Halloween 2016: Pumpkins and Venus Fly Traps

This is what Madison got me for my birthday today!  It's it great?  I love how random this is, and yet it's something that I was thinking would be cool for us to have and learn from.  I think I mentioned this about a month ago, and here it is.  Madison was quite proud of this, and the card she bought me.  It's a Halloween card with a ghost passing gas on the front.  Instead of "boo," the ghost is saying, "Poo!"  This cracks Madison up.  And on the inside of the card, it says, "I hope your Halloween doesn't stink!"

She had a great day at school.  Daddy went to the imaging center to get a hepatobiliary scan, which is exactly what I wanted for my birthday!  They call it a HIDA scan, and it checks out your gall bladder, liver and bile ducts.  And… it costs a lot.  Just what I wanted for my birthday!  It takes a long time where you just lie there, doing nothing.  For close to an hour.  Daddy dozed off a few times.  The people there were all dressed up for Halloween though, with three witches at the receptionist desk.  Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble!  Yes, that's what's been churning in Daddy's tummy lately.  As I left, someone gave me a piece of chocolate for my birthday.

So… what did we do in the afternoon for the big birthday?  You won't believe it.  We put up a couple Christmas trees.  No joke!  We started the Star Wars tree upstairs, and got Madison's tree up as well.  Funny, huh?  It takes a while to get all this up and going, so we started earlier this year.  We might even start watching Christmas stuff tomorrow!

When Madison got home, we started to have some fun.  Madison's teacher graciously assigned NO HOMEWORK because of Halloween (yes!).  We had four leftover pumpkins, so we decided to use the time we had before trick-or-treating to do some more carving.  And you should see what we did!

Daddy did No Face over there on the left.  Mommy got to carve a pumpkin - that's the one with the glimmering tooth!  And yes, Madison did the Darth Vader pumpkin there.  She picked the design, and cut everything out on her own.  It was a monster effort, done just in time to go out trick-or-treating.  But it was an incredible job!  It got the most comments of the night, for sure.  The Jack Skellington one is a white pumpkin that Daddy got a few weeks ago - we carved that tonight as well.  It was an easier design.

So the big moment came.  First thing:  it is hot outside.  The temperature may be the hottest Halloween ever on record.  And crystal clear - no clouds or precipitation at all.  This is good for Halloween night, but not good for our dry and thirsty land.

We got into our costumes (David S. Pumpkins and Rey), and then we decorated the front porch with our lit pumpkins.  Our section of the neighborhood doesn't have as much traffic as the rest, but there are still a lot of people that come into this area.  When it gets dark, this neighborhood sees so many people.  It's a huge crowd, as if the whole county comes.  But before then, some of the younger kids can get out and collect some candy.  And many of the houses are decorated rather extravagantly:

Here's Madison approaching a grave situation.  The mist and fog was so much, it ws hard to see the front steps of the house!  We walked with our neighbors for a while - they have younger kids - and we collected a whole lot of candy while admiring all the different houses.

Pumpkins and webs everywhere, and unusual lighting.  This neighborhood goes all out, just as if it were Christmas decorations.  Only the lights aren't green and red:  they're purple and orange.  And it's not just lights and webs, either.

"Zuuuuuul!"  Yeah, there are inflatables throughout the neighborhood, along with all kinds of other decorations too.  Like skeletons.  And skeletons walking dogs.

This is from Madison's favorite yard.  We pass by this one all October, and there are usually several skeletons in various positions.  Last year, they were trying to climb into the house.  This year, you can see one walking a dog.  Another one was using an older person's walker, leaning on it to walk with.  Madison likes this house so much, she posed with the owner after getting treats.

She was having a great time.  This is it though, the last trick-or-treating of the year.  It's her fifth time collecting candy, if you're keeping score.  We've had two Fall Festivals, one trunk-or-treat, and one visit to Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party.  Five bags full of candy.  So yeah, by the end of the night, Daddy was carrying the back-up bag like a pack mule carrying a heavy load.  But right in the middle of things, we got a second wind:

We have KidPak friends who live in the neighborhood, and they were driving around kids with a hay ride!  Or, at least a pine straw ride.  Still, a ride's a ride.  We hopped on, and this year actually went farther into the neighborhood than we've ever gone before.  It would be impossible to do the entire neighborhood - it's too big.  But we did do a lot more houses than we've ever visited, and we went a lot farther.  And Madison got to run around with friends, and ride along versus walking so far.

