Halloweening 2010

We kicked off Halloween with the usual activity of carving pumpkins. We thought since the weather was so much cooler than usual that they might actually last a week and a half until Halloween, but they still molded and melted by a week. We're definitely not in Utah anymore.

The girls loved scooping out the guts and designing their pumpkin faces. Avery really got into it for the first time this year, and Sophie was able to do a lot more to help this year, so they both had a great time.

We had a pumpkin for William but he wasn't ready to come out and carve his apparently (for which I'm grateful because I didn't want a Halloween baby!)

Our first Halloween party was for MOMS Club and Sophie insisted on bringing Mr. Bear with her. Mr. Bear is her preschool class's bear and it was her turn to have him for a couple days and document what they did together. So we used the same little pumpkin costume that she and Avery both wore for their first Halloweens and dressed him up for the party.

Sophie's preschool class had a Halloween party but they didn't allow costumes. Instead they had a pajama party and Sophie thought it was awesome that she got to go to school in her pajamas. She was pretty bummed the next preschool day when she actually had to put real clothes on again.

While Sophie was having her Halloween party I took Avery to our little downtown to trick or treat all the shops there with all the gobs of other kids from the city. Shhhh, don't tell Sophie we did it without her. Avery got so much candy, and looked adorable in her little cupcake outfit.

At the end all she wanted to do was sit and eat her candy (she's not dumb!) so instead of fighting her and only giving her a piece or two, I let her eat as much as she wanted for about 10 minutes. She seemed satisfied with that and really didn't eat too much, and then I took the rest home and dumped it into the bowl for trunk or treating. I'm all about recycling candy.

The ward trunk or treat was Saturday night, but we told the girls that day was Halloween because we weren't doing anything Halloween-y on Sunday, and they didn't know any different. This is so not a great picture of Sophie, and Joseph is showing off his scary look, but you can see the back of our mini van that we love!

The trunk or treat always starts out with a chili cook-off that is delicious, and then they have a costume parade. We told Sophie to keep Avery close by as they walked around the gym, and she took it literally. I don't think she took her arm off Avery the entire time. Over-protective big sister already.

Sophie was Little Red Riding Hood this year and had the most adorable hood/cape to go with this dress, but it somehow disappeared in the month and a half between when we got it and Halloween. It was maddening because it never left the house, so we can't imagine where it went. I literally looked in every nook and cranny in the entire house for it and never found it, so Sophie wore a vampire type cape instead. Luckily she loved it, even if I wasn't a fan.

My friend loaned me this pumpkin costume that she wore when she was pregnant, and it ended up winning an award for me at the trunk or treat. My stinker friends who were in charge of the awards gave me the "Most Natural Costume" award. It's true, that's all my own stuffing in there! Thanks for helping me win, Baby Will!

Oh, and Joseph was a tourist, which was convenient since I put him in charge of taking all the pictures this year anyway. We love Halloween at our house and had a fun couple weeks of celebrating it. Hope yours was fun, too!