Halloween

We had the most relaxing Halloween that we've ever had! Usually we're running from place to place, getting all of the holiday in. But this year, Ellie had a runny nose, and Alex just seemed like he'd do better with a non-rushing day. So, we chilled. And the kids LOVED it! We picked up Todd, brought him home, carved our pumpkins, and baked pumpkin seeds.

Well, the pumpkin seeds looked really good BEFORE they went in the oven... then we went out trick-or-treating to a few houses in the neighborhood while leaving the oven on. I thought they'd be fine... Todd knew better and went back to check on them... they were quite brown! They're still edible, though, and I'm glad we got a good chuckle out of it! James made his own skull pumpkin, and Glenn made his own pirate pumpkin... not too shabby! I'll have to get a close-up... they are funny!

Glenn was all set to be a cowboy... then a Commander Cody (as I'm told.. I really have no clue) costume came in the mail compliments of Uncle Jay and Grandma D, and Alex became the cowboy! In the picture above, he is a cowboy that has fallen off his horse! James oscillated between Luke Skywalker (which I wanted him to be in the first place, but insisted he wasn't going to be that... but really I'm grateful for him, because I would have made costumes for everyone to match Star Wars, and that would have taken up too much time!) and later he became his Ancient Chinese Warrior. Whatever they were, the kids LOVED dressing up, and playing the part! I brought a Japanese robe for Ellie, but never ended up putting it on her... she was just cute little Ellie!

I also took a small pumpkin and baked it to make a crustless pumpkin pie. It was fabulous! Then we ended the night with the boys nibbling on candy and watching Harry Potter. It really was a wonderful Halloween together as a family!

And to those of you (Grandma D and Brown IN PARTICULAR) who have ever helped with our back fenceline... it's done! I finished up the rest of the bark Halloween morning in the drizzle... or course it cleared up a little about 30 minutes before I finished :-) I just need to train and prune the grape vines, and start pruning the flowers for winter. And of course, now I'm addicted to flowers, and even got a few more that were on sale to put in the green hanging planters. It will be a beautiful winter to look in our backyard :-)

I have grapes and daisies alternating along the back line, and have various bulbs planted in between... will be interesting to see where they come up! Yeah, it's done!!! Whew!