Madison decided one last swing by the houses closest to us would be it, and soon we were back at our front porch, where Mommy was sitting giving out candy.

It was quite a tremendous day.  And just look at all the loot that Madison collected!

We had a great night.  As Madison counted her loot with Mommy, Daddy sat outside and gave candy to visiting trick-or-treaters.  Madison was sweet - she got a lot of Snickers bars, and even a whole big one.  Yes, there's one of those houses in our neighborhood, the kind that gives out large candy bars.  Anyway, she gave all the Snickers to Mommy, who she knows likes those kinds of candy.  It was a kind gesture.  Of course, there's quite a bit of candy leftover up there, isn't there?

Anyway, she went to bed as we read "The Nightmare Before Christmas," and another chapter from "George's Marvelous Medicine."  And then it was off to bed, pretty much for all of us.  Halloween is exhausting!

David S. Pumpkins

We had KidPak in the morning, part four of our Trailblazers series.  We were talking about Tall Tales and Pecos Bill - it was a good message for the kids.  In fact, I think I'll share it here:

     You may have heard some pretty wild tall tales about Pecos Bill and other rip roarin' cowboy legends. Seriously, can you imagine someone roping a twister? That's just plum crazy! But as great as some of these old stories are, there are some even more amazing ones that date back many, many years before. The best part of all is that they're all true, every single one of them! Why, if you want to see the greatest, wildest stories ever told, look no further than inside your Bibles, where you'll read about a guy named Moses.

     This guy was a legend! If you told Moses there was a snake in his boots, he wouldn't even flinch! That's because he knew that the Great I Am was right there with him through thick and thin, always leading, always guiding his people along. There was this one time - and just because God said so - Moses reached down and picked up a snake sure enough. And right in front of everyone, that slithery creature turned into a great big staff for Moses to carry around with him. You see, Moses knew something that you need to pick up on as well: God is your Partner, through and through. True story!

     Later on, when Moses was leading those Israelites around the desert without anything to eat, God did something so amazing you'd think I was telling you a tall tale. He actually made it rain manna down from the heavens. That's right - food fell down from the sky. He even sent rolling by one huge covey of quail that was pretty tasty! The point is, God is our Provider, plain and simple. When you're feeling needy, we reckon the best thing to do is trust Him, sure as anything.

     But hold on to your hats! This last story here just might beat them all. You see, the Israelites were cornered with Pharaoh's posse chasing them down something fierce. But here's where things got downright crazy. In one of the most amazing miracles of them all, God made a path of dry land right in the middle of that Red Sea, making a way for all His people to escape. You should have seen that stampede! God was and is our Protector, making a way when there doesn't even seem to be a way!

     Reading about Moses makes it pretty plain as day: you don't have to be scared of nothing! God will take care of you. He is your Partner, your Provider, and your Protection. He's done so many amazing things in the past, and there's nothing that says He won't do it again. And that, my friends, is no tall tale!

     The message went well, as did the skit and the whole morning.  Daddy got to voiceover a great cartoon that Josh made, and the day was a great success.  It was a great trip to the west, as characters gathered around the fake campfire and told jokes and stories.  

     We got home as we usually do, but there was no time for rest.  Not that much, anyway.  We recorded Madison playing her piano practice for Mrs. Pam - this is something we'll be doing weekly now.  And then we got into our costumes!

Here we are, off again on another adventure!  Madison and Daddy loaded up in the car, and drove down to Suwanee, where the Gwinnett KidPak was having a great Fall Festival for the kids.  Of course, it was another chance to get into costumes, so that we did.  Daddy once again wore his David S. Pumpkins costume, which went up to around $150 on various auction sites online.  It's really hard to come by, so much so that there are DIY sites that show you how to make your own David S. Pumpkins costume.  Daddy was really blessed to simply go to Lakeshore Mall here and grab one (of three) before everyone started to get the idea of what they wanted to be for Halloween.  It's a great costume - Daddy will have worn it four times before the season is over - it is so worth it!

