All Things Halloween

Most of my kids use the stickers that Grandma and Grandpa Tober

send in the mail, to decorate their journal pages.

Not Jalen Andrew.

His stickers are for self-decoration.

(and he's not too thrilled for it to be documented on film!)

And what is October without 

 our  Oktoberfest.

I usually don't buy the ready to bake cookie dough, 

but this year, I was just looking for a quick way

to have a little fun with the kids.

Who knew that the cut-out masks on the back

would be almost the best part.

Our church's Trunk or Treat

didn't fall on Halloween this year . . .

the boys had a great time -

and then went trick-or-treating

again on Halloween -

the benefit of being the younger kids, 

is that there are plenty of left over costumes,

so they chose to be different characters . . .
introducing . . . 

Darth Spider

or 

Spider Vader.

It's Autumn Time!

Jalen Andrew was in charge of dessert

for Family Home Evening this week.

We tried a little something new,

to get into the Halloween spirit.

His ghosts in the graveyard,

were a hit with the other kids.

And they turned out pretty cute!

And then, of course,

making donuts at Grandma and Grandpa's

was a hit too.

The kids look as forward to this tradition,

as I did as a child.

What would October be,

without the annual donut glazing -

and Mahalia Jackson belting out Christmas music

in the background?

Let fall officially begin!

Now, please weather, cooperate.

Halloween & Our Alter Egos

Joseph went as a Ninja for Halloween. It was pretty fun to learn how to tie a t-shirt into the heading for his costume. It was easy, but still looked cool.

Rebekah made a beautiful Hawaiian princess.

I had a costume all picked out for Jalen Andrew, but no matter what I said, he kept insisting that he was going to be a fireman. When we got the box of costumes down, he dug out the Superman cape, exclaimed, "Fireman!" and THAT was THAT! The rest of his costume was made in about 5 minutes.

James was a Jedi master. Looks a bit like the young Anakin, doesn't he?

Erik was the world-wide web (he has a globe on the back of his t-shirt)- scary isn't it?

This year wasn't one of our most creative years, and I became a somewhat tame "hippie" in a matter of minutes.

It was a good Halloween, and the kids came away with plenty of "goodies."

New faces

"What kind of face is your pumpkin going to have, Jalen Andrew?" "A smile face - don't look at the eyes! It's scary!"

Joseph took on the challenge of carving his own pumpkin this year, and learned that it is harder than it looks. He did a great job, but in the end, he and his Dad got a "little creative."

James was a trooper about cleaning out all of the pumpkin "goobers" - a task that he didn't enjoy much, but stayed with anyway.

The girls went jack-o-lantern free this year. Christine was too busy with high school stuff, to take the time to carve. She even missed our ward's annual trunk -or-treat, because she was at U of A for a band competition (by the way, they got Excellent as their rating!). Rebekah, who has NEVER liked touching the pumpkin goo, or smelling it, opted out of carving one this year, but asked us as she walked through the room, "Can you buy pre-carved pumpkins? If you can, I think that's what I'll have my kids get when I'm a Mom."

Haunting Halloween Highlights

The sulky scarecrow stands silently as the scary skeleton shrugs off the spiderwebs spun by Spiderman.

Positively perfect pop-star pose.

Nice, nifty gnomes neatly nestle into the Netherlands.

This really was a fitting costume for Erik and I,

since we both loved gnomes before we ever met each other,

and we did have a gnome holding a heart as our wedding cake topper.

Long live the little people!

P.S. No, I don't know why I wrote all the above descriptions in alliteration -

it just hit me all of a sudden.

This is the Lantern that Jack Built

Watch it Wiggle

I saw the cutest idea of carving out jack-o-lanterns in oranges,

and then filling them with jello to make them look like they are glowing.

I feel like I rarely get to be the fun mom that does those kinds of things,

so I decided to make them.

Of course, the oranges on the trees around here are still green,

will be for a little while still,

so I went to the supermarket.

$5.00 for 6 squishy oranges?! I just couldn't do it!

I couldn't make myself pay for oranges that wouldn't even taste that great.

So, instead, we made these:

And it was still fun - maybe more so because the kids helped.

(Jalen Andrew was a little confused about the jello -

couldn't figure out why it wasn't coming out!)

We'll see, I still might try the jello in the oranges,

but it won't be until the oranges here are ripe and free.

Don't be surprised if I post a picture of small jack-o-lanterns in the middle of December

(I'm not crazy. Just cheap.)

Halloween is in the Air

I know that Rebekah had finally given up on her sick Mom ever putting up the Halloween decor, but yesterday I finally filled the house up with little spots of orange. Thanks to the cousins, Hailey, Kajsa, and Trae, who so kindly sent their home grown pumpkins along with Farmor and Grandpa Brewer, we had a splash of orange even before I got enough energy to get the other Halloween stuff out. Jalen Andrew LOVES those pumpkins, by the way, and he dutifully transfers them one by one, from one room to the next, and then back again. Of course, now that the pumpkin window clings are up, he is constantly transferring and rearranging those too. (Christmas, this year, should be fun!) The dropping spider that freaked Jalen Andrew out last year, has been delightful to him this year. He loves clapping his hands, triggering the spider to drop quickly. And although I put brand new batteries in it yesterday, the spider's power source has already been depleted. Jalen Andrew is a little confused by the spider's lack of compliance this morning as he dutifully claps every time he walks by it. In true fashion, the Friday Phantom struck yesterday, mysteriously filling the pumpkin jar with goodies. Although the ghoul only made it's appearance in our home last year (sometimes it's fun to start new traditions) the kids looked forward to his return this year. He's so sneaky too!There can be nothing in the jar one minute, and a few minutes later he has come and gone, without anyone noticing. Eerie, isn't it?

Hey, Pumpkin!

My sister Michelle won this large pumpkin in a drawing at Sprouts grocery store. They hauled it all the way to our house on Thanksgiving, just for fun, so that our kids could check out this gigantic pumpkin.James posed himself, holding his cousin's football. Didn't he do a good job?My, how he's grown! Joseph, that is - not the pumpkin!Rebekah, feeling at one with the pumpkin.Okay, so we FORCED Christine to sit down so that we could take a picture! She didn't want to. I had forgotten how much she hates posing while balancing on things in nature. I kid you not. The look of fear on her face, is real.I'm just wishing and waiting for my fairy Godmother to turn this pumpkin into a golden carriage. We didn't get a picture of Jalen Andrew with the pumpkin. He was asleep when I took these pictures. I was tempted to wake him up, but somebody told me that a picture had already been taken. Not so! Oh well. He's still our little pumpkin, anyway.