Halloween 2011

I can't believe how quickly October flew by, before I knew it Halloween was upon us.  Kaitlyn was really excited for Halloween this year and knew what she wanted to be at the beginning of the month.  Keith, of course, had no real clue what was going on and didn't really care. 

Grama brought the kids a couple of decorate-it-with-stickers treat buckets from McDonalds.  The kids really liked them.  Then we used the leftover stickers to decorate our mini pumpkins.

We decorated pumpkins the week of, Kaitlyn knew what she wanted to do with the pumpkins too.  She drew a face for on on a piece of paper and then Daddy cut it out after transfering her drawing onto it.  Then we had the puppy face pumpkin pieces that we poked into the other one.  I put a few "spots" on the puppy so we could use the pumpkin lights that I bought (no candles, much safer and more fun according to the kids).  Then I found a collar and leash for the "dog" and our face pumpkin took the dog pumpkin for a walk. 

The first initial "eww gross!" reaction.
That's one of the plastic bag ghosts we made above Keith.

Then, Kaitlyn got over it and dug right in.
Keith still wanted to use the spoon.

Carving pumpkins

Kaitlyn and her creation, silly Keith.

Walking the dog.

The kids decorated a couple more pumpkins at Grama and Papa's with very large Potato Head pieces and of course I forgot to get a picture.  Kaitlyn's was a princess and Keith's was a pirate.  We had also made a bunch of decorations during the week:  plastic bag ghosts, bead and pipe cleaner spiders, and paper bats.  Kaitlyn loved it.  Keith didn't seem to care and did other things. 

We went to the Trunk-or-treat at the church on Saturday.  They do a dinner and a little carnival before going outside and trunk-or-treating.  The kids really like it and who doesn't love more candy!

Keith - Scooby, Hayden - Scarecrow, Hannah - Dorothy
Kaitlyn - Witch, Heidi - Witch

Keith shooting cups with a marshmallow gun with Papa

Kaitlyn and Keith with Grama playing another game.

Halloween we went to Grama and Papa's again, I brought caramel apples, two kids and a dog.  Keith didn't want to wear his costume and he also didn't want to go trick-or-treating.  Of course, I forgot my camera with all the other stuff I brought, so I didn't get pictures while I was there. 

Took the kids, minus Keith, out to collect their treats and the weather was pretty nice until we were half way through and then the wind instantly picked up and it became colder.  That didn't stop Kaitlyn though.  We were walking back toward Grama's house and Daddy was walking toward us with Duke and Kaitlyn wanted to keep going.  So we took her and the dogs out for more in the wind and cold.  Finally we had to tell Kaitlyn that was enough and we should go back to Grama's.  She was a real trooper.  It was one more house, let's go to that house.  She really loves Halloween.

Updates

Well, I know it's been a little while, but here we go again on updates.  I'm going to start with Maggie first and then do a separate blog for Halloween. 

Maggie is now 14 weeks old and is getting BIG fast.  A couple weeks ago she had her 12 week appointment and weighed 32 lbs.  She doubled her weight in 4 weeks and is healthy.  She's all up to date on her shots, rabies included.  She still loves to pester Duke.  She taught herself to ring the bell that I attached to the back door when she needs to potty.  It's been really interesting to watch her with Duke and her with the kids.

She's become better with the kids.  I took her to Grama and Papa's for Halloween the other day and she ran around with the kids without feeling like she needed to knock them over.  She loved to run around in all the leaves. 

Duke is getting increasingly more tolerant of her, though he still has his old man moments of back off and leave me alone. Our poor puppy is getting some grey hairs on his muzzle. He does seem to enjoy playing with her most of the time though.

Look at the little baby.

Duke was sharing his sun light this morning.

Now that winter is upon us, I get to reflect on how this year's garden did.  It did seem to do better this year than last, but I still didn't have any winter squash.  I was actually able to enjoy ripe tomatoes this year, which was soooo nice.  Lots of carrots, beets, and radishes.  Quite a few peppers this year, though they were still a little small, but the really smelly fish emulsion really helped boost the plants and production.  Green beans did well, the peas did great and got a surprise second harvest out of them.  The brokali (a broccoli/kale hybrid) did alright, the zucchini took a while to take off, but did get some fruit off of it.  The kale did great and tastes good.  I've decided I like kale as much as I like broccoli and I like broccoli quite a bit.  Got a few cucumbers, plenty of lettuce and some spinach.  All in all I'd say it was a pretty successful year.  Canned a lot of the stuff. 

Watermelon radish, really good tea sandwich.

This is a watermelon radish with a genetic quirk. 
It was the only purple one out of the whole bunch.

Candy stripe beets, LOVE THEM!!

I'm sorry, but not only am I a foodie, but I really love food that looks as beautiful as it tastes and when you grow it yourself it's icing on the proverbial cake.

One last remark.  I get a kick out of those Dos X commercials with the Most Interesting Man in the World.  I love this line: His words carry weight that would break a lesser man's jaw.  Someone was really thinking when they came up with that.  Makes me laugh every time.