Halloween Fun

Luke working hard carving his pumpkin


Wyatt... being a pumpkin


It's Jeff Gordon... oh wait, it's Luke!

We had a jam-packed week of Halloween fun and festivities. The week started with the annual Sidden Pumpkin Carving Party in Traphill at Shaun's aunt and uncle's house. Last year Luke couldn't really carve his own pumpkin but this year he was quite determined. What a difference a year can make. He gave Shaun specific instructions to draw out a "Frowny Face" pumpkin for carving. So, sitting on our porch is the frowniest faced pumpkin one's ever seen. This is a tradition I have really come to enjoy. In our busy lives it seems more and more difficult to carve out time for traditions and spending time just being with friends and family. What could be better than sitting around in the evening with family, eating hot soup, watching everyone (young and old) work on their pumpkin, and letting the young kids play and simply enjoy just being.
Next up, came Luke's Preschool Halloween Carnival. This event was not quite so relaxing but quite the opposite. Imagine a hundred plus preschool-aged children running around in costumes jacked up on candy and baked goodies... ACK! Nonetheless, Luke had a good time and was thrilled to show off his artwork to Shaun and me and play the carnival games. Lastly, of course was Halloween night itself. Luke, donned his Jeff Gordon race-car driver costume with pride and came home with an abundance of Halloween candy (which has now been placed out of sight of little hands). We headed first to church for Trick or Trunk. An event to provide a safe trick-or-treating spot for the kids in the neighborhood around our church. We handed out candy with friends from church for an hour (Luke collected candy during this hour, making multiple rounds through the stations). After, Trick or Trunk we headed to the houses on our street for some old fashioned trick-or-treating. Luke refused to say, "trick or treat." Instead, he said, "may I have some candy please." I can't complain about that. He also informed our neighbor that he was not in fact, Jeff Gordon. His response to her saying, "oh look, it's Jeff Gordon." was "Mrs. Byington I'm not Jeff Gordon, I'm Luke. This is just a costume." (By the way, Wyatt's participation in all of this involved tolerating the pumpkin hat I put on him and sleeping as much as possible through all of it).