Freaky Week

Last week was all about Halloween. Tuesday night we sat down and carved pumpkins. I have to say that I have not carved a pumpkin since my college days (remember that, Stef?), but I thought the kids should have some memories of doing it for later in life. See – I’m thinking ahead. It started out as a family project and the kids picked the designs, but soon it was just T and I carving with J doing the occasional commentating. We ended up with a dragon and silly face on one pumpkin, and a super-cool chiseled design of Darth Vader on the other. We also used LED lights inside which I highly recommend (because I’m such a pumpkin carving expert now!). One flickered like a candle and the other had color effects.

Wednesday was the Trunk-or-Treat at church. Mom came with me to take our bat, pharaoh, grumpy ladybug, and vampire to walk around. If you can’t tell by my expression in the first picture, I went as a deer caught in headlights. :)

Friday, of course, was Halloween. I think this is the first time that we have trick-or-treated on our block here because we have always been at the Trunk-or-Treat in the past. We made the loop around our street and the one next to us and then we were done. For those of you not living in Yuma, it was in the 90s all last week and still a little too warm for comfort during the witching hour. We changed V into a cheerleader because the ladybug costume was too bulky and the hood thing just wasn’t working. Saturday we had a party with the Butler-side cousins at Aunt G and Uncle J’s house (thanks for hosting!). Our bat turned into a mouse for this one. The kids had a great time playing games and eating deeee-licious food. Grandma B put in a lot of work to make it fun for the kids. T made a cake from scratch, which he carved into the shape of a pumpkin and covered with fondant that he made from scratch and topped with a real stem. Impressive. Most impressive.
(Warning: Long but entertaining slideshow ahead!)

P.S.
I tried Photobucket's slideshow feature for these pictures, so they include all the fancy transitions that I wouldn't normally do. Are they too obnoxious? Be honest! If so I'll go back to making my own.