Hallowe'en in December

Well it's been a while again.  It seems to me that from now on life will demand that the blog be done in bursts and spurts, well at least until there is nothing of consequence to blog about ("Margaret went to grade 9 today and once again told me she hated the world.  The good news is she wore something grey today instead of black.  Frances is still in Nevada preparing for her jump from 150,000 feet, while Teresa seems to be doing OK at university as she told me "all's cool").  Sigh.

We had a great weekend this weekend.  Friday the girls went to Andrea's and Cara and I tried to catch up on sleep.  Saturday we went to the Sally Ann fundraiser "Santa Shuffle" that Andrea participates in annually at the Forks.  We had a nice lunch at the Original Pancake House (Giant Apple...  Yum.), then I took the two older girls around downtown where we completed our Christmas shopping for Cara, visited the library & went to Teresa's art classes.  We took the bus home and then went out to buy our Christmas tree (we only have 3 weeks left, so we may as well get it up!).  Sunday involved putting the tree up, going to WAG for an ornament making party that involved seeing Santa and unpacking advent stuff...  I really wanted to make a post for this but realized I haven't even posted Halloween pictures yet, so I will do a couple of "Catch-ups" before I post my wonderful weekend.

Hallowe'en it is:

Teresa & her pumpkin

Frances & her pumpkin.  And yes, as any responsible parent would do I made them strip down before they hacked into the pumpkins (OK, fine, it was really Cara & I).

Costumes before Boo at the Zoo.  Teresa decided she wanted to be a vampire one day when I was looking for ideas for my costume at Value Village and Frances wanted a reprise of her ultra-cute Curious George.

Cara & Maggie at the Zoo.

We went with Grace & Gabby, the girls were happy to have the company.

Cara and I getting in the mood for the Hobbit.

Enjoying the silly mirrors.

About to enjoy the rides at Boo at the Zoo.

The girls were not the only ones dressed up this year.

The Jack-o-Lanterns all lit up, Cara's is dead and lying on its back with "guts" spilling out of it.

Frances' design

  

Margaret's as designed by Teresa.

Teresa's.  This pumpin was seriously two feet high and too heavy for Teresa to lift.

Ready to go out.  We seriously stayed out from 6:00 until about 8:30.  Teresa kept wanting to plod on and Frances was unwilling to admit defeat until the last block of the walk home, where I carried her.  We made a half-way stop to drop off a load of candy and Margaret

Margaret enjoying some of the spoils.

Halloween 2011

Well it has come and gone. Another sugar surge through our systems. All Hallows Eve. It was a good year, with 100% more child interest (stoked by Teresa's incessant commentary on the impending awesomeness) and an all time record for time spent trick or treating.

The day began with Teresa having a school party and Frances being dropped off at Grant Park to round out my costume. The family came for lunch (and admiration of students) and then the coup de grace. The actual act of trick or treating.

For those not in Winnipeg, it was ~11C out last night, which was awesome. Teresa went out as a witch (though went to school as a princess) and Frances and I reprised Curious George and The Man in the Yellow Hat (hence why she came to GP). I was thoroughly amused when our trick or treating that someone said to their child "we saw them at Boo at the Zoo". Apparently it's a good costume that people like.

We stayed out for over an hour, and filled a shopping bag each (not as impressive as when I was a kid as we had no bulky chips to fill it up... That said Cara and are trying to figure out the best way to portion out the crazy amount of candy. Teresa got cold first and wanted to stop, which allowed me to reinforce rule #1 of trick or treating: No skipping houses, even on the way back. Rule #2 is that walking across lawns is fine, not through flower beds... I had great fun too, as watching the kids sprint up for candy and Frances grab candy from the bins, fishing for suckers and attacking for more... Good times...

The monkey & I at school.

Frances' first pumpkin...  Cara carved it

The girls and their pumpkins...  And yes, dad, that is Teresa's design on Frances' pumpkin.

The girls and the Jack O' Lanterns.  Mine's the snowman in the bottom left.

Out and about acquiring the precious candy

The pumpkins in the darkness

The post Hallowe'en Mayhem

Margaret's First Jack O' Lantern

This morning the family braved one of the scariest places on Earth - Superstore on a Saturday morning - fittingly to prepare ourselves for Halloween. I know that Frances is excited this year, as Teresa keeps telling her the joys of the candy. Their excitement is further stoked by having attended Boo at the Zoo, which although freaking Teresa out a bit, she loved the rides and in the end declared it was great.

