October 26

Do you remember when we went hiking a few weeks ago, and I mentioned that it would be really nice to have a toddler-sized carrier? A week later, I found a 50% off sale on Lillebaby toddler carriers and snatched one up. It arrived today, and when I told Lily that we finally had a carrier that was just her size, she was elated. 

I put her up, and she immediately gave a contented sigh and said, "I am SO happy!"

That girl has such a sunny, joyful disposition. I'm so glad she's mine.

And she's so glad she has a Lily-sized carrier! 

We likely won't use it super often, but it was such a good price that I don't mind. Chris will probably be the one to wear her in it at times that I am wearing Eli. Still, it will be a good option for her, and for Eli once he gets a little bit bigger. Also, having two buckle carriers is nice for situations like hiking last week. 

We have a really hectic weekend ahead of us, and Halloween is this coming Monday. I was afraid that we wouldn't have time to carve our pumpkins, but luckily our schedule was wide open this evening. In our family, Chris is the pumpkin scraper-outer, and I am the carver. We have a nice system in place!

The big kids remember what the insides of pumpkins look like, but Lily and Eli were fascinated.

Goodness, they're cute!

I had the three older kids each draw me a picture of what they wanted their pumpkin to look like. Daisy helped Lily a bit with her pumpkin stem, but Lily was thrilled with her drawing of a pumpkin! (She missed the whole "design" part, but whatever.)

Lily wanted her pumpkin to look like a baby. Easy enough!

(things to notice in the picture above: Daisy and Eli goofing off on the couch, and Lily wearing the thrift store dance recital costume that will likely end up being her Halloween costume.)

Carving with goopy hands. 

Daisy and Eli being goofballs.

Lily's pumpkin ended up being a baby, with a pacifier.

Eli's looks a little like him, with a curl on its forehead, silly eyes, and 4 teeth in a smiley mouth.

Daisy's is a "spooky tree".

Caleb's is a scary ghost.

Eli was very interested.

How cute is he?

The finished product! That's Daisy's spooky tree and Eli's Eli pumpkin.

(Don't worry, Mom. Eli was not burned by the flame inside the pumpkin.)

This year I carved lids on two of the pumpkins, but on the other two I tried a new method of carving a circle out of the bottom instead. It creates a cleaner line, and allows you to place the pumpkin on top of a candle, instead of having to set a candle down in the pumpkin. I liked it, except for the fact that somehow the stem of Daisy's pumpkin feel off after it was carved. Whoops!

Caleb's ghost, Daisy's tree, Eli's Eli, and Lily's baby (sans pacifier, for now).

And the backs - I love that we put their names on the back using the drill. It looks so cool all lit up!

(The two with "lids" are on the left, and the two with holes carved in the bottom are on the right.)

Eli was suitably impressed.

Now I just have to figure out costumes! (Yep. I have dropped my standards. No more thoughtful, coordinating, hand-made costumes around here. The kids are simply going to create costumes out of our multiple costume bins, and I am refusing to let myself feel guilty about it. This year, I don't have it in me to plan and make costumes. Maybe next year.)