And as for Madison, she got to wear her Mal costume.  Last year, this costume was the number one requested costume - everyone had to have this one.

Madison is dressed as Mal from "Descendants," and looking pretty good!  She was also pretty comfortable in this costume, going up and down slides, and even some more Zorb ball soccer!

It was a fun evening down in Gwinnett.  We left around 7:00 pm, and got home in time for bed.  We're reading "George's Marvelous Medicine," and it seems to have Dahl's wicked sense of humor on full tilt.  The three of us are enjoying it… marvelously.

After prayers and devotional time, Mommy and Daddy sat down to watch a movie.  We've been hankering to return to Edward Scissorhands, so that's where we went.  What a trip backwards in time for Daddy, and what an enjoyable movie.  These were Tim Burton's most amazing years, although we've enjoyed other movies he's made since then.  But Edward Scissorhands was such a landmark movie, and it is still enjoyable.  And who can get Danny Elfman's soundtrack out of their head afterwards?  Anyway, it was a perfect movie to before we get on to the real business of Halloween, which of course is tomorrow.  It's been a nice season, this one has.  A little warm, but still quite pleasant!

Stunt Umbrellas

Nutcracker practice continued this morning, and here Mommy got to watch a bit for more of parent observation.  The kids are doing great, but they're apparently using 'stunt' umbrellas.  The real umbrellas for the China Dolls - which are called parasols, of course - are not available yet.  Those come with the costumes, which I'm not sure when they'll be here.  But these decoy umbrellas are used to help the kids get used to the idea of dancing while holding an umbrella.  For further research, we might watch Gene Kelly's "Singin' in the Rain."  But presently, the struggle is real.  The stunt umbrellas keep coming down in such a way that they're kind of distracting.  I'm like... just use a stick!  Regardless, they'll eventually get to practice with the real parasols soon enough.  Madison did well though, and it's hard to believe that here we are again:  on the edge of the Christmas season.  This morning, we listened to some cowboy Christmas songs as part of the research for the upcoming KidPak December series.  Mommy and Daddy have had this song "Corn, Water and Wood" stuck in our heads for a while now.  Maybe there's a message there?

Mommy went grocery shopping, and Daddy went to work.  There was a bit of printing and prepping to do for the two remaining Fall Festivals at Gwinnett and Spartanburg tomorrow.  Daddy was helping set up for these.  Tomorrow, Madison will be happy to get to go to yet another Fall Festival, this one in Gwinnett.  We did this last year, and Madison had a blast.

We got home together, and got the groceries out of the car (including some of that sparkling pumpkin cider that Madison and Daddy love so much!).  And after eating... it was nap time.  Seriously, we're exhausted from all the activity lately.  We wanted to go riding to the mountains and see the leaves, but we were all pretty tired.  Madison has been commenting on the beautiful colors we've been seeing lately - the trees are looking quite nice this season, finally.  The temperature is still very hot though - not fall-like at all.  Perhaps next week we'll get to do a quick drive north. We'll see!

In the meantime, today was a day of rest inside the house.  We watched "Chicken Little," which has become an October movie, I guess based on the aliens in it.  There's a sort of "Signs" vibe in it at one point.  Any movie that features a corn field is I guess an October movie, now that I think of it.

Madison went to bed earlier tonight, mainly because we know she's staying up late tomorrow night and the night after that.  We read from the devotional, but also started a new Roald Dahl book called "George's Marvelous Medicine."  It's been entertaining thus far.  Once again, we have an innocent, healthy child beleaguered by a grumpy abusive adult.  We know how this will turn out, but the process looks like it'll be fun.

