Halloween 2025

Halloween is here again, and today was a good one.  I'm currently on the back porch listening to the sounds of Halloween out there, kids and teens screaming with joy as they march through the neighborhood.  Maddie's been giving out candy tonight on the front porch, and she's having a blast.  We've got a lot of commentary about our "6-7" pumpkin - a lot of cute costumes, and then crazy ones too.  There's a Lorax trend tonight, something that just seems to be in the air a lot lately.  

But let's start at the beginning, shall we?

This morning I finished the Corpse Bride path that I've been on, perfect with the timing on that one.  I'll get a medallion or something in about two or three weeks, but by that point I'll be doing a different one of these courses on the treadmill.  Overall, this one was really nice.  The post cards and other rewards along the path that came were cool, as was the trail itself.  To celebrate, later on while Maddie and I were carving pumpkins, we had the movie playing for the second time this season.

But the thing we started out today with was the chiropractor!  We've never been on Halloween day, but we hear they all dress up, so we scheduled a visit on my birthday, and it was a real treat.  Literally, they gave us all a lot of candy!

The staff were dressed up as Minions today, including Doc Williams who you'll see shortly.  But for now, here's a decoration we left with him a month ago - we got him this pillow for the season, and it's been a big hit at his office.

We had to pose with him before leaving, and yep, we were all dressed up too!  Mom ordered her "Angel" onesie, and Maddie and I wore our Lilo and Stitch outfits for our visit to the chiropractor.  Here's Doc Williams giving Angel an adjustment!

Maddie was sneaky, using my camera to take a picture of me while I was getting adjusted.  And here below is Maddie getting her back massage.

The whole place is decorated and just a fun atmosphere.  Dressing up was a great idea too, something Mom thought up.  It was super fun!

We stopped at the grocery store after this, and yes, Mom and I were dressed in our onesies walking through the store and getting milk, but also candy for tonight.  It turns out we got more than we needed, but that's okay.  When I got home, there was yet another birthday present waiting for me.

These look amazing.  And they smell amazing too.  Not going to lie:  Oogie Boogie's Brew smells really good.  Can't wait to try these out.  But in the meantime, we continued with a Halloween tradition:  carving pumpkins!

Check out this pumpkin here.  We got it at Burt's way back in early September, and Mom had this idea to take the eyeballs left on our front porch by Aunt Shain, and do what you see above.  Nice and creepy.

And here's the Hulk again, ready to yell at people visiting tonight.  And perhaps yelling at other pumpkins too.  Check out this guy here - he's a little frightened.

And here's the carving that Maddie was working on, a cat on the front porch to greet everyone.  Our cat did drop by today to say hello, but it was a crazy night with all the trick-or-treaters, and I'm sure he was ready to go hide somewhere.

It was getting later so Maddie was at the front porch, ready for business!

Halloween was on!  Younger kids were showing up to the front porch, as were our friends the Wellborns.  They drove down from Lumpkin so they could go through our neighborhood trick-or-treating.  They've been with us the last few years, but tonight was different, as I wasn't able to go with them.  They went off and had a great time tonight, while we stayed back.

Maddie was have a great time tonight meeting all the trick-or-treaters, although it was getting pretty chilly outside.  Here are a few more pictures from the front porch.

The six-seven pumpkin was a big hit.  All the pumpkins turned out pretty well though!  It was great to see all the kids tonight.

And so that was our Halloween.  We had some things on the television, some seasonal movies, and a relaxing night afterwards.  It was a perfect Halloween!

Six Seven Pumpkin

I did another quick pumpkin carving tonight while watching "Monsters University."  This whole meme lately has been fun for the kids, and I think they'll get a few laughs from this pumpkin tomorrow when we set it on the front porch.

It was another day of cold and cloudy weather, but there were glimpses of the sun pouring through, enough to give us hope for things to come.  Tomorrow should be sunny, and that will be nice, although still cold - and that will only be appropriate for this fall weather, I suppose.  We'll all have to bundle up tomorrow night.

 

Tonight we were at Team Edge for one last time in October.  You can see Maddie helping with students as she does on Thursday nights, and afterwards she was off to leadership class.  I was sitting there writing a skit, and listening to a Christmas podcast already, if you can believe that - it involved "scary ghost stories," which is a part of the Christmas tradition, or at least used to be.  Not that I'm terribly into that at Christmas time, which is why I'm listening to a few readings tonight, including one spooky story, "Podolo," about a feral cat and something else very sinister lurking on a deserted island.  And speaking of spooky...

Tonight we watched the KidPak Costume Party episode, the one we filmed sometime ago with Putnam, who you can see here watching himself on television.  Can you believe this was from four years ago?  Wow.  Anyway, it's the last day before Halloween, and we're all excited for a great-looking day tomorrow.  We read tonight a little bit, and although I'm still under the weather, things are looking better and better.  We said our prayers, and then it was time for some rest!

Puzzle Fiend

 

Here's our puzzle fiend again, this time tackling the 1000 piece puzzle we picked up at the library the other day.  As you can see, it won't be long until she's done with this one too.  She's having fun with it.  But you know what makes this an even better time?

