October 30

It feels like we have been celebrating Halloween for the past month, and it still isn't even Halloween yet.

Today we had yet another Halloween celebration. Some of the families in our church small group went trick-or-treating on historic Main Street. Since Caleb had school, we couldn't make that event happen, but we did join everyone for a bonfire with hot dogs and s'mores afterwards. Even though our kids wouldn't be trick-or-treating, they wore their costumes. Daisy and Lily decided to give the skeleton jammies a rest and wear their wings again, but this time they were fairies. During naptime, I crafted flower crowns for both of them, using fake flowers left over from Daisy's first birthday party. When Daisy got up from her nap and saw her flower crown and wand, she was so excited!

Daisy asked if she could borrow my sparkly blue necklace. Apparently she thought that completed her ensemble.

Flower fairy, spinning in the leaves!

I think Daisy looks just like her Auntie Grace in this one!

These pictures almost make me forget what a stinker Daisy was at the end of the night.

Almost.

Then Lily came out. She did not want to wear her flower crown and she did not want her picture taken. Except that she totally wanted her picture taken because she had twin french braids that she was really proud of.

This was before she knew I was taking her picture.

This was when I asked her to smile.

Lovely smile, dear.

She is such a stinker!

But she loved her braids and her fairy wings and her tutu and her flower wand!

Last night, we finally carved the pumpkins. Do you remember how Chris hollowed them out on Saturday? Well, they sat in our foyer until last night, when Daisy insisted that we had to carve them tonight. When we opened the lids, we discovered they were all moldy. Oops.

But we carved them anyway. Caleb drew a sketch of what he wanted his to look like, Daisy wanted hers to look just like Caleb's, Lily's had a silly face, and I tried to make Eli's look like a funny baby. To top it all off, Chris used the drill to make their names in the back. It was delicate work because some parts of the pumpkins were really close to being complete mush. On the bright side: rotten pumpkins are much softer than fresh pumpkins, which makes them easier to carve.

Before we headed to the party, I took some pictures of the kids with their pumpkins. Mostly, I'm just not sure if they'll last another day! 

Eli was excited about his pumpkin and spent a while exploring it.

Then he army crawled off to examine Lily's pumpkin.

Hmmm...

He's clearly comparing the two pumpkins. Which is better?

Eli thinks his is the winner!

(Also a winner: that snotty nose. Sorry about that. I'm too lazy to Photoshop it out.)

Daisy's pumpkin was in the worst shape. You can actually see a little puddle/trickle of goo under it, and half of its face is falling apart. Sorry, Daisy.

In this picture, she is trying to make the same face her pumpkin is making.

Lily checked out her pumpkin.

"No like it!"

She was not a fan. Sorry, Lily. I think it's cute!

And Caleb. Oh, Caleb.

He came home from school with green eyebrows drawn above his real eyebrows. His costume for the evening was his skeleton jammies, a belt (to hold his sword), a cape, and his Spider Man mask (because he couldn't find his Iron Man mask.) He was in a touchy mood this afternoon; I think the kids have had too much candy in the past week or two.

Chris came home, and we headed to the celebration. My mom works nearby, so she stopped by on her way home. She saw Caleb in his black hooded cape, and told him about how when she was a girl, the nuns who taught her at school also wore long black hoods and capes. Caleb, captivated by her story, quickly asked, "Did they have swords, too?!?!"

Mom replied, "No, dear. But they had rosary beads!"