Trunk or Treat

With two little sugar baby pumpkins we made a dozen pumpkin muffins, another dozen pumpkin apple streusel muffins (yum!) and a big batch of these pumpkin pancakes. (I think the pomegranates were an even bigger hit with the kids.) And for the record, Libby's canned pumpkin is just fine. It's fun to bake your own pumpkins just to put it on your list of things you've done/made, but I'm here to tell you it's totally optional.

Our church has this crazy "trunk or treat" tradition no matter where we move. I have no idea how it started or why we do this, but along with dinner and games, everyone decorates their trunk and dispenses goodies out the back. In my opinion, a generic Halloween party sans "trunk or treating" would be more than enough. But who am I to be both the party pooper and the sugar Nazi! What do I have against trunk or treating? Due to the small area that is being covered (the church parking lot) the kids can go around multiple times unless you make some arrangement with them in advance which is completely ridiculous since these events are always total mayhem once you hit the time for trunk or treating. My son went around ELEVEN TIMES! I didn't know this until we got home and saw that the grocery sized bag he was carrying was very full. Sigh. The kids love it of course. Two nights to rake it in instead of one AND they get to wear their costume twice! I think the Korean girl scout troop at school collects extra candy and sends it to the troops or something. I'll come up with something, but I've got to get this candy out of my house. Today I surrendered to a Twix, a mini Butterfinger and a Baby Ruth. I'm pathetic.

Kate is making her own mummy costume based on an instructional youtube video. I bought some nasty white pants and turtleneck at Goodwill, she dyed them and an old white sheet in black Earl Grey tea, she cut and tore the sheet into strips, I took the sewing machine in to get fixed, and today she began sewing the strips onto the clothes. There is a reason I buy Halloween costumes, but she really really really wants to do this and who I am to stunt my children's creativity? Since her costume wasn't done yet, she wanted to man the trunk at "trunk or treat".

Hermione or Belle? Hermione or Belle? Hermione or Belle? She decided on Belle. (She thinks holding the flashlight to her face like this makes her look scary. Isn't that funny?)

It's that glorious time of year when we find ourselves at functions in which our toddlers eat candy corn and Sun Chips for dinner . . . isn't she just the cutest, though?

I try not to think about the fact that he'll be a hairy, hormonal teenager someday.