Catching up (Pyper's birthday & Halloween)

I'll just say right up front that I goofed and only got ONE photo of a finished pumpkin. 

*facepalm

But I got the creation of our jack 'o lanterns right here!  We did this as a Family Home Evening activity two weeks before Halloween and it turned out that we were about 13 days too early.  Seriously, those things were moldy and wrinkly and turning into puddles just a few days later.  Guess I didn't count on the humidity here to rot them so quick!

 

Still, they were fun to make and we got a good batch of roasted seeds from them.

 

The kids draw their designs with marker on their pumpkins, then Aaron does the carving.  We've yet to try one of those pumpkin carving kits, but maybe next year we'll have to give it a try.  The old "kitchen knife and sheer muscle" method works fine, but after the first pumpkin I think Aaron's usually ready to be done.  ;)

 

Pyper noticed that the inside of hers had what looked like a spine and ribcage.  Ew!!

 

My girl turned 9 YEARS OLD on the 17th, and while we didn't have a formal celebration on that day (we'd celebrated early because Aaron would be out of town), she did get to open a couple of cards and a present that came in the mail.

Grandma Pam and Grandpa Dean sent her a wallet (which was on her wish list) and a bunch of dollars to stuff it with.  Just for fun, here's the reaction from when she turned 6 and got $15 worth of change from the same grandparents.

Priceless.

Okay, I went a little nuts with the Halloween photos, so prepare yourselves.  I just couldn't narrow them down any more.  I was cracking up so hard at some of these (especially Hakan), so you might want to look at these when you're not going disturb anyone around you.  Seriously, they're pretty funny.

Hakan wanted to be a black and gold ninja, so I sewed his robe, sash and headband (which supposedly says "strong and brave" in Japanese) and he was able to wear a black sweatsuit underneath to keep warm.  Aaron found the set of weapons at Target for an awesome price, which I think really made the whole costume.

Finnley was being really flaky about choosing what he wanted to be for Halloween, but somehow I managed to talk him into wearing the Jedi costume I'd made for Hakan a couple of years ago.  So that got me out of having to make something for him!

This was the second year Pyper chose a spooky costume, and honestly I think it's the makeup that she likes most.  Last year when she went as a witch with the whole fake nose and warts and face paint, she LOVED how many people commented on how creepy she looked and thought it was awesome when people didn't even recognize her. 

This year she decided to be a vampire (no blood, though!) so I sewed her the collar/cape and vest, and she just wore her witch dress from last year.  This was another costume we could layer underneath for warmth, but on Halloween night she still ended up having to wear a coat to trick-or-treat.  We bought her a pair of individual fangs to wear for that night, but they wouldn't stay on her teeth.  Bummer.

We had our ward Halloween party and Trunk-or-Treat on the Friday before Halloween.  We had a meal of chilis, soups and bread and TONS of desserts, and then the kids went through the halls and into different rooms for activities.  Afterwards everyone headed outside to go car to car and get some candy.  Good times!

Confession:  This is the 3rd kid to wear this monkey costume.  And I only got one picture of all of him.  And it's blurry.  And it's from my phone.  And I officially suck.  But isn't he cute?!

 

 

He didn't care much for the hood.

Is that enough?  'Cause I've got more.  Okay, here's some more.  These are from Halloween night.  (I have to mention here that our kids were allowed to wear their costumes to school on Halloween, which meant getting up an hour early to get Pyper's makeup on.  We did her hair the night before, but she insisted on full makeup for school, too.)

Here Hakan is wearing the yellow belt he'd earned the day before at the end of a 6-week karate class that he and Pyper took together.

Every picture of Finnley looks like he's freezing his hiney off.  And I have no idea why he has a Nerf sword.

We had such a steady flow of trick-or-treaters that Rowan and I had to just park ourselves on the porch with a quilt.  It was a cold night be we all had a great time!

See the witch shadow on the side of the house? 

 

It's from this 7 foot witch I made!  I love it!!

 

We really had a terrific Halloween this year, but I'm glad it's over.  :)