All Things Pumpkin

I realize I'm a bit behind in posting all the Halloween pictures. But we were kept quite busy by 3 little kiddos last week. Take a scroll through the pics below and you'll see why. :)

The fun started with a trip to the pumpkin patch (see earlier post). The next day we went to a friend's house for their annual pumpkin carving party. The girls were excited to pick out some pumpkins there and tell us how they wanted them carved. Ashlyn was not a big fan of the pumpkin guts (big surprise) so Emma helped her get a few seeds out. Emma also helped do a little carving on her own pumpkin this year.

The three pumpkins at the bottom are not ours. They belonged to other guests, and were some of the most creative pumpkins I've seen yet.

Later the next week, we stuffed Josiah into this pumpkin costume for a fall party at a friend's church. He wasn't really too sure what this was all about or if he wanted to be part of it.


But we eventually talked him into it.


This pumpkin costume has now been worn by all 3 kids for their first Halloween. The sleeves had to be rolled up for the girls, but not for the boy!

(Top left--Emma, Bottom left--Ashlyn, Right--Josiah)

This year Emma asked for Butterfly wings. But not just any old wings, she wanted wings that would spread open when she moved her arms up and down. So I picked out some fabric and did a little experimenting. They weren't perfect, but the girls loved them, so that's what counts.

(I don't know if that pumpkin was ready for picking!)

The next day we went to the pumpkin party at our church. When we decided to go on Saturday this year, I was kind of dreading it. I expected that it would be even more packed than when we've gone in the evenings on past years. But I was plesantly surprised to find it less busy--it was much more enjoyable.

The girls were butterflies again, but we dressed Josiah differently. Someone had given us a costume for Josiah. We weren't exactly sure if it was supposed to be a puppy or a cow or what. So we called him our little puppy-cow. And the girls were able to talk Dakota into dressing up in his mask and Super-Dad cape.

The picture at the bottom of the guy with his hand on fire was part of The Amazing Chemistry Show. He's a pastor at our church and used to be a h.s. chemistry teacher before that. He puts on this show every year at the pumpkin party, and I must say, it's pretty cool.

All the games and candy and excitement were a bit much for this little puppy-cow.


Then Sunday was Beggar's night. (It's an Iowa thing.) Kids here go out trick-or-treating on the night before Halloween, and they're expected to tell a joke before they get candy. Since the weather wasn't exactly ideal for collecting candy outside, we went to the nursing home we regularly visit. Some of the residents there put on a Halloween carnival for kids, complete with games, prizes and, yes, more candy!


This was our festive Halloween dinner.


I also want to do a quick shout out to the Plaza Dental Group here in Des Moines for their candy buy-back program. Yesterday they paid kids $1 for each pound of candy they brought in. It's a great program for many reasons--1. kids don't need that much candy, 2. the collected candy is sent to the troops overseas, and 3. on account of her peanut allergy, Emma can't eat most of her collected candy anyway. But she can go out collecting candy and feel like a normal kid on Halloween. Then after she turns in her candy, she gets a few extra dollars to spend on something else. Not surprisingly, she wants to make a trip to the book store this weekend. :)