Happy Halloween

When Ed and I got married, I somehow became the pumpkin carver of the family. Actually, I like carving pumpkins (Very simple pumpkins. Not the really artistic kind. Or even the kind with ears and eyebrows, the way my parents did them. Mine have two eyes, one nose, and a mouth.), so I'm not complaining. But this year our neighbor found pumpkins for sale for a dollar apiece and picked up Three for us, and I decided that an even better tradition would be for Ed and I to carve pumpkins together. He was a little hesitant about scooping out the pumpkin goop, but he donned a pair of surgical gloves and did just fine. And it was fun.

(Katie is drawing, not cutting.)

The kids had a hard time deciding what they wanted to be this year. Travis wanted to be one of the scary guys from the sort of movies we don't watch who wears a hockey mask and carries a bloody weapon. I said "no," but he kept hoping I would relent. At the last minute he decided to be a Pumpkin Demon, wearing a mask and an old Harry Potter cloak. Don't ask me why Pumpkin Demon is okay with me and guy-in-mask-with-weapon is not -- it is just one of my weird mommy things. Katie wanted to be an ax murderer. I told her she could only be one if she was a Princess Ax Murderer, wearing last year's princess gown and carrying a long handled ax (The logic here was that she wouldn't want to carry the ax for more than a couple minutes, so I would carry the ax and she would look cute. I think she's onto me.). This afternoon she decided that she wanted to be a cat. Just a cat -- not an ax murderer cat! Someone handed us down a black fluffy trimmed coat a while back, so I used electrical tape to attach ears and a tail to the coat, drew on whiskers, and we were set. I think they look cute, and their costumes fit our budget nicely.

Instead of trick or treating downtown this year, we went "trunk or treating" at a friend's church. The kids had a great time running around with their friends, and they got more and better candy than they ever have. And I didn't have to walk miles in the dark and cold, which pretty well makes up for missing all the neat spooky old houses.

Here Katie is showing off the glow in the dark bracelet she got. She is keeping an eye on Ed because she suspects he has designs on her candy. Which he does.