Pumpkin Spice soda.  We got this the other day at the Tomato House, and I have to say that this is really the best pumpkin spice soda there is.  Of course, I haven't had too many others.  The other day I had one and it really didn't taste much of pumpkin spice.  But this one sure did, and all of us really liked it a lot!

Tonight we were watching a few things, including this old SNL skit with Paul and Phil, some easy-going ghosts lurking in the cemetery that are hoping to cut a rug with any passerby.  We watched David Pumpkins again, just a few shorts - but then the main event was "Coraline," which Maddie really likes a lot.  Mom and I shared some of our seasonal cheeses after that, the garlic cheddar, the "frankensage," and some of that Wensleydale too.  Coincidentally, I presented the cheese plate to Mom as one of the characters in "Coraline" was offering some cheeses to the main character.  Anyway, that was nice, and we had just enough time after that to squeeze in "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown."  Classic!

Today we were at college in the morning of course.  It's still raining and cold out there.  I was working on a skit for Sunday, one that ties the Bible message with David and Jonathan to Pilgrims and a turkey.  I think I have an idea.  You'll have to wait for it though, as I'm not quite sure where it goes after a certain point.  Having a bit of Frankenbones coffee helps.

All of these seasonal coffees have been really good.  The hot apple cider is tasty too!  I worked off some of the calories on the treadmill, and yes, we're really approaching the end of our Corpse Bride trail.  It should wrap up on Halloween, actually, which is pretty cool.  I started watching the Tim Burton original Batman movie today while marching along, and that is such a nostalgic classic.

Tonight we read from our "Jingo" booklet just a small bit, and then it was time for prayers - and a good night's rest.  The rain is still coming down outside, making for a nice evening's rest.

Ares

Tonight we were at the movies again!  It's half-price night, and I am such a nerd that I wanted to take the kiddos down to the theater to see the latest Tron movie, "Tron:  Ares."  It was cold outside, and super quiet at the theater, but we got there early enough and relaxed in our usual back row seats.

The theater had about ten other people in it, so it wasn't completely empty.  And as for the movie itself, we enjoyed it.

I think the bar was pretty low for us going in, and the movie cleared that bar and then some.  There were lingering questions afterwards, and a few unresolved matters.  But overall we enjoyed it.  It may have been noted elsewhere, but I'm a huge Tron fan.  I saw the original in the theater, and still have some of the toys - and that lightcycle!  I thought the last Tron movie was decent, but the whole universe that this story takes place in is what makes it so cool.  The lightcycles and bits and recognizers and the whole grid - it's' amazing.  I used some serious self-control because there were some Tron themed popcorn tubs there that I said no to.  

Anyway, it was a good night at the theater.  A late night, but a fun one together.  In regards to the rest of the day, it was nice.  It was cold and rainy though - grey and miserable, but just what we need in the land.  It's been so dry and beautiful and sunny, and of course that has been wonderful.  I would venture to say it was the most wonderful October as far as weather goes - dry, clear, cool.  Magical!

So it's okay to have some rainy days here.  What makes it even greater is that things are supposed to clear up by Friday so the kids can have their fun outside.  Here's our current pumpkin line-up.  The pagoda one just might make it to Friday actually, which would be cool.  Still, we'll carve some new ones soon enough so we'll have a nice line-up on the porch.  The Hulk looks nice and upset there.  I'e got to add some more hair to the top of his head.

Anyway, it was a good day at school for Maddie, who is enjoying classes.  We're working on our new series for November this week, getting stage decorations together, writing a skit, working on slides and graphics, and all sorts of things like that.  

Tonight we had time to read before bed, and we said our prayers too.  It was a good day together.  

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Pumpkin Season

We made a quick trip to the library this afternoon to get a few jigsaw puzzles.  I didn't realize that Maddie was that addicted to jigsaw puzzles!  We got home and she was already workin on it later on this afternoon.  But our primary reason for being there was to do some early voting.  This year was somewhat confusing because we're getting a whole lot of material for the primaries in the middle of next year, and yet none of those candidates in the ads and flyers we're getting in the mail are not on the ballot right now now.  Except for two.  It was those two that we voted for today, plus a local election issue.  The three of us cast our votes, and it was fairly quiet in there with the voting, although today was early voting for some sort of obscure offices on a really miserable day, weather-wise.  While there, we got to check out some of the pumpkins that got painted there, and they were actually pretty fun!  Check out No-Face, and the White Rabbit.

There was also a Mayor from Nightmare Before Christmas," which had faces painted on either side just like the mayor himself.  

It was a very cold and wet day outside, the sort of day that you want to be inside all day long.  It's the sort of day where you put a fire in the fire place or get under a bunch of blankets or take one of those long hot baths.  Maddie had college this morning, and things got out a little early for her there.  This afternoon was time to recover somewhat - I've been somewhat under the weather lately.  I started work on an Incredible Hulk pumpkin that I hope comes out okay - we've got some pumpkins to put out by Friday.  We had this green pumpkin that we picked up at Burt's a few weeks ago, and had this idea of converting it into the Hulk.  I was initially going to carve, and then I thought about just painting it, and so I used the wax pencil to sort of sketch out an idea.

