This is such a pumpkin holiday in my house. We carved jack-o-lanterns (for the second time this year—we did it already waaaaay back in September), roasted seeds, popped a little tea light candle in the pumpkins at night and lit them to much oohing and ahing amongst the littles. (The littlest little was already asleep, which was too bad because she would have LOVED it. Well, there’s always next year. Or tomorrow night.)
We don’t go trick-or-treating because the idea of handing my kids a BAG FULL of candy just strikes me as insane. Really, they already have PLENTY of energy. No need to boost it. That’s not to say they don’t get sweets—don’t feel too bad for them. I bake, and I do it often. They are not lacking for sugar exposure, you can rest assured. It’s just limited to a healthy amount (if there is such a thing, which there probably isn’t, but I digress).
Anyway, we did some mad carving tonight. (Note to self: pumpkin carving is not a carpal-tunnel-friendly activity—youch!) And these are the results of my children wielding knives:
Riley's started with three teeth, but one didn't make it.
Torin's. I especially like the little lines above the nose. Looks like stitches. Creepy!
Cael's in mid-carve. Something distracted him and he left his poor pumpkin in a gruesome state.
So that’s Cael’s in the middle there, with the big chunk missing out of the back. I asked Cael what the hole was, hoping to hear how his pumpkin had met with some horrible fate, but he was just being practical—it’s a hole to reach into, if we need to. My theory was much more colorful—that his jack-o had a run in with a mad hatchet-bearing murderer. Oh! Like Lizzie Borden! (I totally just got distracted reading about dear Lizzie on that link there.)
As a side note, I grew up listening to a song about Lizzie Borden by the Chad Mitchel Trio. Funniest lyrics EVER. A snippet:
“Yesterday in old Fall River, Mr. Andrew Borden died,
and he got his daughter Lizzie on a charge of homicide.
Some folks say she didn’t do it, and others say, of course, she did.
But they all agree Miss Lizzie B. was a problem kind of kid.
‘Cause you can’t chop your papa up in Massachusetts,
not even if it’s planned as a surprise—a surprise!
No you can’t chop your papa up in Massachusetts,
you know how neighbors love to criticize.”
I don’t know who wrote the lyrics to that song, but it’s genius!
Where was I? Oh! Halloween. Right. The boys spent all evening then making the place as creepy as they could. There was spooky art taped to windows and walls. Like this:
Oh no! If that arrow's any indication, there's a ghost right outside our window.
Torin: Ha ha! Look! I hid the monster so it'll scare someone!
Dracula! (I think. Though he looks a little like a vampire elf with those ears.)
They also took it upon themselves to try to scare Steve. Like this.
Those pieces are taped to Torin's face. Of his own doing, his own idea. This didn't scare Steve, but it did make him laugh.
Riley taped a Frankenstein mask he made to his face. Don't think this scared Steve, either.
And Cael? Well, Cael used a LOT of tape. I stopped him at this point, as he was trying to afix Torin's face peices with a whole roll of scotch tape. Not sure Steve ever saw this. He might have only been scared as to whether it was going to hurt to remove all that tape.
Lots of good Halloween fun happening here. My dining room table is a mess with scissors, markers, and paper scraps, but my kids giggled their way through the evening and are happily asleep now. I hope you had a great night, trick-or-treating, handing out candy, or just hanging with your kids like I did.
Happy Halloween!