After bedtime, Mommy and Daddy have been watching vintage Halloween television specials.  Our favorite thus far is the "Paul Lynde Halloween Special" from 1976.  It even has Margaret Hamilton reprising her role as the Wicked Witch of the East from "The Wizard of Oz."  Beyond that, it features Betty White, Florence Henderson, Tim Conway, Billy Barty, KISS, and even Donnie and Marie.  It's like time traveling back to the 70's to celebrate Halloween.  We saw the Donnie and Marie Halloween special as well, but didn't like that one quite as much, although there's a really unusual bit with Billy Crystal in it, of all people.  Oh, and for kicks, we saw the very first episode of "Dark Shadows."  The internet is providing all kinds of stuff - like a Halloween performance by Liberace we watched, or an episode of "The Monkees" set in a castle.  Lots of vintage retro stuff out there!  Sure, a lot of it is goofy.  We must be getting old, because it's so much better than much of the programming on today.

So about this election.  It has been so up and down - it's difficult to describe.  Something huge happened yesterday, and that's saying a lot.  Because it's been one thing after another, one blow after another.  The nature of this blog is that you look back on things and see how it all turned out later on.  But the ride this election season has been a tough one.  There are so many scandals and so much mudslinging.  There are so many extreme moments, highs and lows.  If you follow it closely while attached to one side or another, it's quite stressful.  And you want to follow it:  at stake is the future of this nation.  Yet there is so much worry.  Madison, Daddy and Mommy pray each night for our country, and will continue to do so.  The next two weeks are going to be very interesting.  Whoever is elected will probably be the one that Madison really remembers.  Daddy remembers Ronald Reagan, but not anyone before that so much.  Of course, Jimmy Carter is still up and about.  But we're talking about the Carter Administration.  Daddy remembers Ye-Ye and Nana going to vote in 1980.  That was a big election too.  It seems as if this happens every four years though - lots of crazy stuff.  It's a weird time to be an American, that's for sure.

Edge Trunk-or-Treat

Tonight we went back to Edge ATA Karate for their annual Trunk or Treating event, which went really well.  Lots of kids showed up, and just like with last year, there was a great chance to practice some fighting and defensive stances, along with opportunities to punch columns and even break another board.

Here's Madison getting in the right stance.  She's ready to break that board!  She's also ready to go out and get some candy!

Here she is with Christine Edge, who also serves as a volunteer at KidPak.  She and her husband dressed for Star Wars.  This was why Madison wanted to dress up as Rey for tonight - they had to have their Star Wars costumes on together.  Madison is seen spinning a wheel for candy above - she got "Han Rolo" on the spinner, so yay:  free Rolos!  

Here she is visiting one of the trunks of the cars in the parking lot.  The parking lot has lots of cars with trunks decorated in various ways, and of course with lots of candy to distribute.  Madison had a great time going from car to car, playing games, and even doing a hay ride.  It was lots of fun for the kids - and the parents too!

Planetary Intergalactic

Today was a bit of review for Madison's intergalactic test tomorrow.  She's learned the planets of the solar systems, and characteristics of each.  Of course, there's the complete and utter disregard and disdain for Pluto.  As noted on this blog some time ago, Daddy and Mommy learned the planets by reciting, "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pies."*  Now, since Pluto is off the roster of nine**, I guess the kids have to learn it by saying "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nothing!"

She does know the planets though.  She knows that a year on Mercury is only 88 days.  So therefore, using some quick calculations, Madison is already 34.727 Mercury years old!

Another thing she knows is what the Hubble telescope is.  She already knew that though:  we went to Kennedy Space Center to see a life-sized model of it (bigger than a school bus, the study sheet says).  Well, Madison saw it for herself.  And tonight, we went to the computer to the Hubble site to see all kinds of movies and imagery from the Hubble telescope itself.  It was really fascinating to all three of us:  we were watching video after video, and Madison was telling us how amazing it all was.

Tonight was ballet for her, which has been going late as of late.  Afterwards, Mommy and Madison picked up Daddy from work.  It was a quiet clean-up day, one where we were all pretty exhausted, but had to press on anyway.  We also had a meeting about the upcoming Christmas play - we're doing a "Living Christmas Tree" with the kids as part of it!  Madison is invited to be a part, but we just don't know, given that she's so involved with "The Nutcracker" that same weekend.  It's going to be a busy weekend!

This morning, by the way, the Tooth Fairy did apparently come by our place.  You could see golden glitter along the nightstand and the window sill, and the fact that some of Madison's quarters are gold-colored:  she got $2.00 this morning, and was quite happy to share it with us.  The story, not the money!