And I like the end result enough really.  I might add some more hair in just a moment, but overall I think it looks pretty fun!  You lose the green a bit in this picture, so perhaps he's more "Grey Hulk" here.  But yeah, he's coming along.  I'll finish it up some tomorrow, probably.

The weather should clear out by then, and that sounds good, so all the kids can do some trick-or-treating.  Although... it will be cold.  Also, it could be the first year where Maddie hangs back at the house to help give out candy.  Also, I'll be hanging back too for the first time ever here at the neighborhood, and that will be nice for Mom to give her some rest.  We'll have the porch all decorated nicely, and it should be a fun night.  Just got to get some candy!

Speaking of Maddie hanging at home, here she is, working on yet another puzzle today.  When we went to the library, we got a couple puzzles, one of them a 500 piece puzzle.  And just to show you how much of an addict to puzzles Maddie can occasionally be...

She spent a good bit of time on that one today!

There were other things too, like taekwondo.  It's cold and rainy outside, but that's okay because we haven't seen rain in quite some time.  Everyone is oddly grateful for the miserable weather.  But taekwondo was fun, and Nate is back because he's feeling better.  I'm not entirely much better, but I still made progress along the Corpse Bride marathon - all indoors today, of course.  On the treadmill.  Only got a little over five miles to go until completion!

Tonight I selected a movie that I've never seen before, one that sort of terrified me as a kid - it's the last of the movies from that era of black and white movies that scared me.  Last year I finally got the courage to see "Dracula," "Wolfman," "The Mummy," and "Frankenstein." 

Tonight, at last I saw "The Creature from the Black Lagoon."  Mom's seen this before, a long time ago as an afternoon movie.  We were laughing a lot through it, but there was a great jump scare in there early on.  I was a little confused about the idea of peacefully getting along with something that just mauled two of your employees to death for no apparent reason, but one thing that translated pretty well was the terror of not knowing what's in the murky depths of the lagoon below, a boat full of passengers trapped and looking downward into the depths, all waiting nervously with rifles and a spear gun (which may not have been as useful as you'd think).  We enjoyed it for what it was, and I checked another box off the list of "old horror" movies that I was wanting to see.  Next is "Bride of Frankenstein," and I think I'll save the crazy Vincent Price movies until next year.  For some reason, those really freaked me out as a kid.

Anyway, afterwards we got some sleep.  We read from our recent book, "Jingo," and then said our prayers.  The rain is gently falling outside, and it's chilly out there.  It's nice getting under all those warm covers for a good night's rest.

Return of the King

 

This morning we had a fun time with a new AI song I wrote up, one that created that had a 50's sound to it, a bit of boogie boogie and a voice that was close enough to Elvis' that we dressed Jeremiah up as Elvis in the jumpsuit, and Mom found the poodle skirts - and the rhino skirts too.  We had four girls for the second skit.  About those rhino skirts - Mom actually made those for my mother's fiftieth birthday, and given my mom's collection of rhinos at the time, it was a fun little theme.  She had written out, "THE PINK RHINOS" on the back of the shirt for fun.  Anyway, we still have two of those "PINK RHINO" shirts and the mini-skirts too, the ones with little rhinos on them.  Weird, but fun!  As for the skit, it was hilarious and it got a huge cheer in that first service.  We had fun with it.

The rest of the day was indoors - we had thought about a visit to the botanical gardens, but the temperatures were down low enough with a wind chill, and on top of that a small drizzle that pretty much sealed our decision in stone:  we went home.  

We picked up a rotisserie chicken for the ride home, and after eating lunch, Maddie went for some driving around the neighborhood.  We drove for an hour all around Riverstone, and she did pretty good there.

Maddie started - and finished - a pumpkin puzzle this afternoon.  It was funny how addicted she gets to these puzzles.  Mom did a few pieces, and then Maddie just sort of sat down and didn't get up again until she had all the pieces in place!  

Afterwards, we saw "Edward Scissorhands," a combination of Halloween and Christmas, and a Tim Burton classic.  Love this movie.  I remember seeing it a long time ago, and have seen it many times since.   It was Tim Burton in his peak, right there at the beginning.  And I remember the risky nature of a movie back then about a guy with scissors for hands who wasn't a serial killer.  We all couldn't wait to see it, and that soundtrack is unforgettable magic.  

Mom and I were watching all the POV Haunted Mansion rides around the Disney parks of the world, and soon enough it was time to read a bit from "Jingo" and then say our prayers.  I'm not quite 100% yet, so Mom had some medicine for me, and I'm off to get a good night's sleep here.  Hopefully we'll feel better in the morning, but lately we've all had this cough, and it seems to last a while.

We did some reading tonight, and I believe we're now in Klatch, and there's definitely more to this story than meets the eye.  Our City Watch members are bound to discover what's going on though as we move through the story of "Jingo."  After reading, it was time for bed.  We said our prayers and got the Plush Entourage tucked in for a good night's rest.  Mom got me an infuser, put some stuff on my chest, and I had some medicine in me - I was out like a light for a restful and hopefully healing night.