Now onto the post about all the Halloween festivites. I was super tired the night we were carving pumpkins. I wasn't sure I would have the energy to help each kid cut, clean out and carve their pumpkin. When we were at the store the week before we saw an amazing tool called the Pumpkin Gutter. It's basically like a beater that goes on a hand mixer except this one is huge and made to go on a drill. It was worth every penny. Marshall used a saw to cut the tops off and then gutted them with the Pumpking Gutter. James and Lynnlee traced the faces they wanted on their pumpkins and Marshall used the saw to cut them out. We had the pumpkins completely done within 20 minutes. It was definitely the fastest ever. Thanks to Marshall for doing all the work. I got to relax and separate the seeds. Our friends the Tibbs came over to carve pumpkins with us and I was so glad I got to sit and chat and it was a much more relaxing night then I thought it would be. The kids had lots of time to play together since carving went so quickly.
I used to dress up for Halloween before I was married but Marshall and I haven't really gotten into that since we've been married. This year I hadn't really thought about it until the day of our ward trunk-or-treat. I decided I wanted to dress up but I didn't really want to spend money on a costume. I went through a box and found this Japanese robe so I decided to use it for my costume. I told my kids I was Mulan. James told me I didn't really look like her but then later that night he told me he loved my costume and liked that I was Mulan. Not sure what changed his mind. I didn't really want to wear that costume on Halloween because I would freeze in it. So I decided to make my own "Where's Waldo?" costume. I bought red duct tape and a white beanie. Then I put the tape on an old white shirt and also on the beanie. I was pretty happy with how it turned out for putting it together last minute.
Every year we find more Halloween activites to go. We went to Cornbellys with my mom, Ali and her kids and Aunt Betsy. It was great weather. I can't believe how much there is to do there. We were there for over 3 hours. Kaden forgot to take his happy pills so he was crazy and grumpy most the time we were there. Once in a while he would really like a slide or maze and play for awhile in between break downs. Unfortunately melt downs are beginning to be a normal occurance for Kaden these days so I wish there really were happy pills he could take to make them go away.
My work, Timpanogos Regional Hospital, had a Halloween party for the community this year. It was the first year and a huge success. My kids had a great time and it was another excuse to wear their costumes.
I took my kids to the String-town Express. It's a free activity that is fun. Usually it isn't scary but this year there were kids in costumes jumping out and scarring train passengers as they went by in the tunnels. I got a pretty good laugh out of watching James, Lynnlee and Kaden flinch in each tunnel.
I haven't been to Gardner Village since I was a little girl. We heard about the Witch Fest and decided to check it out with Beckie this year. It is a lot of fun seeing all the witches and there is a scavenger hunt to do while you are there.
We went trick-or-treating at my parent's neighborhood. It's a tradition we started with James and I'm really liking it each year. We all meet up and eat dinner as a family. Then head out while its still light outside. The kids go to as many houses as they want and then head back to Grandma's to warm up and hang out with everyone. This year my kids lasted about an hour and then came back and watched a movie. I love spending time with my family and I'm so glad we live close enough to get together with them.
Kaden and I went to James's school for his Halloween Parade. I loved doing the Halloween parade when I was a kid and I was glad James was so excited for it too. I took this picture right before he saw us and he was in the zone. Then he saw us and jumped and was so excited that the pictures were really blurry, not to mention that the kids were walking by so fast it was hard to get a good picture anyways.