She did have a math test today, one with multiplication.  She's so relaxed about those tests though:  she's fairly confident about math.  And she should be.  She practices a lot, and does her homework, and spends some serious time studying (see first couple paragraphs).

Anyway, it was a good day for us, with a early night for Madison, considering that last night was so late.  We read from the devotional, we prayed, and we also read from that QwikPick book - the story is approaching the end, so we'll see what's up soon:  are they going to really kick a corpse?  And why is that port-o-potty suspended fifty feet in the air?  These questions and more will be answered soon enough, but until then, bedtime has been fun reading.

After Madison went to bed, Mommy and Daddy watched the new "Ghostbusters" movie.  We give it two thumbs up.  The cameos were great, as were a lot of the jokes.  It is nowhere near the epic nature of the first movie - how could it be?  The first was just perfect.  But neither are something we'll be showing Madison quite yet.  Maybe a few clips, and the video game.  But that's about it, honestly.  We might be getting that for October some day - although right now we're getting geared up for Christmas. Yep, that's just around the corner already, and we're already planning for it.  The Christmas play meeting really got us thinking about the greatest season of all coming up, and we even watched a few cowboy Christmas videos today in preparation for that new series just around the corner.  It'll be here before you know it!



* Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto

** A baseball line up has nine.  So did our solar system.  Now our solar system will lose games by forfeit.  Thanks a whole lot, science.

KidPak Fall Festival 2016

KidPak's Fall Festival arrived tonight, and Madison was on hand for all the fun.  Sure, it was a late night for her, but look at her above with Pastor Lance - she was having a great time!  She rode this ride a few times, arriving early in her favorite costume this year, dressed as Rey.  Pastor Lance was Indiana Jones, but there were all kinds of costumes tonight, as you can see below:

Here's the first wave that got to go out.  Really, it's technically not the first wave - Madison just got to go out early with another staff member's son.  So she was blessed this year to try some things out, like the swing ride, the spinning teacup-like ride, and all the other things that Daddy gets too dizzy on.

Here she is with her goggles on, ready to go for a spin.  Daddy sat in the seat in front of them, taking pictures for a while, and resisting that sudden urge to do a technicolor yawn.  By evening's end, there were hundreds of kids there, we don't know the numbers right now.  It was a record-setting night because the weather was so clear and perfect this year.  Other years, the weather has been questionable.  But not this year.  Things were absolutely perfect for the event.  We had hay rides, basketball tosses, football tosses, bounce houses, amazingly tall slides, and two competitive events, including this one here:

This is that obstacle course event with five big inflatable islands that you have to bounce on from one to the next, trying to get to the end without falling off the side.  Madison is a pro at this, training like she is going to be on American Ninja Warrior.  After watching that show frequently (while on vacation), you get the feeling that this is what she wants to really do.  Seriously, she was on this inflatable quite a bit tonight, jumping from one place to the next.  Here she is with Mary Shannon, who was looking over the attraction tonight:

But that's not the only competition she was doing tonight - there was also a game where kids got on top of inflatable 'towers,' and tried to knock each other off with long foam things… Madison was triumphant in knocking a lot of kids off - she's had a lot of practice since the last time.  She's gotten better with balancing on the inflatable tower she's on, and knows to go for the legs.  Here she is, celebrating the fact that she knocked off a grown-up!

Anyway, it was a great night.  It's a long night, but it's a lot of fun.  You might be wondering what Daddy dressed up as tonight...

I'm David S. Pumpkins!  Just this past Sunday, there was a skit on Saturday Night Live where Tom Hanks played a character that wore this very outfit.  Daddy had to get it.  It is pretty amazing, and I'm pretty sure I'll be wearing it a few more times before the end of this month.

Tonight, Madison was eating some of the candy she got.  It was a tremendous bag of candy too.  Anyway, while chewing on one side, she lost a tooth on the other!  True story.  We got home late, and went straight to bed, but Madison knew right away to put her tooth in a little bag, and put that under her pillow.  We'll just have to wait and see what happens tomorrow!

