Substance of Faith: Halloween, 2012

Figured Halloween deserved its own post.
Monday, for Family Home Evening, we carved our pumpkins. We learned our lesson from prior years- if you carve the pumpkins too early, they will melt and look horrifying (not in a good way) by Halloween. This year we grew our own pumpkins, so no trip to the pumpkin patch for us. Our pumpkins were the perfect size for the boys- not super large. Ethan grabbed his pumpkin and drew a face on the pumpkin all by himself. I turned out really cute. Dave helped Em with his pumpkin, and I did a quick job on mine. It wasn't too messy and was just the right amount of fun. I had to laugh because everyone else in our neighborhood had the same idea- I saw all the newly carved pumpkins out that night and the next morning.

If you look closely you can see Ethan's precarved drawing on his pumpkin.

Ethan loves his pumpkin.

Emery contemplating his pumpkin

Emery & Daddy hard at work on Em's pumpkin

My pumpkin is on the left and Ethan's is on the right. Ethan's is adorable.

Tuesday, Ethan's preschool had a Halloween Party/Program. The kids recited their abcs, colors, and numbers, and sang a bunch of halloween songs. It was so much fun to watch. I recorded it for Dave & the rest of my family. Ethan is such a smart boy. :) I love his preschool. I appreciate people who have the motivation and patience to be teachers. I am not a teacher, so I am grateful for those who are.

Ethan sitting and waiting for the program to start. He loves his dino costume.

Ethan handing out candy to his classmates.

Ethan getting some candy from one of his classmates.

Decorating cupcakes at the end of the program.

I used to love Halloween. I love the whole time period of Halloween to Christmas. It used to be my favorite my favorite time of the year. Then my kids started Trick or Treating and Halloween dropped to very low on my list of favorite holidays. Dave took Ethan & Emery out trick or treating around our block. Dave was carrying Emery by the 2nd house. Ethan brought back a big bucket of candy. Emery brought back about half as much candy. Dave and Ethan went to visit some of our family friends, the Woodburys, and Ethan went out trick or treating for the second time with "Grandma Woodbury." Ethan was flush with candy. So the part that drives me nuts? The next day Ethan seriously woke up and his first words were "Can I have a treat?" and he asked me literally every 5 minutes for the entire day, and the day after, and every 10 minutes on Friday. Joy. He wanted candy bars for breakfast and lunch. And before he would go to bed, Ethan would give me a look and tell me "don't touch my candy." He is very protective of his candy. So far today he hasn't asked for a treat, so I'm really hoping that maybe he's starting to forget about the big bucket of candy on the fridge (out of sight, out of mind)?

Anyway, Ethan went as a dinosaur. At first I was worried he wanted to go as a Pirate Riding a Dinosaur, but he seemed to be just fine with the dinosaur part (perhaps all the compliments helped?). Emery went as a dragon. I felt a little bad for Em- his costume was one of those nice ones with fleece and long sleeves and a hood. And you want to know what the weather was like? Yeah, upper 70's. It was the warmest Halloween I can remember. No need for jackets this year. I take the boys "reverse trick or treating" to our workplaces- we bring some candy for Ethan & Emery to hand out to our coworkers. And Dave loves the opportunity to show off the boys to his coworkers. This year we stopped and had lunch with Daddy too (sorta). The boys & I had pizza at Daddy's work before walking around. Then we headed off to my work to visit my coworkers and show off how big the boys were getting.
That night my mom and sister came over to hang out to hand out candy. It was fun having some company while Dave was out with the boys. When Dave took Ethan over to the Woodburys I was able to put Emery down to sleep early and actually have a little bit of time to myself before the boys got home. That was probably my favorite part of the night. :) Anyway, Halloween was a success, aside from the surplus of candy. I had a friend once suggest hiding some of the candy and using it as stocking stuffers come Christmas and I fully plan on doing that.