Pumpkin Carving

We joined the Westbrooks for their annual pumpkin carving party this year and had an absolutely fabulous time. Amy and Adam are excellent hosts and I always love to go to their house to celebrate. Emily had been looking forward to this party for weeks and had so much fun that she woke up in the middle of the night talking about it! After looking through the pictures, I can't decide whether the adults or the children had the most fun. Definitely the mark of a good party! Can't wait until next year! This is serious business.
Helping Daddy figure out how to carve this thing.

Yep, that's baby Kimber in there! Emily was so excited about painting this particular pumpkin. For pictures of the real thing, visit The Steele House blog. Such a sweetie!

Working on a little artwork of her own

Painting with a new friend

So proud of her purple handiwork!

Amy always has the best holiday decorations. I love this sign. Y'all know my favorite store is the Goodwill.

The annual lighting of the great pumpkins

All the kiddos with their creations

Having a snack after all that hard work

Reading a story with Jessi and Amy. Jessi showed her how to do a split and Emily has been practicing all week.

And finally....our great pumpkin! Emily requested a Bob pumpkin - from the Monsters and Aliens movie, get it? Donald did a great job carving this really difficult request. Bob became a tasty snack for Rocky the Raccoon just a few days later. Stinky pumpkins definitely do NOT belong in the house!

Happy Halloween!

Emily has been saying for months that she wanted to be a polar bear for Halloween. An odd request compounded by the fact that stores don't make polar bear costumes for children her size. So, I visited Hobby Lobby and came away with a pattern and three yards of white fun fur. We could tell that the saleswoman was curious about what we would do with all of that faux. I put it off for a bit, but the week before Halloween I sewed (with much direction from Mimi) my first outfit. I figured that a Halloween costume was a good place to begin - if she looked ridiculous, at least I wouldn't have to send her to school in it! I'm proud to say that the polar bear was precious and gathered many admiring comments during our trip through the (very soggy and muddy) neighborhood. I also stitched fantastic fun fur around a leotard for Abby to turn her into a sassy kitten. Too bad the weather kept so many trick or treaters home this year - that means I get to eat all the Reese's and Kit Kats by myself! Halloween at the White House is always fun. We have family and friends over for dinner, then load the kids up in someone's car to trick or treat and visit the pirate ship up the street. Papa John and I were the ones to brave the weather this year while everyone else stayed home warm, dry, and close to the football game on TV. At least they got to clean up all the dirty dishes! We even ran into our friends, the Andersons, while we were out and hauled them back to the house to share some candy - and chocolate gooey butter bars, thanks to Amy and Lane. Yum! Hope your Halloween was full of chocolate and fun!

Getting a little help from my supervisor

I love, love, love this hood!

Finished product!

Ghouls just wanna have fun!

T.C. hides from the fray under Emily's festive piano

Posing with Adrian and Austin after checking out her candy. See - it really IS one size fits all!