Halloween

A couple of days before Halloween we went to Jaker's Pumpkin Patch one more time with Daddy.  It was his first visit during the entire month of October!  He had been so busy with work and other obligations that he hadn't been able to make it to the pumpkin patch, and he was feeling kind of sad about that.  Of course, we were happy to go again!  We finally picked out our jack-o-lantern pumpkins.  So that was very exciting too.

The girls with the Corn Monster.

Jumping on Daddy in the corn pit

Climbing the haystack with Daddy

 That evening we went to our church Halloween party.  We had a chili dinner, games for the kids, and a trunk-or-treat.  The girls got a lot of candy.  Kirsten dressed up as Rainbow Dash from My Little Pony, and Reagan was Everest from Paw Patrol.  I thought they were adorable.

Spending time with their friend Gracie

Fun Halloween masks

Reagan wanted to get her face painted.

I think it's supposed to be a bunny.

 On the last Sunday in October, Kirsten participated in the Primary Program at Church.  I could tell she was nervous because she chewed on her necklace or her fingers nearly the whole time.  Poor girl!  However, she did take her fingers out of her mouth when she said her part at the pulpit.  I was proud of how clearly she said, "My favorite scripture hero is Moses because he parted the Red Sea."  She's a cute girl.

That evening my dad came over for dinner and helped us carve our pumpkins.  My mom was out of town, which was a bummer, but I like to see how the girls interact with my dad more when she's not around.  I think my dad likes that too--not that we don't like having my mom around.  It's just fun to see the different dynamic.

Kirsten drew these faces.

Reagan drew this face with a little help from me.

Grampa doing a spooky Halloween scare!

A more serious pose with Daddy

That evening Matt suggested that we watch Ghostbusters.  I was not a big fan of the idea since I figured our kids would be terrified, but I agreed since I also figured that they wouldn't be interested past the first few minutes.  After all, they had never watched a show that wasn't a cartoon before.  Well, they proved me wrong.  Kirsten loved it and watched the entire thing, though Matt did fast forward through some of the more sexual scenes.  Reagan watched it for about 45 minutes before she decided that it was too scary.  Then I helped her get ready for bed and read a book in her room until she fell asleep.  It was actually pretty peaceful to sit with her.

On Halloween I volunteered in Kirsten's classroom and helped with one of the Halloween games that the Kindergarteners played.  Then they did a costume parade out on the playground for all of the parents.  It was fun to get to see Kirsten at school in her costume.

Kirsten in the costume parade

In the evening, my mom joined us to go trick-or-treating.  It was neat to get to go from house to house until we arrived at Nana and Grampa's house.  I could tell my dad was having a good time handing out candy.  He would answer the door with a "Boo," give the kids a treat, and then tell them that he also had a trick for them.  Then their dog Mason would come out and dance for the kids.  I think, Mason enjoyed himself, too.

At the end of my parents' street there was a food truck handing out free brisket sandwiches, and that is where I ate most of my dinner.  The girls had filled up on candy even before they went trick-or-treating.  Oy vey!

After that, we went over to another neighbor's house who had staged a very elaborate spook alley.  Matt had helped him with the spook alley and spent most of his Halloween evening dressed as a scary pig man with a chain saw.  Our girls were terrified!  However, they were intrigued to find out that their daddy was the scary pig man.

Getting ready to go trick-or-treating

Trick-or-treating with Nana

On Halloween and the day after, we pretty much let the girls gorge on candy, but then we told them about the Halloween Fairy.  If you haven't heard of the Halloween Fairy before, I'll have you know that my little girls now think she is the best.  The night after Halloween you can leave your candy on the front porch--all except 10 pieces--and she'll leave you a toy to find in the morning!  Our girls chose to leave their candy for the Halloween Fairy, and they both got a set of 10 My Little Pony figurines.  They were so happy!  And Mommy and Daddy were happy that we didn't have to deal with the candy for another day.  What a relief!  They could have been gorging on candy for weeks.