Guatemala

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I Love Me Some Halloween Time!

Things I love about Halloween:

 1.  The change of seasons....fall is starting to slowly creep out while winter sneaks in.  In the past few years here, there has been one Halloween where we had snow and one Halloween where the temps were in the 70s.  This year it was around 40, which is just perfect to me.  I love all the signs of the upcoming winter - the few leaves barely hanging onto the trees, the crisp air, and the kids outside playing trying to enjoy the last few weeks of weather that can be played in for hours on end.

2.  Ummmm COSTUMES!!!  So many parts of costumes to love - the deciding, the sewing, the trying on, the wearing of costumes from sunup to sundown during the days off before Halloween.  Love it all!  I was a little disappointed with my craftiness this year and had some mishaps with the "light blue princess kitty costume," but Beans was nonfluffed about it and that's all that really matters.  Otter, as always, required black, gruesome, and something violent.  I think this has been his theme for the past 4 years; he just gives it a new name each Halloween - this year it was called "Spirit Archer."  Uh duh.  He actually drew what he wanted, came and picked out fabrics, help cut, and was standing over my shoulder with ants in his pants while I sewed it up for him.  Smoosh is also consistent in his costumes for the past few years - really cool guys that beat up bad guys.  Spiderman.  Thank goodness we have quite the collection of costumes for him to just pick through.  Squeaks was a "little orange kitty kat," which translates in Mommy language to "adorable."  The girls helped out with the sewing.

3.  School parties.  I don't understand why the kids were looking at me funny when I wanted to join in the eyeball races and eat some gooey brain cupcakes.  Sheesh.  Can't a girl have some fun?

Look - its spidey at the window!  Good party times!

4.  Pumpkin carving!!  Pics say it all:

seeds in, seeds out

and i'm done with that silly seed schtuff

ooh - don't forget to taste the seeds

5.  TRICK OR TREATING!!!  Minus the yelling at kids for saying "trick or death" or running across the street in a black costume in the dark.  Did I say kids?  I meant yelling at the Otter.  My most favorite part of trick or treating is coming home and dumping all the candy on the floor then sorting!  SO FUN!

It was a great Halloween season!  I am already planning the costumes for next year:)

Fall Carvings

Ahh Fall, how I love thee.  Our yard was a beautiful blanket of fall color before the mighty winds set our way.  Now our neighbor's yard is a beautiful blanket of fall color!  We have been busy with all the projects that fall brings.

The first was a venture into homemade applesauce.  We have made this before, but this year Smoosh and I decided to spice it up a bit and make it in the crockpot.  Crockpot applesauce leaves a smell in the house that lingers well into the next day, just like bread baking does.  We carved at least 20 apples to get maybe 2 full cups of applesauce.  I learned that when cooking with Squeakers I should probably keep a better eye on her or give her jobs that do not involve actual food products.  I think she "tasted" every apple before putting it into the crockpot.  I did not notice this until Smoosh raised a fuss about wanting some "taste tests" too.

There go all those apple peels to our bunnies and some to our compost pile!

Next "carving" project up will be canning pears and make absurd amounts of pear pies, pear sauces, pear whatevers!  It was a pear-a-palooza this fall from our trees!

Smoosh and Jack -he's our neighbor who helped with the picking!

One of our biggest fall "carving" projects was a new bed for Smoosh!  Check it out - that's a dragon rail on there!!!  Big Daddy at work again with his craftiness. 

 The bed still needs some paint and a few more details to be added, but I don't think Smoosh minds too much.  He was pretty excited to finally have a big boy bed!

Of course, there is always the Pumpkin Carving of each year that is such great fun for about 5 minutes before I start wigging out from the knives being used recklessly, the over-the-top need for violence and gory items from an eldest child who shall remain nameless, and the smiles from watching the littlest one take seeds out the pumpkin then put them back in, out, then in, out, then in.  Pics will follow in another post:)