Fun in the Fall

For Family Home Evening this past Monday we attended the Johnston's 4th Annual Pumpkin Carving Party! Granted this year was much more low key with just a few families (ahem...those of us who insisted that it just wouldn't be Halloween/Fall unless we carved pumpkins and ate chili at the Johnston's house!) instead of the masses that attended last year, but it was a still a great time and one of our little (but growing!) family's favorite traditions! In fact - had they decided not to have this annual gathering with all the craziness that has surrounded this month (remember Nellie is also having a baby, chasing two toddlers, AND is constantly kept busy with her demanding calling as Relief Society President!) I would have made a pot of chili and brought our pumpkins over to carve on their porch anyway! :)

Jackson has insisted all month:

"I need a scary face on my pumpkin to scare away the monsters! And Eddie need a funny face on his pumpkin because mine be too scary a-him! Yeah, he too little for a scary face."

I think it's pretty cute he's so concerned with Eddison being too scared! Anyway - Justin took charge of the 'scary face' pumpkin while I went to work on Eddie's 'funny face' pumpkin. The boys were very happy with the end results - even if neither of us win any awards with our primitive designs. ;)

Since the party was on Monday evening I decided to load up the boys and meet Justin at the Johnston's house as this would save time and allow more time for me to get the boys fed before Justin got there. While on our way the new Taylor Swift song, 'Love Story', came on the radio so I turned it up and started singing along. This is what happened next:

Me (loudly singing the lyrics): "You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess..."
Jackson (interrupting): "Mommy! Mom!"
Me: "What?!"
Jack (declaring adamantly): "You can't be a princess! You're a mommy!"
Me (trying to keep a straight face): "Why can't I be a princess, too?"
Jack: "Daddy a-be mad at you if you be a princess and he take you to a-doctor and a-doctor would take your dress."
Me (failing to keep a straight face): "Well why would Daddy be mad if I was a princess?"
Jack (annoyed at my questioning): "If you a-princess then Daddy not know who you are!"

Eddie's first year actually running around and getting caught up in all of the excitement!

Yes - this is the same shirt he wore pumpkin carving last year... What can I say? He's a shrimp! (But a cute one!)

Jack's 'scary face pumpkin' and Eddie's 'funny face pumpkin'

Justin busy gutting Jack's pumpkin. I think he gets the award for 'fastest carver'. :) One might counter he scrimps on the details, but he would readily reply that he's just being efficient. :)

Eddie had the time of his life playing all night in the chilly air with the 'big' kids. I can't believe how independent he's getting!

The Mommy busy gutting Eddie's pumpkin. Granted my design wasn't anything special, but I did take the time to draw it out before cutting!

Hyper-hypo was having so much fun with all the kids that he didn't even stop to eat! Of course there's always time to strike a 'scary monster' pose!

Our pink-cheeked boys taking a well-deserved break from playing in order to oversee some of the carving. They were soon back to running wild and Justin and I loved watching them have so much fun!

Okay - that's enough blogging for now! I need to stop avoiding my tasks at hand which include attempting to MAKE transformer costumes for the boys (though he has never seen the movie Jack has seen the commercials and Justin has explained to him all about how cool transformers are.). Jackson is determined that he needs to be 'Optimus Prime' and that Eddie needs to be 'Bumblebee'. After searching for some ready-made versions (I admit I was hoping to just be able to buy their costumes this year!) and finding that they simply don't make transformer costumes for little guys I was forced to agree to make them. (Jack is just so excited about he and Eddie being transformers! How can I say no to that?!) Don't worry - I'll post pictures of the finished product. :)

I'm also attempting to re-upholster my glider chair since the fabric I wanted (green with polka-dots) finally went 50% off! Wish me luck! I'm now beyond the point of no return - meaning I've stripped the original fabric so I have to press onward. Oh, the things we do for our little ones! LOL!!! :)