Happy Halloween Part II

Somehow we managed to stretch our Halloween celebrations for several days.  And this is a good thing because Halloween is one of Steve's favorite holidays.

Last Sunday night, our church Life group had our annual Halloween party.  I didn't have time to put an outfit together.  Well, I had the TIME, I just didn't have the creative thought to figure out what to do, so I donned my authentic Chinese dress and went as a China girl/Geisha/whatever.  Steve literally threw his outfit together a few hours before the party and got tons of compliments.  He was a zombie (shout out to TWD fans!) and apparently does a pretty good job on makeup. 

The girls got to wear their costumes and I almost died over the extreme cuteness.

I'm not sure Kylie knew what to make of Jenna at first...but she got used to her pretty quickly.  We also had her watch Steve putting his makeup on in the bathroom so she would know it was him.



 

And then this is our Life group.  We are a huge bunch of goofballs...kids at heart.  And yes, that's our Children's minister and his family dressed up as the good folk from Duck Dynasty. 

We roasted hot dogs and made s'mores.  Yum yum.  It was a great way to start our fall!!!

Happy Halloween Part I

I know I need to get back to posting regularly, but I just can't seem to get myself together.

But I didn't want to let the day get away without reporting in on our Halloween festivities.  We finally got around to carving the humongo pumpkin Jenna picked from Gentry Farms a few weekends ago.

Jenna wanted to carve her own pumpkin and so we cautiously allowed it.  Of course, we just let her do the small pumpkins.

We let Kylie help "gut" the pumpkin but she wasn't too sure about that and didn't care much for getting her hands dirty.

So, she played with play doh while we carved (so much for that not liking to get her hands dirty theory!)

In the end, Jenna carved two little pumpkins and I carved the big one (after Steve topped it).  I think they turned out well.

Tonight, I was later leaving work than what I was meaning to be and the traffic was awful.  I managed to get home in time to change clothes and take the girls out.

Here she is dragging her bag across the yard for her first ever trick or treat...

And then here they are with our sweet neighbor, Aimee.  Aimee was so excited to be part of Kylie's first Halloween in the US!

After it was all said and done, even though Kylie wasn't crazy about the whole event, she and Jenna both ended up with plenty of candy.

And once Kylie figured out what all was in that bag...well, let's just say she probably would have gotten more into the trick or treating.

Halloween!

I know it's overdue, but just had time to post some pics of our Halloween festivities.

The Sunday before Halloween, we had a church LifeGroup party.  There were tons of people there.  This is the coolest family ever!  And we have grown to love them like our own. 

Is that not the best Mad Hatter costume you've ever seen?!  The only thing original was the hat.  The rest of the costume (and the makeup) were bought consignment or put together from home.  Wow.

I unfortunately didn't get a picture of the other adults in their costume but I hijacked this one off my friend Leigh Ann's Facebook

That's just a piece of our group, but  just look at this group of kids.

It was a great time.  You just can't beat hanging out with 30-40 good peeps and all their kids (including ours) running crazy.  Love them.

Monday Jenna came home from her school Harvest party with this loot...

And here's our bowl of candy to give out...BEFORE the trick or treating started..

Yes, we have the GOOD candy.  :)  And what you've all been waiting for...well, OK probably not, but this is what this whole post is about...my Jenna.  I think her costume is quite fitting for what our family is going through right now...

Oh, she's so pretty!  You can't see it in these pictures, but she has fake eyelashes with silver glitter.  She looked like such the little beauty.

And everyone else must have thought so too because check out the loot she brought home...

Has anyone else noticed how preoccupied with candy I am in this post.  OK, yeah, me neither.

And the last thing is our new pumpkin.  We carved the original two a week before Halloween and they had nearly rotted by Halloween.  So we bought another and Steve carved it.

Can you tell what it is?  Oh, and see the mini pumpkin next to it?  Take a closer look...

That is a little mini pumpkin Jenna got from church and today while I was busy, she actually carved the dang thing herself.  Not only that, but when she realized she couldn't put a candle in it, she rigged up a mini keychain flashlight in the back.  I'm telling you, she's nothing if not creative.

Hope you all enjoyed your Halloween as much as we did!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Just wanted to say Happy Halloween to all my readers!  (all 3 of you!)  I'll be back later with pictures of Jenna in her costume and our Halloween night adventures!

I can't help but think this will be our last Halloween as a family of 3.  :)

Carving Pumpkins

Last weekend we set aside for carving pumpkins.  We used to carve them earlier, but then they'd rot before Halloween, so we've gotten smarter over the years.

