Halloweenie

Since we went to the pumpkin patch early we got excited and carved our pumpkins early too. Also to try to catch not only the weather but to do it during Grammy's visit. Gram took all these pictures...



Funny as it sounds, the new iPhone came in very handy for this project. (did I mention I got an iPhone...) There was an application that helped you make Jack-O-Lantern faces by letting you switch out the different eyes, noses and mouths! Two of our 4 pumpkins were dolled up this way.

Audrey loved every minute of the process even though touching the "goo" was totally out of the question! Bill and Audrey carved the biggest pumpkin. This was, of course, the one Audrey picked out. I wonder how many more years she'll be able to pick out a pumpkin that weighs more than she does!

We had quite a cast of characters this year! We had a pig, a pirate, a goofball and one totally classic model.

Audrey's new daycare (which we love) had a really great harvest (Halloween) party the week before. This was great because it spread the fun out a little and gave the kids a chance to dress up more than once. Audrey dressed as "Winnie the Pooh" and immediately turned into ferocious Pooh bear when she got one of her newest favorite acquisitions from the "find the toys in the haystack" game! The kids were all so excited - could it be the sugar?

They had really great games for the kids including pumpkin painting - which Audrey went nuts for. The kids also did everything they could to break open the pumpkin pinata. It takes a lot longer with 2-4 year olds!! We really had a good time.

Halloween night was a busy one for the whole family. I had a show that night with "The Floydian Slips" (more about that later) so G-ma Pat and Papa Doug graciously hosted us. It was a mad dash to make it from the eternally long sound check for the show to Audrey's daycare, and then up to Pat and Doug's. We made great time and beat the worst of the traffic. The house smelled of dinner and we were hungry. The best news was that Bill got off work early and met us there just a few minutes after our arrival. (On a side note, Bill will no longer be working nights as his shift has changed to 5 days a week getting off at 5. This is the beginning of a whole new era for our family!! I have to admit that Bill's four 10 hour shifts made me feel a little like a single parent 4 nights a week. So we're excited about the change and look forward to being together in the evenings.)

At the last minute Audrey decided she didn't want to be Winnie anymore and she wanted to stay in her pumpkin sweatshirt. Done and done, no argument here! After dinner I had to dash off again to get down to the show in time to get into costume and make-up. Bill and G-ma masterminded the trick-or-treat session. I started giving Audrey an occasional piece of candy over the month or so before Halloween just to be sure she wouldn't go into some sort of sugar crisis. Up to this point we could probably count on one had the pieces of candy that she has had in her life. Last year's trick or treating was to the houses of a completely controlled toddler group with things like Play-doh and recorder flutes. This year, it was the real deal. Audrey and the crew only went around the block, but her pumpkin bucket still came back more than half full! G-ma knows everyone in the neighborhood, and Bill grew up there too so between the two of them they had plenty of folks to show Audrey off to.

Oh, how I remember the longing for the bucket that I knew was full of glorious candy but was stowed away somewhere in it's secret hiding place by my ogre parents. Audrey has hers on top of the refrigerator and I think it will be a while before it's empty!


Tomorrow starts Bill's new work schedule. The change in daylight savings is working in our favor as now the whole gang has to get up an hour earlier. We are working hard to remind ourselves that nothing is changing - we're all getting up at the same time. Hopefully this will stave off the bulk of the painful groans at getting up before 6 am. This does not lend itself well to any sort of rock-n-roll life style at all and I now have to start prepping for almost a week to be able to be awake and alert past midnight. Then there's always the drive home post-show to muster. I think living in the country would be a whole lot easier if I had a "diva-copter." I'm sure that just having more family time on a daily basis will make it all worth while!

Time to get the Christmas tree picked out!