Fall Fun

We are loving the cooler weather here in Missouri. The summer is so unbelievably hot and then here comes fall with mild temperatures and beautiful colors. We love being outside then, unfortunately I usually forget to take any pictures. We did have the opportunity to visit the local corn maze. Everyone had a great time, and each child had a chance to "lead the way" through the maze. Some of them were a little better at it than others. We definitely had a couple of times where we were going in circles. It was a long maze with two parts, after a while the boys were getting very tired. We tried the piggyback thing and discovered that Benjamin must be afraid of heights because he didn't stay up on anyone's shoulders for long. We went early enough that it wasn't "haunted"yet. However that didn't stop Lance from jumping out and scaring the kids a few times. We were even challenged to compose our own special poem about corn. Here is ours, "Corn, corn, good for the heart, the more you eat, the more you want more corn." We were supposed to recite our poem at the ticket desk for a goody. Imagine our children's surprise when they had to recite it for none other than our bishop. They suddenly clammed right up. Rebekah and Katelyn were eventually coaxed into performing and each received a sucker (Rebekah hates suckers). Lost in the corn maze

"I've always wanted to be an animal"

As we got a little closer to Halloween Lance came home from the store with little pumpkins for the kids to decorate. We all sat down for Family home evening and the kids colored their pumpkins with markers. Everyone's design was as individual as they are. Rebekah covered hers with a family of dragons. Katelyn drew double faces, one on each side. Lance drew a face for Benjamin to color in. Joshua, Just drew with all the colors, all over the entire pumpkin. Then added a tiny face for fun. Unfortunately we aren't sure which had more marker on it, the pumpkin or Josh.


Despite the coloring fun everyone claimed they wanted to actually carve a pumpkin too. After a lot of persuasion Lance brought home a big pumpkin. We waited until the day of our ward Halloween party to carve it. We discussed what type of design we should put on it and everyone agreed it should be a dragon (the previous night's viewing of "How to Train Your Dragon" I'm sure had nothing to do with it Ha Ha). With the design in mind we got to work. Lance cut the top off and we informed the kids they now had to "gut" the pumpkin. All their exuberance quickly wore off as they realized what that would mean. Their fearless leader Rebekah volunteered to go last. After a lot of "not Me's" Benjamin stepped up and loved it, for three whole handfuls. Joshua was next, "It feels like wet grass" he informed us all. Evidently handling wet grass leaves much to be desired because he also only took out about three handfuls. Next up, Rebekah, two dainty pinches with the loveliest expression on her face. She will still argue that she took out handfuls but we have the pictures to prove otherwise. Last but not least Katelyn, she took out a couple of good sized handfuls with slightly less complaining than her sister. Unfortunately that still left a good portion for yours truly to scoop out. Lance then did the carving with only the captive audience of Joshua who really seemed to find it intriguing. The finished product was quite impressive, but I don't think we'll be carving our own again anytime soon. Maybe they'll grow out of their squeamish stage (I really was surprised by the boys lack of enthusiasm).

The Finished Product

Following the thrill of pumpkin carving we had everyone get dressed up in their costumes. I know some people spend weeks planning and creating the perfect costume. We are not those people. We are the buy the costumes for $1.00 on clearance after Halloween the year before and break it out for this year kind of people. Then after our day of fun we add it to the dress up rotation. Next year they can choose from a dress up costume or any new ones we may have. The system seems to work for the most part. Unfortunately Rebekah grows so tall so quickly she often has very little selection of things that will actually fit. This years line up; a bride, a sorceress, Wolverine (humorous as he doesn't even know who that is, he just likes the claws) and Superman.
With everyone dressed up and our pumpkin in tow we headed off to the ward trunk-or-treat. After our kids went through the line once, we dug through their bags and gave away half of their candy to the other children still coming through (yes we re-gift too). Our guys still end up with more than they know what to do with. We lucked out this year that our ward activity was the day before Halloween so on Halloween proper, we turned off all our outside lights and sat in the basement as a family hanging out until bedtime. That way we didn't have to worry about trick-or-treating/ers on Sunday. Everyone had a great time. We still have plenty of Autumn left to enjoy and are looking forward to the Holidays that so quickly approach.