Snarrstruck: Halloween 2013

When we returned from our trip to Wisconsin (which I will post more about soon!), it was time for all the Halloween fun to begin! It seems to come around faster every year!
First up was pumpkin carving....always a favorite tradition. I like it so much more now that Ashton and Jordan can do it by themselves...and Luke skipped out on carving this year, so it was really pretty easy.

I'd say the pumpkins reflected their styles/personalities pretty well!

And this picture shows perfectly how Tod feels about all things Halloween...at least he is perfectly happy to hang out with the baby!

Next up was trick or treating (the night before actual Halloween in our neck of the woods!)
We had a wide variety of costumes this year (what was I to do without Grandma Cindy's help??)
We had the cutest little fireman ever thanks to Old Navy!

And a scary witch! Regan was wearing one of my favorite costumes of all time...the witch costume my mama made for me when I was just her age (Jordan wore it too when she was a 1st grader.) Regan insisted on the face paint!

Jordan always tells me that she doesn't really like the costume thing, so she went with something simple- the personalized Cardinals jersey that Tod got from Korea. It was perfect since she has loved softball this year...she didn't love how everyone had an "opinion" about her outfit...lots of Cubs fans in these parts.

And finally, our 50's girl...she was saying this could be her last Halloween for trick-or-treating...I assured her that she is safe for many years because she has younger siblings to take around! And yes, I made the skirt with Grandma Cindy's encouragement. It turned out pretty cute!

And we had a first for us on Halloween since we moved to Iowa....it was pouring rain!!!! Now, we are used to lots of different types of weather...some years it has been down right freezing, windy, cold...other years it has been balmy and pleasant...but this year pouring buckets of rain for the whole evening! Very strange. So we opted for Luke to stay home with Dad. There was a time in my life not many years ago when I would have seen this weather as an epic failure...now I saw it only as slightly inconvenient and an opportunity to make a unique memory. It is so much easier to live life with that mindset!!!! We donned our umbrellas and had a great time!!

We were soaking wet but still managed to go quite far...I came back with Cole but the girls kept going for quite a while. Then we had some yummy pizza with our favorite neighbors...the perfect way to warm up.

Then we sorted (and dried out) the candy....and I quoted my favorite Jack Prelutsky poem found here...and we all went to bed!!
The next day (actual Halloween), my firefighter had a party at preschool. He was so excited about it!

Then we headed over to the elementary school to pick up the girls- lately, waiting in the car line is too much for baby Luke...so we have to unbuckle him and bring him up to play with us for a while. He is such a cutie, snuggly baby- love this age!

He does this smile a lot lately.

It was another beautiful, rainy fall day.

Regan was supposed to be in a parade that night, but it got cancelled due to the weather- we did have our traditional scary menu for dinner, but I didn't get any pictures.
The next day was our church trunk or treat (one day after Halloween!). We always have such a good time hanging out with our church family, eating chili, and seeing all the costumes...and the rain had finally stopped, so everyone was happy! We finally got to dress Luke in a costume...a cute little doctor!