Halloween Means

First we decorate the house.

 Then we pick out pumpkins, enjoying the traditional apple cider and donuts along the way. 

I think we made record time with our pumpkin selections this year. 

Next up, decorating some Halloweel cookies. Blobby, Dumbledore, a witch and Ariel were some of the favorites.

The annual ward trunk or treat is always a fun night.

And Jason and I like to dress up too!  We went as the ultimate pair this year- salt and pepper!

Next up, carving our beloved pumpkins.  

One of these years we'll remember that no one really likes doing the hard work of scooping out the pumpkins, although Daddy does like the challenge of carving them per requests!

This year we had a classic jack-o-lantern ("with no nose!"), Tinkerbell, Minnie Mouse, and a ninja.  First prize goes to Leah, who scooped, carved and decorated nearly all by herself.

Then it's on to the big night, which was a horribly windy, freezing cold 26 degree night.  There were costume changes- Adam went from Harry Potter to a Jedi, and Emma went from Elena of Avalor to a Super Girl!

It was so, so, so so sooooo windy and cold, but everyone still managed to knock on plenty of houses and collect plenty of loot!

And then we all warmed up by the fire and sorted and traded and ate all of the yummy things.

Noah did swap out his Buzz Lightyear costume for an explorer on preschool day.  

He sensibly observed that he couldn't use the bathroom in his space suit, so this was a more logical choice.

 Adam informed me that no Halloween is complete without a donut-on-a-string contest.  

And he was the champion!

 And now, just about as quickly as it snuck up on us, the Halloween season is over.  We'll remember this year as the one that someone took the Lion Guard cup out of our treat bucket (it was holding pencils for the non-candy eaters, but someone must have thought it was a treat!).

It was the year that Leah first vacillated over whether her costume might be too young, and I told her that if she ever wanted to dress up like a Disney princess again, this was probably the year to do it.  

And this was the year that I couldn't figure out how to do "fair", which Leah reminded me- as I often do all of the kids- that the fair only comes around once a year.  Adam wanted to be Harry Potter, but it didn't seem right to buy just him a new costume when everyone else was making do with what they already had.  But rather than throw a fit or whine or complain, he just made do with what he found in the dress up box and had just as a delightful time as if he had a brand new set of robes on.  He decided he would just ask Santa Claus to bring him the robes so that we could get them for free!  I was so impressed with Adam's understanding of not getting a new costume, even though I really wanted him to have one!  

This year my kids restored my faith in the fun of Halloween, and not just the gimme-gimme attitude that can creep in this time of year.  

So!  That was our month in a pumpkin shell.  Happy Halloween to all, and to all a fright night!