Halloween

 Halloween is huge in my house and we really get into the "spirits" of things.  ~Dee Snider

Our family really got in the "spirits" of things for this Halloween.  We started our Halloween time with our traditional trip to Jaker's pumpkin patch.  It was extremely windy, but we had a great time picking out our pumpkins, going on the wagon ride, and playing in the corn pit. We normally go out in the pumpkin patch and find the perfect pumpkin, but trying to beat Shayne needing to go to work, we settled on the display pumpkins.

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It was also around this time that I showed Kaitlyn her Halloween costume.   I knew she would "die" when she saw it, but I didn't expect what happened next.  Kaitlyn is quite the Care Bear fan, so picking the right costume was EASY.  I found a pink Cheer Bear costume on Amazon and knew she had to have it.  When I showed her the costume, she was instantly overjoyed with the sight.  She put it on and wore it happily through the evening.  When it came to bedtime, she wouldn't part with it though.  Tired and impatient, I let her sleep in the costume as her pajama's.  The next day, she insisted on keeping wearing it. 

I was starting to worry I created a monster.  Kaitlyn was constantly looking at herself in the mirror in admiration, and having total meltdown's when the two parted.  My fears calmed when Kaitlyn seemed ok parting with the "Lala" (nickname for the bear) allowing it to 'nap' or other things.  Now she wears the suit only to bed, which  I don't mind since it is as warm as  her blanket sleepers.  

Fingers crossed she will part with it when the temperatures raise again. 

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Sunday October 21, Mom, Shayne, Ellie, Kaitlyn, and I headed up North for a very small family Halloween dinner.  I remembered a "Meal in a Pumpkin" dinner that my Grandma Tubbs used to make us every Halloween when we were kids and I thought this would be a perfect meal and new tradition for our family.  We also brought our pumpkins for carving and the kids wore their costumes.  I have to admit we were excited to see Elodie again as well since she was only a couple weeks old.  Kaitlyn made things interesting as usual, but we had a great time being together.  It was fun to get to do this together since we decided not to do an official Halloween Party this year.

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Pumpkin's and their seeds.  Although we went to the Halloween gathering expecting to carve pumpkins, we ran out of time and finished on October 22, at home.  Ellie had fun making her pumpkin look like a dragon while Shayne and I worked on a bat flying over a graveyard.  Kaitlyn was so proud of her "Mrs. Potato Head Princess" pumpkin also. 

My family was in agreement that while carving the pumpkins was fun, we all looked forward to making pumpkin seeds.  Shayne makes them so tasty and addicting.  We baked them the next day and enjoyed them over the next week.  Sadly, this baby didn't like pumpkin seeds so whenever I ate more than a small amount I would get sick.  It spoiled some of the fun, haha.

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Halloween night! 

 It was now Halloween day.  I woke up that morning with the determination of making the day memorable from start to finish.  I prepared some pumpkin pancake mix the night before, and made my family pumpkin pancakes for breakfast.   With very little break, I got ready to go to Ellie's school to help out with a pumpkin lantern craft at her school party.   Everything was going great and to make the day better, I had my 20 week visit with Dr. Crouch.  Baby was doing awesome!  

I started to get panicky when I saw that Shayne hadn't even started our yearly "spook alley" outside.  Time was running short and with only a few hours to go until Trick or Treaters came around, I doubted everything would get done.  When Jason asked if we were doing a spook alley, we took the opportunity to ask him to help; so with Jason's help, Shayne, myself, and my mother in law during Kaitlyn's short nap we managed to pull together a nice spook alley. 

5:00.  Trick or Treaters were starting to come and my nieces were over to start Trick or Treating with Ellie and Kaitlyn.  Kaitlyn made it a couple streets when it was obvious it was time for her to come home.  Poor thing chased behind them yelling, "wait!" the whole time.  I was having trouble keeping up with the three as well. 

6:00.  Kaitlyn and I went to Mom's work for more candy and to say hi to the senior residents at Hearthstone Manor in Spanish Fork.  Kaitlyn got a bag full of candy in one small room and the seniors loved seeing the little Care Bear running around.  Kaitlyn even gave an old man a hug.  I wondered if he reminded her of Grandpa Underwood. 

7:00.  We headed back to the house to pass out candy and visit for the rest of the night.  I had turned on  "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and the kids took a short break before playing the rest of the night in Ellie's room.  

Finally, it was 8:30 and the Munn's were "closing" our spook alley.  With a lot of help, we put everything in the garage and came in for the night.  

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The Wiggy Wash Pumpkin Contest. 

Sensing that Ellie was feeling a little down that week, I entered Ellie into the Wiggy Wash Pumpkin Contest.  I KNEW that her pumpkin had a chance of winning.  We made it much earlier that month for a school contest.  We first drew the design on paper, then transferred it to the pumpkin, then painted, outlined, glittered, and put on glow in the dark stars as a last touch.  It was dazzling, only at the school everyone won and she only got "Most Sparkliest."

I was excited for the voting to begin!  Sure enough, Ellie and one other pumpkin were in the lead.  After very little time, we realized the other pumpkin was very competitive and they were eager for the prize.   We shared the pumpkin picture to all our friends, and when that wasn't enough they shared it with their friends.  By the end Ellie had 188 votes, and the other kid had 205 - NOT including in store votes.   I knew that no matter what happened  188  votes is amazing and we were happy and proud of her for working so hard on her pumpkin.  We were grateful for so many friends and family to show their love and support for Ellie during this time. 

Shayne and I held our breaths to find out who won the contest.  It was a wonderful moment on November 1st when they announced the children were only five votes apart and they decided to split the prize, each getting a $50 gift-card to Toys R Us.  We went out that night and Ellie picked out her very own Figit friend to play with. It was a great time and a much needed boost of self esteem for our daughter.  

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Overall it was a great Halloween season.  I felt happy that we could spend time with both sides of the family and embrace the fullness of the season.  I look forward to more memories with the holidays upcoming.