"go-go-go-go-go"

It was a bit of "go-go-go-go-go" today, going from once place to the next, but we got it all done by day's end.  Well, most of it anyway.  Daddy was at work, setting up a bit for Fall Festival.  But we got Madison after school, and took her straight to piano for another class, and another huge step forward.  We're really advancing with foot pedals and finger work.  Madison is right there along with Mrs. Pam though, and seems to be okay with everything, not really falling behind.

Even this morning, it was "go-go-go-go-go."  We let Madison sleep in until about 6:30 am, giving her an extra half-hour, while compressing her getting-ready time, and leaving a little later - it worked.  She was able to get an extra half-hour's sleep, while still getting to school in time for announcements.

We got home from piano, and of course it was Taco Tuesday.  Mommy had it all ready - like I said, today was "go-go-go-go-go."  Madison did her homework in the car on the way home, some more math homework.  And we studied the planets as well, talking about how they got their names.  Madison said Venus is Earth's sister, but she's more like an evil sister.  If you know anything about the atmosphere of Venus, you know what that is like.

Anyway, it was bath night after that - the reason we did that today is the reason why things were going "go-go-go-go-go."  Tomorrow is Fall Festival, and if Madison is going to go to that, she needed enough sleep tonight, which meant going to bed earlier.  And because we were going to bed earlier, we had to keep things moving to fit it all in.  The big item of the day, after the bath of course, was "Goosebumps."  Madison really wanted to watch this, and so we sat down for yet another October-themed movie - one that was filmed here in Georgia.  In fact certain parts, we discovered later, were filmed just down the road, literally right where we were just driving when coming home.

Daddy got the popcorn ready, and we finally did a bit of "stop-stop-stop-stop-stop."  Madison enjoyed the movie, and so did Mommy and Daddy.  It sort of reminds you of "Jumanji," but with a bit of a October element to it, using werewolves, zombies, and a ginormous praying mantis.  We'd never read any of the Goosebumps books before, which is strange I suppose, because we're not opposed to them or anything.  We just never got around to it, unlike millions and millions of other people all over the world, who know everything there is to know about this series.  I think there's over a hundred books by this point?

Anyway, after the movie, it was pretty much straight to bed:  "go-go-go-go-go!"  The sooner you brush your teeth, Madison, the more we can read from that book tonight.  We were able to read from the devotional, and then a bit from that third book in the adventure series, "To Kick a Corpse."  One part - a poem about shopping carts - cracked Madison up so much she was still laughing about it five minutes later when she remembered it. We haven't seen her laugh that hard in a while!  We were just sitting there, about to pray, and she bursts out laughing, still remembering the poem.  I won't recite the line that got her laughing so much, but I'm certain we haven't heard the last of it...!

Anyway, it was a good day, although a busy one with work, and a bit of stuff at home we've been doing.  Lots of paperwork there, and finishing just in time to head upstairs to see some more of Ghost Rider.  It's a typical Tuesday, after all...

Ballet Observation

First things first:  Madison won the spelling bee in her classroom.  After a few pretty good practice sessions, Madison was on her way to school this morning still spelling out words like "complaints" and "timidly" and "gallant."  There were a few tricky ones on the list, but after a lot of practice last night, once last week and a bunch this morning, she felt she was ready.  And really, when it came down to it, it was a breeze.

She was very nervous, of course.  She got the word "lantern" early, and that was throwing her in practice a few times.  She kept spelling it "lanturn."  But she kept at it, and when all was said and done, she did the best in her class with the spelling list.

Now this is just the spelling bee for her class.  I think it goes on to the grade level next, so we'll see how that goes.  Regardless, she did well and we're very proud of her of course.  She was happy too, talking about it when she got home off of the bus.

This afternoon was our monster dance jam session, that is to say it is the time where Madison dances from 4:15 to about 6:30.  This time, however, parents and family were encouraged to sit in and watch as well.  So this time, Mommy and Daddy didn't go off grocery shopping or whatever - we sat in on two consecutive dancing classes to watch and see what Madison has learned thus far.  First, there was jazz dancing.

This was our first time seeing Madison attempt anything related to jazz dancing.  Now we know she's a little more familiar with 80's music, including Bananarama and Madonna's "Vogue."  That latter song was her warm-up song, where the kids stretched and moved around a bit.  Don't just stand there, let's get to it:  strike a pose, there's nothing to it.

