It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Halloween

We carved our pumpkins on a Tuesday evening. I turned on a Halloween playlist and the kids got to work.






While the kids designed their masterpieces, my job was to turn this into an edible snack.


When they were finished, we put candles inside and placed them on top of our TV cabinet.


Bella carved a mountain landscape with the moon and stars in the sky.


She even carved an owl in a tree!
Graydon carved a one-eyed monster. . .


. . . with the word BOO on the side of its head.


Curtis won the award for scariest pumpkin.


We ate our roasted pumpkin seeds and watched "The Great Pumpkin."


On Halloween, the kids and I wore costumes to school. Several of the staff members at school dressed as Toy Story characters, so I went as Jessie.


That day, the temperature dropped into the low 30s. None of us were super motivated to go trick-or-treating in that. We settled on an indoor trunk-or-treat and drove to Curtis's teacher's house for a quick stop. While the boys did that, Bella had a Halloween dance at school.


All three kiddos in their Halloween gear. Since we didn't plan to be out long, Graydon and Curtis didn't feel like getting their whole face painted again. Good thing we did that the week before!


When we came back, we got a fire going, ate some candy, and watched TV. It may have been a Halloween show. . . or it may have been an episode or two of "The Middle." I can't even remember now. But we were warm and cozy and after that chilly night, we were all content with that.


So was Mabel.


That weekend, Andy and Bella had a youth retreat a few hours away. It was just me and the boys for the weekend. They had their first basketball game of the season that morning and played their final flag football game that afternoon. It was still cold outside and the field was so windy. The team who won this game would go on to play the championship game right after. As much as I cheer for my boys and want them to win, I can't deny that I was hoping for a loss so I wouldn't have to sit through two freezing games. I sat next to a friend whose child was on the opposing team. Instead of cheering for our own kids/team, we were both cheering for the opposite because neither of us wanted to sit through two games! As it turns out, Graydon and Curtis's team lost. But as far as I'm concerned, we won!


Here is one pic of Bella at the retreat.


Next year, Graydon will be old enough to attend - which just blows my mind!