Trick or Treat

I only had 2 little trick-or-treaters for Halloween. They were my favorite 2 little boys in the whole world.

Here is Jackson as Buzz Lightyear...(his costume cracked me up--it didn't leave much room for his head and neck).
and Hudson as one of the Toy Story aliens...

I made his alien hat. I bought a little helmet fron Dollar Tree and hot glued green felt to it. Then I hot glued ping-pong balls for eyes and made some pointy ears. I think he is the cutest alien I have ever seen. (Not that I've actually ever seen aliens).

Here is their family, and everyone is looking at the camera...wonder of wonders! They were on their way to the church carnival.
And finally...look what they did to this baby. Jason went out and bought a big pumpkin on sale and carved the cutest Jack-o-lantern ever.

Be still my heart.

Pumpkin Carving

The hayride we went on last week included a pumpkin for each person, and they all ended up at our house. The kids decided they wanted to have a pumpkin carving party, so I made up a big pot of chili and they all came over.

I love pumpkins. I had them lined up by the front door with a pot of mums.

It finally rained here, so we had to dry off the pumpkins before we could even carve them.

Here everyone is getting ready to create...

Shawn is in deep concentration...

Jackson is rolling up his sleeves to help Shannon and Jason...
He helped scoop out the "guts"

One moment it was quiet...everyone was busy carving their own pumpkins..., and Jackson announced, "Look, I'm using a sharp tool". Now that will get your attention real fast.

Mother and Daddy kept Hudson entertained while I took pics.

We laughed a lot.

Made silly faces


and posed for pictures

Shawn and Darris with their spiderweb and owl pumpkins...

This is Darris' pumpkin lit up on the stairs.

You can see two of my little mice I cut from construction paper. The patterns come from Martha Stewart's website.



Here are the pumpkin carvers and their masterpieces.
Shannon and Jason carved Buzz Lightyear and Woody from Toy Story. Joey stuck with the traditional Jack-O-Lantern face.

Spooky...

It was a fun night. I hope our pumpkins last until Halloween.


Happy carving,

Family Fall Fun

Yesterday, my family decided to go on a picnic at a local farm. I threw together some apple muffins and Rice Krispy treats, some drinks, chips, hotdogs and buns. I even got out some thermoses to put boiling water in for hot chocolate and cider, but the day was so hot we were not interested. We also thought it would be a good opportunity to take some pictures of the boys. Well, we got some good pictures, but most of them were only good of one boy or the other. Why is it so hard to get two kids to look at you at the same time?

There was an old wagon we put them in...

and an antique buggy...

Hudson enjoyed the table full of pumpkins.
The boys played in a vat of feed corn.

There were swings...

things to climb on...

a bonfire...we cooked hot dogs


Even Mother and Daddy got to come. They don't get to go much, so I know it did them good, even though I am sure they are very tired.

Marshmellows are good, and messy.

Then we went on a hayride to a pumpkin patch where we got to choose our own pumpkin

Here is Shannon's family.

and the Newlyweds, Shawn and Darris

Jackson had to hunt for just the right pumpkin.

Shannon and Hudson guarded their pumpkins.

Even Joey and I found ours.

Here are all my kids.

and 2 little barefooted boys in the hay...

We had such a beautiful, although a bit hot, day. Sometimes the best memories are made when you just up and go do something without too much planning.

Happy Fall, y'all.

Fall Chalkboard Pantry Door

It was painful to erase my favorite things for summer from my pantry chalkboard door,

but seasons come and go, and change is good.

My little door has a new look for Fall.

If you can't tell by the photo, it says:

Gods Little Pumpkin

He picks you from the patch and washes you...

cuts off the top and scoops out all the yucky stuff...

removes the seeds of doubt, hate, and greed.

Then He carves you a new smiling face

and puts His light inside you to shine

for all the world to see.

I am so thankful He did this for me, and I hope I can be a light in a dark world to shine for Him.

Fall blessings,

Creepy Entry Vignette

It is 100 degrees here and I am decorating for Halloween.

Something about that just doesn't feel right.

I will share a little project I did a while back.

I bought this ceramic boot from the thrift store and painted it black.

It reminded me of a witch's boot. I plan to place some dried Fall flowers in it.

Before...

After...

I creepified the entry table with "poison", pumpkins, ghosts, witches, crows, and a spider or two.

I used the idea from Shawn's wedding to cut some branches for a scary tree.

A little witch has landed amongst the crows and spiderwebs.

a jar of frogs and spiders...

The labels were from The Graphics Fairy. I printed them and wet the paper, and then sprinkled with instant coffee crystals to age the labels. I have taped them to balsamic vineger, cherry syrup, and an empty bottle.

This little pumpkin "snowglobe" I have had for years...

You know I can't have a post without a little chalkboard...

and some cute little ghosts...

Why not place a skull under a cloche?

The skull and fake barbed wire were from Dollar Tree.

A cauldron of candy eyeballs and gummy bodyparts...

I guess only the grandson will eat those.

A nice little crow...

Halloween nesting dolls...

I bought this broom from a festival where the man was making them. The color is great for Halloween.

I don't usually decorate for Halloween, but I decided it would be fun, and not too scary. As soon as Halloween is over, this tabletop will transform into Fall and owls for Hudson's birthday party. I will share that in November.
In the meantime...I am glad you stopped in for a "spell".

Happy Halloween.