Trick or Treat

Abby spent a good portion of her weekend parading around as a cat. She loved having her face painted and I loved running into the other kiddos around town.

Halloween Fun

I’m not shy about admitting that Halloween isn’t my favorite holiday, in fact it’s probably the last on my list, but we had a pretty good time yesterday. The Village Church is great in that they encourage community relationships. The church provided a bounce house and candy for us at the home of our small group leader so that we could host a free block party for the neighborhood. It really was wonderful to just relax and get to know people instead of rushing around. By the way- Abby is convinced that Halloween is a birthday party for “Pumpkin” and the candy is obviously in lieu of a birthday cake.

It isn’t too shocking that this was Abby’s first time to go trick-or-treating, but many of our friends were surprised to hear that it was also Matt’s first candy quest. Matt didn’t celebrate the holiday growing up so I volunteered him to walk Abby and our friend Kurt’s son Josias (dressed as an adorable duck) up each walkway and lead the cry for candy. Kurt and I had a great time pretending to take pictures of Matt’s first Halloween! It did feel a little strange that only 2 of the 6 of us had ever gone trick-or-treating before… Kurt’s wife Lore has never been either but that’s because she’s from Argentina.

She is a cute cowgirl:

Even if she does look like she’s hatching some sneaky plan:

This is what she looks like when you tell her it’s still not time for the party (note the Scarlet Macaw cereal in hand):

Happy to learn that there is more candy present than she knew existed:

Have you ever seen a horse sit? Well this is what it looks like… much easier to eat the sucker while not walking around.

Arts and Crafts

Abby and I just finished carving the “perfect punkin”. I haven’t scooped out or carved a pumpkin in about 20 years. In fact, the last time I remember doing it was with Dean in the garage a long, long time ago. So, is it any wonder that I feel a sense of accomplishment?

Is the pumpkin truly perfect? Nope. Did it take me trying out 4 different knives before I figured out how to carve it? Yep. Could Matt, the artist of the family, have made a much better face? Definitely. But I’ve got to tell you- when I put the candle in the pumpkin and Abby began singing “Happy Birthday to Punkin”- I’ve never felt prouder.

No Squeaking Allowed

I brought home a mouse costume for Abby. It was the wrong size… apparently 2T-3T does not apply to my kid… so I took her with me to the store to exchange it. I see now that was my mistake.

Once in the store, Abby spotted a different costume and proceeded to inform me that she did not want to be a mouse, she wanted to be a horse. I finally gave in when she started saying very seriously and very loudly, “I do not want to squeak. I want to neigh!”

Alright then, Abby’s going to be wearing a horse costume on Friday… and any other time she can convince me to help her put it on!

She seems to be a pretty good rider for someone who has never been on a horse before 🙂