November Odds N Ends

Me and the teens had an afternoon date to see Legally Blonde at the high school. Usually I enjoy live theatre a little more than a movie version, but honestly I think I liked the movie a bit better than this production. Poudre has a really strong drama department, but this one didn't quite compare to others they have done. I did get to spend some time with these two so it was certainly not a loss.

 Emm put together a little school project to present to her class. We learned a lot of interesting info that we should put into practice.

 Mark did a little fishing

 We experimented with our Christmas card photos

 I joined Emmrey for the annual Thanksgiving Lunch at school. I also served Pumpkin Pie to all the kids and guests with my PTO friends.

 We prepped for our own Thanksgiving by making several dozen of Grandma Theora's rolls.

Historical Halloween

Emmrey decided quite some time ago that she wanted to be Amelia Earhart for Halloween. She did a big report on her last year and developed a bit of an obsession. Since I am one of those nutty people who like a costume theme, I decided it would be a Historical Halloween. 

We all dressed as a person who made history and off we flew ... get it?

 I made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip pancakes for breakfast. Even in the wee hours this girl was excited.

 We had pretty much been partying for days, but the school party/parade kicked off the festivities for the official holiday.

4th grade Goblins and Ghouls

 Kars played hookie and joined us at the parade. Bailee ditched school too but stayed home to do some catching up before heading to work

 I always leave these school parties feeling sick from just looking at the treat table. Even in classes where the teacher attempts to control the menu, parents always send in junk without signing up. Do kids really need any extra junk food on Halloween .. really? Surprisingly, Emmrey's plate doesn't look too sugary but holy cow you should have seen some of them.

 After school we got Kars spruced up and headed to the Downtown Trick or Treat.

All the businesses pass out candy to the kids. Some have extra little attractions like this Llama.

 Kars didn't bring her bucket for treats but she had fun walking around with us and taking in the scene

 

 We actually ran into Bailee taking a group of kids from the Club around town. I tried to get her to stop for a picture but she was not having it. I should have snuck one from a distance, but didn't really think of it until it was too late.

 We had some Pizza Palace for dinner (courtesy of my parents:) before heading out around the neighborhood

 Bailee had just finished at the Boys & Girls Club and joined us for pizza. She didn't dress up OR Trick or Treat with us this year which was historical in itself :( We were happy to spend some time with our girl who has been far too busy lately!

Bailee stayed back and passed out candy while we took the other two around the hood. We have a lot of kids in the area now, although we had less Trick or Treaters than I thought we would. They started early and were pretty much done by 6:30 (maybe because it was a school night). Kars is at that age where she really wants to go but feels she shouldn't. My perspective has changed about teens Trick or Treating after an article I read last year. I say let them be kids for as long as possible! 

Emmrey was glad to have her along.

 Another Halloween in the (History) book. 

Happy Halloween from Jane Goodall, Albert Einstein, Rosie the Riveter and Amelia Earhart

Spooky Dinner

It has become tradition to have a Halloween Dinner. Some years are more elaborate than others. I am really trying to simplify things wherever I can so I have started just using the same basic decor and maybe altering the menu. I am learning that trying to always top last years or make it original can run you ragged and it doesn't make the memory any more meaningful (or so I keep telling myself;)

 This isn't the best picture (blurry and partly eaten), but I like to remember what we had.  

Puss Pillows with Vampire Blood or Zombie Snot=Cheese Ravioli with Red Sauce or Pesto

Skeleton Bones=Rolls shaped like bones

Dead Leaves with Goblin Fingers=Green salad with Carrots

Jack O Lantern Float=Vanilla ice cream with Fanta

The Floats were not spooky but so tasty!

It was a fun way to end the weekend and I treasure the times we get to sit down all together and eat dinner. It doesn't always happen these days.

Pumpkins 2016

With our little Jackson rendezvous taking place around the middle of the month, it seems like all of the sudden it was the weekend before Halloween and we had one thing to do after another. They were all fun things, but it made it feel a bit like a marathon. The night after the Zoo we carved our pumpkins. It was pretty exciting that they all came from our very own garden.

 There were enough for us to all carve one and then a few extra 

(remember Emm had sold nearly 20 earlier in the month).

 After all the goo and guts we had our Jack O Lanterns to light up on the porch

Kars, Emm, Bay, Mark x3, Kim, Kars #2

 We also made some Caramel Apples. Every year I try different things in hopes of getting the caramel to stick more and drip less. This year was better than last, but I still have work to do! 

They tasted yummy anyway.

Boo at the Zoo

Over the weekend we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather we are having and make a trip to the Zoo. 

We haven't been to Boo at the Zoo and were curious to check it out. 

There were little Halloween touches everywhere. 

Even the Giraffe house had a spooked up food bucket.

 They also had a Washed Ashore art exhibit throughout the Zoo. Fifteen different sea sculptures made of debris found on beaches were on display. The exhibit hopes to raise awareness about pollution in our oceans.

There were also 20-25 Trick or Treat stations for kids like this little one ....

 It was a gorgeous day  ... it actually felt like summer as opposed to fall.

 It was sooo busy but the crowds didn't bother me like they typically do.

Kars is good to her sister when she wants to be;)

 This little monkey gave us quite the show as he crossed right over the top of the crowd

 It was strange not having Bug with us. She chose to stay home and catch up on fun things like Calculus:(( We did miss her but really enjoyed our day at the Zoo. Would definitely do it again .. especially with weather like we had!

Monster Mash

A few days before Halloween we threw a little Monster Mash for Emmrey and some friends.

 

 They Rolled a Frankenstein which turned into their sack for Monster Mash

 Then they got busy customizing their snack mix

Next was a few rounds of Don't Eat Frank ...always a favorite!

 When these 3 got home, they helped with games and crowd control. 

We put together some goodies and delivered them to our neighbors next door and up the hill behind us. Len lives alone and I think he really liked having the girls stop by. He insisted on giving them something and sent them back with a bag of Reese's to share.

introducing Len to her friends

 Emmrey tried to explain the they weren't Trick or Treating but he wouldn't hear of it:) The girls were thrilled to have a whole bag to divide up.

While we were delivering treats, Bailee and Karsyn hid the Skeleton parts for the Bone Hunt. These are the teams after they found the individual bones and put it back together.

 They had to pose like a skeleton

 The last game was moving as many mini marshmallows from one plate to the other while wearing Vampire teeth. I was worried it was going to get slobbery so I had them do it on the deck
(thank goodness the weather was great)

Emmrey was over the moon about getting to have this party. She has a nice little group of friends. They can drive you a little nuts after a while .... as any group of kids can, but they all got along well which was a success as far as I'm concerned.

Chloe, Scarlett, Addie, Sophie, Anya, Izabella and Emmrey

It was a graveyard smash:)