Pumpkin Carving & Painting

I’m not sure why I dread carving pumpkins.  When I was a kid it was one of my favorite Halloween traditions and my dad always helped us make cool designs on our pumpkins.  But I’m kind of a pumpkin carving scrooge now.  The last few years I have convinced the kids to paint their pumpkins instead of carving them.  Isaac was determined to carve this year though, so I decided to give in.  Grace still wanted to paint hers which I was just fine with!  Emma and Isaac joined forces on one pumpkin.  Isaac drew out a plan for what he wanted and he watched closely over Emma and she drew it on the pumpkin.

He was pretty grossed out by the pumpkin guts, but he still helped.

He enjoyed the carving part of things much more!

His design had come to life.

Grace was perfectly content and happy to paint. 

I loved how she painted the stem.

Isaac was so excited to put a candle in his pumpkin on Halloween night and I totally forgot!  Of course he remembered the next day, but he forgave me.  Maybe next year, when we carve pumpkins again… :)

Family Birthday Dinner

The birthday fun wasn’t over yet.  We combined the twins and Emma’s family birthday this year.  Granny, Grandpa, Kaitlin and Grandma Dorothy came over to help us celebrate.  I made three cakes.  Ugghh. 

They turned out cute though and were what each kid wanted.

We had Emma’s traditional Halloween dinner.  Creepy and yummy!

We all liked the punch a little too much!

Then it was time for blowing out candles. 

Isaac and Grace got a few more presents from the grandparents. 

Then it was Emma’s turn. 

She got to open all her presents that night since her actual birthday was on the first night of the haunted house.

It’s pretty crazy that all three of our kids have birthdays within a week, but we are so happy to have them all!  We love them and feel so blessed to have each of them in our family. 

They sure make October a great and fun month!

Isaac & Grace’s Birthday Party

I have been putting off having a birthday party for the twins for the last few years. October is such a crazy month and our house is a disaster with haunted house stuff by the time their birthday comes along.  But this year they convinced me and I decided to go ahead and just do it.  They were so excited!  They also know it won’t happen again for a few more years…  I convinced them to have a Halloween theme which was perfect because the house was already decorated, games are easy, and it is unisex.  They helped me with some of the prep.  We made the cutest invitations that I forgot to get a picture of.  We also made mummy chocolate bars to go with the favors and mummy juice boxes to go with the mummy cupcakes.  Easy!

They each invited five kids.  Twelve kids was too big of a group to do activities with, so I decided to split them up into boys and girls and make a rotation of activities.  So while the boys were doing one thing, the girls were doing another and then they rotated.  I couldn’t have done it without Emma and Kaitlyn’s help!  They were lifesavers, but it was still quite crazy!  We started with a group game, wrapping the birthday kids up as mummies. 

Then they split up for other games, a craft project, and cupcakes and ice cream.

Then they came back together to open presents.

I was so impressed with how Isaac and Grace acted during the present opening.  They said thank you to every person, they were genuinely happy, and they spontaneously gave their friends hugs of thanks!  They were so cute and excited.  But then again, they have a great group of friends.  Love these kids!

And then I was glad it was done… :)