Steve is always the one who has to start the fun cutting out the top and then Jenna gets to clean out the "guts".

A few years ago, before it was all the rage, we did the special carvings and they turned out fine.  Then for a few years, I got lazy and just did the standard pumpkin face.  This year, we met in the middle and did a carving, but we did a couple that were relatively easy.

This is me doing MINE...

Jenna took a few pictures of us.  It's nice that she is getting to the age where she's interested because Steve and I rarely are in pictures together.

And here's my final product.  Can you tell what it is?  Lie to me and say yes even if you can't!!!

And then Jenna picked one and Steve helped carve it while I cleaned pumpkin seeds from pumpkin guts.

The last few years I have started using the pumpkin seeds.  I wash them, the salt and roast them.  I never really loved roasted pumpkin seeds before, but both Jenna and I have taken to them every Halloween.

I ended up taking them to LifeGroup after they were done and they were gobbled up like hotcakes!  Who knew so many people loved roasted pumpkin seeds!!!???

Halloween Decor

It's beginning to look a lot like...HALLOWEEN!

Jenna came home from the grocery store with these window clings...

Right now, it's slim pickins at our house where it concerns Halloween decor, but we sure have had fun making edible decorations!

What can you make with the following:

Isn't it obvious?  You make a graveyard cake!

Mine doesn't look quite like the original which can be found here, because I ran out of whip cream before I could make the ghost.  I took this to our Lifegroup on Sunday night and brought home a clean dish.  Must've been good!!! :)

Also, it's time to start seeing this round our house...

Let's hope it lasts until Monday night!!!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! We have a full day today which includes carving our pumpkin which I hope hasn't rotted sitting outside. I have the regular weekend stuff...laundry, cleaning, scrapbooking. And we are hoping to have a special guest tonight. More on that, as well as Jenna's costume, later.

I can't tell you how excited I am that this work week is over. If you will remember, it started with me being over tired and feeling awful. I have worked late every night this week. Last night, Jenna spent the evening at school doing special Halloween activities while Steve and I went out for a date night, which makes 2 in one week! It was pouring down rain and honestly, I would have loved to come home and snuggle up in front of the TV with some movies and our own microwave popcorn. But we had a good time nevertheless.

Speaking of that, Tuesday night we went to TPAC to see "Little House on the Prairie". Melissa Gilbert played "Ma" and while it was cute and it was neat to see her on stage in the show that she grew up in, but no offense, she is not that great of a singer. The show starts off slow in that it was hard for me to get interested in and I think it's because the plot jumps around so much that you don't really have time to get interested in it before it's moved on. Ultimately, the end is cute and happy and you know how I like a happy ending!

Last night, because it was raining, we only had time to go through the Chik-fil-a drive thru. I got off work just a wee bit early and since we couldn't drop JG off until 6, I went over to Kohls. I LOVE that place! I had a $20 gift certificate and a 15% off your entire purchase which turned into 20% if you spent $100 or more. I got 3 blouses for work, 2 pair of pants and jewelry to match all the blouses. With my gift certificate and my 20% off, I spent just a few dollars over $100 and saved...get this...$126!!! Did I already mention how much I LOVE that place?!!? After we dropped JG off and ran through the drive thru, we went to see the movie Paranormal. If you know Steve, you know how much he loves all things scary. He would much rather decorate for Halloween than Christmas (part of that has to do with the fact that it's so much colder outside in December than October!). But he just loves Halloween and scary movies. So we went to see it while we had the chance. Like all movies, I'm sure there will be differing opinions, but I thought it was SUPER SCARY. That is, if you are into scary. Not to give anything away, but it kind of reminded me of The Blair Witch Project, which I also thought was pretty scary. And when I say scary, I mean mostly in that mind way. You know, when you obviously know it's just a movie etc., but when you get home, you start listening for sounds and think you see stuff you don't. So, Steve enjoyed it and I did too. At any rate, it is good to get out with my sweetheart every once in a while.

OK, better get this weekend started...Lots to do.................

What are you gonna be for Halloween?

Jenna has chosen quite an unusual costume for this Halloween. We found it at Target. It's not a fairy, animal or kid superstar (Hannah Montana etc).

It is a person though...someone pretty well known...back in her day. Any guesses? I'll post pictures after Halloween. And I'll have a little something for anyone who guesses correctly. And for those of you that already know, you don't get to play. :)