas between him and his other Jedi trainees. Spencer had an almost encyclopedic knowledge of all things Star Wars and this couldn't have fit him better. He has always loved standing in front of an elevator door and "using the force" to make the doors magically open. I love it every time, it never gets old to me, or for that matter, him. By the way, he is NOT Obi Wan Kenobi, just his own Jedi, not some cheap imitation.

The kids elementary school has an annual Halloween Carnival starting around 4 in the afternoon and lasts until the kids start to trick-or-treat. The even started with a costume parade for the different ages groups. Just so happens, Whitney won a Frisbee (ooooh) for 3rd place in her age group. There were some really fun costumes, in particular, a papier mache (where is that accent mark on the keyboard?) monster with lots of fun and light-up red eyes!

Please notice that Spencer's friend Keldon, directly in front of Spencer in line, is Darth Vader! Oh the epic battles between them.

Ah, Parker. It takes confidence like few others to pull of the farting costume. He really did it with style. At one point, I saw a little kid sitting on Parker's stomach while Parker made tooting noises. Fun for all.

Whitney contemplating her award. That darn wig did start sliding off! It didn't make it to trick-or-treating, the strands were making her crazy after a few hours.

We did not pack the camera along for the actual door knocking. Here are Whitney and Spencer heading up the street for the first addition to the treat bag. Note the lack of Parker. For the first year he headed out with a group of his friends to storm the neighborhoods. Adding to the joy of freedom from Mom and Dad, one of his friends family hooked up a hay wagon to a 4-wheeler and pulled the boys from street to street. Maximum treat-age, minimum effort. Perfect.

Our first Halloween in Monticello truly was a treat. Good friends, fun activities, NOT below 45 degrees outside, lots of candy, no sick stomachs. Looking forward to next year.