Halloween Recap 2015

It’s tradition time!  Traditions are my favorite thing ever.  Seriously.  They give me a sense of stability, security, that all is right in the world, that our family is doing ok.  Traditions remind me to laugh and to celebrate.  They give me something to look forward to…and celebrate looking back.  And this is one of my absolute favorite traditions….it’s pumpkin-carving-on-the-front-porch time!

For the last three years we have carved our big ole orange friends on the porch.  It’s not anything super fancy but we do generally the same thing….set up the camera and tripod and our thrift store blanket that has fall colors (and adds cush for our tush) and carve a pumpkin (or two) with the kiddos.

This year my dad came and joined us for the pumpkin carving extravaganza.  He didn’t know we were doing this (SURPRISE – here hold a baby!) but he came because we promised him football and dinner  He was a good sport though….helping us when someone would try to sharpie their face or grab for the knife.  Seriously….when did we get so many little hands!?

Will was the resident artist who also helped get the guts out of one pumpkin and even got to help cut with Daddy.  He’s five going on fifteen if anyone wanted to know

LJ was so little last time we carved that this truly was his first real experience and the reaction to see that top come off with the guts hanging down was so cute!

Max just hung out and waited for his nap

And Weston really got into it!  I was so surprised because he is in that “don’t-let-my-hands-get-dirty” phase.  Which is ironic because his fingernails are always dirty!

He loves order….loves lining things up, sorting things, making categories….he is only two but I totally see him sorting my craft supplies when he gets bigger I thought that maybe this would be out of his comfort zone (messy, totally not orderly) but he wanted to scoop all the guts out and put them in the big bowl.  He would hold his spoon out and transfer them so slowly and carefully!  It was so sweet to see my go-go-go boy slow down and be so thoughtful about the process.

Look at that two-hand approach

We teased LJ (my eater) and he got a taste and didn’t quite like it

We have pumpkin pancakes (the boys always ask for pancakes) so hopefully that will redeem pumpkins for my little ginger.

Aww – I could look at these of Weston all day….look at how he is holding my hand so sweetly

My rough-n-tumble kid is growing up!  **TEARS**

Oh here is Will getting to help Daddy!  He loves the idea of a knife (he gets to butter his bread now at dinner) so this was right up his alley.  GIVE HIM ALL THE SHARP THINGS!

Will drew on the faces and Weston said that he wanted to do it too so he modified the original drawing and it turned out with so much of Weston’s personality

At one point I think my dad was sneaking the kids candy and I ended up alone on the front porch.  TRADITION WINNING!

So nice of those kids who let me carve their pumpkins and have all the fun all by myself

Weston came back out and joined me…..favorite child sticker!  (settle down…I don’t have a favorite…I love them all….my kids aren’t scarred)

In the end, we have the most beautiful pumpkins in all the land Next year I guess we will do THREE (maybe we should just start growing pumpkins!).

Oh and I have the cutest boys ever  #proudmama

And in case you were wondering what happened to Maxi Knight….he was in his Pappap’s arms.  And if there is something you should know about this man, it is that he loves golf, football, popcorn, spicy food and is a total baby whisperer

After the pumpkins were done, dinner was eaten, and babies napped….we got the four boys in their costumes.  I just want to say that it is my dream to have four boys who are dressed up like the different ninja turtles.  And LJ (real name is Leonard) is Leo. Will is Donatello, Weston is Raphael and Max is Michealangelo.

LIFE GOALS!!!

So I would post photos of our Halloween trick or treating but honestly…it was a terrible experience.  LJ kept on falling.  He falls a lot anyway and he is very dramatic in general – so for him to fall on the ground is no big deal – he just rolls around and pitches a fit.  But he can’t do that if he falls off a foreign patio….because then he’s rolling off more steps and into bushes.  He busted his mouth because he fell off a step and then while he was throwing his little embarrassed fit, he rolled his face right into another brick.  It broke my little heart.  The other part was that I basically had four kids on one stroller and I was yelling at kids to get off the road and overall….not a great solo mom experience.  I hate feeling like that….stressed about safety when it’s something that should be easy and fun.  And it will be….eventually….but I told Jeremy that this would be the last time that I take all the kids by myself.  I need him next year to go too.  Let’s cross our fingers that it goes a little smoother in 2016  I am sure some other mom’s can commiserate with me.  So let’s spill…how was your Halloween?  Anyone else terrified that their kid is gonna get hit by a car?  or fall off a deck?  Anyone else spend the night picking up buckets of spilled candy?