Happy Halloween!

can i just say, that the BEST part of halloween this year was that it RAINED on halloween night? well it was. kent and i decided after the kids were finally in bed to bust out all the halloween episodes of the office. we hadn't watched any in forever so it was such a kick! all of a sudden we heard this sound...i couldn't believe my ears at first, but then i heard a gasp from upstairs and natalie came charging out of her room whisper-shouting that it was raining outside! hard! and so it was. and it continued on and off for the whole night. and i left the windows open so we could enjoy it properly. 

the kids gave thanks for the rain in like every prayer today =o] 

anyway... halloween season was incredibly long for us this year because we decorated in september lol we love our halloween books though so it is all good!

here we are at the pumpkin patch at the la verne historical society farm. good times (although overpriced pumpkins for sure!)

(sometimes kent accuses me of raising white trash children because they don't wear shoes a lot and get dirty all the time. guilty as charged =/ lol)

the ward halloween party was fun! but it was right after our family photo session so we had to put on our costumes at the church. one of kent's employees lent us this bear costume for seth, and since our idea of calvin and hobbes didn't work out i was grateful to have it! 

jenna ran around wildly the entire time. all the kids did actually. it was a cool moment when we realized that we weren't worried about where they were because we had actually been in this ward long enough to be comfortable with the people and the place to trust they would find their way happily back to us when they wanted to, and otherwise would just be with their friends participating in the festivities.

good times =o]

we did the trunk or treat and then headed home

but as is usually the case, the party lasted too long and seth ended up really getting into character lol

we got our annual halloween package from cal and kathy.  

they put so much effort into it and the kids love it! 

caleb with his new book! we are so lucky to have TWO grandmas who love books! we get books from both of them at almost every encounter and we love it!!

they are trying to find all the ghosts in the hide and seek book (kent loves those kinds!)

the aftermath...

talk about a sugar monster!! this little miss had a different kind of candy every time i turned around! 

we painted our pumpkins as we have in the past. i tried to do hand prints on seth's but it didn't turn out AT ALL lol! a 4:1 ratio is not good odds when doing art projects people. 

halloween morning we had old fashioned pumpkin doughnuts 

ok, well some of us had pumpkin spice bagels instead =o]

seth had already finished breakfast. and he is in a "i hate being seated at the table" phase anyway. all my kids have gone through it when they started to walk. jenna is still in it! lol

we met up with some friends at the park (so natalie had to miss her virtual class party =o[ ) 

for lunch we had orange smoothies, carrots, and grilled cheese sandwiches cut into halloween shapes. 

once the littles were down for naps we finished up school and then made some caramel popcorn. yum!!

then we carved pumpkins. natalie didn't want to do her own, but since we were outside she didn't cry about the smell and agreed to participate if i cleaned out all the goop myself. 

that whole 4:1 ratio definitely doesn't work for carving pumpkins, especially when one of the four is a baby-toddler and another one is a firecracker. 

i took the two littles inside to finish up the baking and locate all the costumes. 

kent came home early!! we had ghosty broccoli (cauliflower) and halloween mac and cheese for dinner. we need a new idea for next year!!

kent swooped in to save the day with the pumpkin carving =o]

then it was time to dress up!!

princess sophia (she says it princess sofeesa)

the two ninjas!!

little bear =o]

kent busted out some glow in the dark bands and then it was dark enough to go trick or treating! all of us went to our immediate neighbors together. 

but then seth and i came home so he could head to bed and everyone else went back out to do the whole long street. we only had a few trick or treaters. i shouldn't have even bought any candy to hand out. seriously! what the heck are we going to do with it all? i'm pretty sure we still have stuff from last halloween... but the kids had a blast with kent going around the neighborhood, and doing a trading session when they got home so it was a good night. and we got to connect in a positive way with our neighbors which is always good instead of them just having to hear the kids yelling wildly in our back yard every day =o]

this little beauty was another favorite part of our evening. strait from the apple festival people! and oh so delicious!!! seriously, it makes me smile jsut thinking about it. 

and there you have it. halloween. 

now on to better holidays! i couldn't be more GRATEFUL for this time of year!!