The Pu-kin Patch

Jude welcoming the girls back after their five minute hay ride. He was so happy to see them.

Our best attempt at a group photo. Ready, go.

Jude really liked watching his pumpkin roll off the bale of hay .

Success. Pumpkin gone.

Finally everyone is looking up. I call that a success.

Halloween Recap-Part II

And at one point during the pumpkin carving action, George and I finally looked around and realized we were the only ones actually doing any work.

Definitely holding out for Jude, maybe he will be a little more willing to getting down and dirty.

Halloween Recap

I will just get straight to the point. Breast or "milk" as they are referred to around here are a pretty big deal in this family. They are kind of the center of our universe since one kid or another seems to always be nursing. Nyah talks about my "milk", her "milk", and George's "milk" constantly and loves to reminisce on the days when she drank milk (though I don't think she actually remembers) and the days when Elsa did the same. Elsa just constantly has her hand down my shirt rubbing them, and well Jude, his 17 pound little self says it all. 


So when Nyah discovered The Little Mermaid in her stories this summer, she immediately fell in love with the nice sea shells covering Ariel's "milk" and has been planning her mermaid Halloween costume since. She often reminded us that she wants "these" (pointing to Ariel's sea shells). 

Am I worried about her fascination with this part of the body? Do I think she is growing up too soon? Absolutely not. I can see no better way for Nyah to learn about the female body and her body then by seeing it used for its ultimate purpose. In my mind, her fascination it is only natural.

And though the shells weren't quite like Ariel's, I think they worked perfectly for her. She wore the costume proudly the entire day, first to school then out on a hay ride trick or treating with her dad.

We were going to have another little mermaid but Elsa ditched the costume at the last minute but inherited a witch hat at some point in the night.

The girls really seemed to enjoy their first Louisiana Halloween. Little guy and I hung back and handed out candy but he passed out about an hour in. Maybe next year.

Spooked

Since we now live in a neighborhood, I knew it was bound to happen. I guess I just didn't expect it so soon. So there we were Wednesday evening enjoying a nice family dinner when we heard the door, "Ding dong!"


George and I looked at each other curiously, wondering which of our three friends in Louisiana could be ringing our door bell this hour? George went answered the door but to his surprise, no one was there. He did catch a glimpse of a little girl running off in the distance though.


Great, they already don't like us is all I could think.


But when George looked down, he found a huge pumpkin full of Halloween goodies. He brought it in and set it on the table. We were all curious, especially Nyah. We dug through the bucket, found many treats, including candy (so obviously dinner was completely o-ver), but we also found a note and here is what it said:

***

You are the special friend we choose!

This trick or treat is just for you! Do you know who its from?

So by tomorrow, pick three friends and give them all a Halloween treat. You only have one day so hurry and leave the treat in a furry.

These are the things you need to do:

1. Make three copies of this letter and copy of the Phantom Ghost for each (a separate paper with a ghost drawn on).

2. Post the Phantom Ghost on your door until Halloween to ward off the Phantom Ghost from returning to haunt you and yours.

3. Take the letter, Phantom Ghost and treats and deliver them to three homes that do not have a Phantom Ghost posted on their door.

You have been SPOOKED! Guess who? 

***

So we got spooked. I'm not sure if this is typical neighborhood behavior because I haven't really dwelled in one in quite sometime but I think like it. What a great way to get into the holiday spirit, especially when kids are in the house. And as George and I found out last year, it is really a lot fun to just go ahead and join in your children's enthusiasm for the holidays. 

So what did we do last evening? Passed it on, of course. 

Just after dark, we got on our darkest clothes (only kidding), put some treats together and went out to spook some neighbors. Because I really can't think of better way to get to know the neighbors than the mature way, by ringing their door bells and running.

You might say we took our spooking duties pretty serious and sent our fastest girl to ring and run. Ny was pumped, and she did us proud. We didn't get caught once and had a lot of fun in the process.

The little buddy even participated, though he might have been the most spooked of all.

Do you and your want to get your spook on? Just click on the link below to download the easy to print instructions. Happy spooking!

http://youhavebeenspooked.com/spooking_instructions.pdf

Little Red and Cat

George and I finally gave in and got in the spirit of Halloween.  Nyah was fired up about this Halloween stuff, obviously not having a clue what it was, but after all the talk and hype knowing she had to be a part of it.


Every morning after waking she would ask, "Can I go to Halloween today?"


So the day came and Little Red Riding Hood was a hit. In true Nyah spirit though, she was more concerned about the Big Bad Wolf than Little Red, constantly talking about him when someone asked what she was. She jumps into bed a little quicker at night due to fear of The Wolf. If Kmart had a wolf costume, she could have been a wolf.  

Though there were no wolves around, we were accompanied by a pretty cute little cat who now wants nothing to do with being held or buckled into the confines of a stroller. She wants to be independent and on her own, all the time.

George took the kids door to door and I took them to a Fall Festival where Nyah got her face painted...

 ...and had her first taste of cotton candy. 

Its is never a bad time watching the girls having new experiences though I ended up eating the cotton candy. I forgot just how good it was.

Pumpkin Carving

Nyah had her first pumpkin carving experience this weekend. When I asked her what kind of face she wanted to carve into the pumpkin,  she kept saying, "a hippopotamus". She finally settled on a happy face.

She was overjoyed with the entire process, from the anticipation of carving, to cutting the pumpkin open and sticking her hand into the seedy goo, to carving the pumpkin and eating all the roasted seeds.

Nyah ate all the pumpkin seeds and asked for more when they were gone.

Unfortunately, Elsa napped through the whole experience but she did love her little pumpkin

We lit Jack-O-Lantern tonight and Nyah watched him all night. Needless to say, I think pumpkin carving will be added to the list of family traditions. George and I are glad because we had just as much fun as Nyah did carving her Jack-O-Lantern.