The Good Life

or pumpkin-picking this year we went to the quaint pumpkin patch we'd gone to the previous year. Except this year, because of some torrential rains we'd had a few weeks previous, it was a mostly empty field with a few rotting pumpkins scattered. Nice. Max's face in the picture below shows how we felt about each pumpkin once we rolled it over to find nothin' but the guts. So we ended up going through a big bin they had full of pumpkins they'd shipped in; grocery-store style.

But you can't sit on a tractor when picking a pumpkin at a grocery store...
and you can't ride with your pumpkins in a little wagon to the check-out counter...
or have the fun familial bonding that Mom makes the family go to a pumpkin patch for.
We had a speed-carving session on Tuesday night (our new FHE night due to Ty's school schedule) because Ty had some guys coming over to practice for the upcoming ward talent show.
Halloween Day was a blur. I finished the kid's costumes that morning, we did major grocery shopping, went to a friend's baptism, got in costumes, went to Max's friend's birthday party, packed into the van and went to Trunk or Treat at the Church, hit up a few neighbor houses on the way home, then ate dinner, had the traditional hot chocolate/cider and donuts, and finally relaxed for a few minutes. It was a good day, but I hope that next year is more calm and I get to do some of the other traditional Halloween things I like to do, such as a creamy clam chowder dinner with breadsticks. Mmmm...I missed that.

Here is the final product of my costume-making - Super Max (NOT to be confused with Superman, thank you!) *and will you please note the muscle shirt that I made myself with batting, some material, a needle and thread? I was quite pleased with my ability to form a six-pack! Who knew I possessed that talent?*
Super Kelly was THRILLED to have purple hair! Anytime anyone said the word 'hair' and looked in her direction, she would point to her head and excitedly say, "Purple!" The girl is really into colors and pink and purple are the favorites. She, sadly, ended up with many shades of purple. That was hard for a minute for this neurotic mom...but I got over it. Especially since she only wore the mask for the few minutes it took to snap these pictures.
In non-holiday-related news, I hit 28 weeks, start of the third trimester! I've already gained the 20 pounds that I gained my entire pregnancy with Kelly, so I'm feeling a little large and in charge, but just so HAPPY to be carrying this little man. I have felt his spirit so close these last few days especially and I get teary-eyed every time I think about him. It's a miracle that I feel privileged to be a part of...even if it means buying the value-size Tums and downing two several times each day.