Anyhow, back to the main story As the girls picked their pumpkins they decided that Margaret should get one too, so we got her her first Jack o' Lantern.

So Saturday morning was dedicated to emptying and carving pumpkins. Teresa drew the face (Rapunzel if IIrC) for her pumpkin and then she helped Frances. This though was a day of firsts as I finally convinced Teresa to stick her hands in the goop and pull some out. Frances of course had no such compunction and was making a mess of herself.

I asked Teresa what type of Face my pumpkin should have and she told me Larry Boy, which I had completely forgotten I had done last year. That girl has a stellar memory. I convinced her to think of something else and we settled on a snowman, so I went out and picked up another pumpkin.

So here they are, our pumpkins awaiting Monday evening, a day important enough for our curling team to forfeit and instead enjoy our families...

Teresa showing Frances how to re-cap her pumpkin.

Teresa gutting her pumpkin

Frances with her pumpkin

Both girls working hard...

To be continued...

Trick or Treat

So we went out and got to about 25 houses before Teresa decided she would much rather stuff her face...  Here are a few pictures.

The Bombers' next starting quarterback

The pumpkin lineup...  

Pink rabbits are quite cute...

So are ballerinas...

Kris & Anika

Out & about.

Teresa sprinting ahead for candy

The wait...

and the gorge...

Carving the Pumpkins...

Last night the girls & I went out to buy pumpkins.  Today we carved them prior to naptime.  Not much else to report save that Teresa made a pumpkin like her 'sad' pumpkin she made at pre-school, Frances 'drew' her own eyes and Cara added on a Frances-sized smile, while Cara & I went with Bob & Larry from Veggietales as our theme...

Tonight, Kris, Susan, Annika, Ray, Myrna & Andrea all descend for dinner & trick-or-treating!

All smiles before we start

Teresa called this the 'pumpkin family'

Scooping the guts out.  She would not touch it with her hands.

What is this orange orb I see before me?

Ooooh....  Gooey

Drawing the face.  I did the mouth, Teresa then decided to add more teeth.

All carved.  Note the eyes toothpicked back in...  These she called 'glasses' and did it b/c I made pupils for my jack o' lantern.

Bob the pumpkin...

Teresa's finalized pumpkin

Frances & the smiling Pumpkin...  Note the teeth match hers.

Did I mention I was a Ghostbuster Friday at school?

Halloween in the Hundred Acre Wood

Halloween has never been that big of a deal to me, but to deny the joys of an evening of dress up and free candy to a toddler is just plain mean. This year we were in Minneapolis for the big event, having tagged along with Ken to his "Big Conference." We got to spend time with Russ and Meghan Menno style, with the girls and I spending time with Meghan and Olivia, and Ken meeting Russ for lunch. It was nice to be out, to spend time with other people in a different place. Alison, the family friend we were staying with mentors some families new to the country, so we got to trick or treat with a family from South Korea and Teresa took a shine to a teen named Munsi (I hope I spelled that right), who is visiting from China. Teresa drew her own pumpkin face (it will be obvious) and was exhausted by the time we were ready to leave. I wish I could elaborate on this post a bit more, but the fact is I'm in a funk and totally not in the mood to be loquacious. I will apologize by posting an obscene number of cute pictures.

It's funny because Frances looks like she's smoking a cigar...

Teresa, explaining the complexities of life and toy trains.

Yes they are close to the same age.....why do you ask?

Auntie Sarah and Teresa carving. Teresa wanted to use the big knife, but Sarah does not like to share. If you look closely, you will see a scribble between the two eyes. That is the "face". The two "eyes" are actually drawings of Frances and myself. The "mouth" is actually fur. I don't understand either.

Frances getting in on the action. Sarah wouldn't let her use the big knife either....spoil sport.

The finished product.

Tigger and Eeyore. This picture was taken seconds before Frances fell to the ground face first.

See, she's tough.

My gang from the Hundred acre Wood. Ken went as Christopher Robin.

Action shot!

Teresa and Munsi, Minneapolis BFF's.