Madison did well with dance, and seems to really love it.  And she has friends there - they smile and laugh during the choreography, particularly during the harder bits that sort of stretch the muscles more than one wants.

After jazz, the kids and the parents went across the hallway to ballet class, which today seemed to involve more work on the bars than anything.

There's a little song the kids sing while going through the different positions on the bar.  It's cute hearing all the little girl voices singing along as they go through their routine.  Madison did well here, and is showing improvement in many areas, really maturing quite a bit.

There is still plenty to learn though.  She has the mathematics and mechanics down well enough, so I think the next thing we work on with her is the fluidity and grace of it all.  Her posturing is good, and she seems well disciplined in class as well, ready to jump to whatever position the teacher requires.

It's always a treat to see your daughter dance.  We've been very much blessed.  After ballet, we drove home, and there's never too much time on Mondays after dancing.  We popped in "Toy Story of Terror," and had dinner on the couch.  Daddy got these tv trays from Disney Movie Rewards, these "Frozen" themed trays that we couldn't wait to try out.  So there we were on the couch, with these trays and plates on top of them, munching our dinner as we watched television.

Tonight before bed, we prayed and read from our devotional, and of course read from the third book in the "QwikPick Adventure Society" series.  The society is off and going on another quest, this one quite unusual.  And that's saying a lot.  Nevertheless, the three of us are enjoying it... for now!

Seventh Annual Pumpkin Carving Party

We had a big day today, but first things first:


This morning was church, and we had two really great services talking about how to be a quick-draw:  with scriptures!  The cast was perfect, and so was the message spoken by a guest speaker at KidPak.  Madison goes to KidPak twice each morning, and I think she likes it that way.  I know we do, because she gets a double dose of all of it!  Here's a picture of the cast we took this morning - all the Western characters were outside handing out candy and flyers advertising for the upcoming Fall Festival:

There's Daddy on the right.  We had cowboy hats filled with candy.  A lot of adults were reaching in to grab some... just sayin'.

When we got home, it was time to set up and prepare for the 7th Annual Pumpkin Carving Party!  We didn't have much time before folks would arrive.  And boy did they!  Take a look through these photos below, and relive with us some of the happy moments of an unforgettable October afternoon.

We had a pretty big group turn out this year - there are a few stragglers up on the balcony carving away, but here's the majority of our pumpkin carving party - we're so grateful to have so many good friends!

The implements!  It looks like a surgeon's table - or a torture chamber.  Take your pick!  Literally...

"Oh!  Candy corn!  I hate performing on an empty stomach." - Heimlich

Joey, Daddy, Lance, Amy and Josh

Kellan and Ollie.  There were two Ollie's here today...!

The pumpkins were so plentiful that we had to stack them one upon another.  It was a little tricky, as you didn't want the more delicate ones on the bottom.  But the end result was just wonderful.

What's neat about a pumpkin party is seeing the different ideas and creativity flow.  From Nintendo to Disney to Audrey Hepburn, there were plenty of great carvings to show off at the end of the day.

Here's the annual group shot.  Seven years ago, it was just three pumpkins.  Now, there were at least 24 pumpkins carved.  Glad to see BB-8 made it into the group shot - he's up there at the top left.  Along those lines, note how there are two Kylo Rens...

This shot shows Madison's owl at the bottom, and Daddy's "Little Mermaid" as well.  Josh's pumpkin is above Daddy's, the one with the big complaining mouth!  Chris' pumpkin is next to the owl, a sort of knight I think?

Awwww.  Gabby and Kellan, now married. This is their first pumpkin carving together.  Kellan was very helpful with Madison's pumpkin later on.

Isaac gets the guts out of his pumpkin.  Nobody told him how to do it, so he just started cutting right away, and made this huge horizontal cut across the top of his pumpkin.  Nothing wrong with that!  It's certainly different, and his pumpkin actually came out looking great.

Shaun has been coming to this pumpkin party for quite some time, since he was a lot smaller.  Now look at him!

The obligatory pumpkin guts shot.

Joey creates his design first.  This is a big step in the process, where we all try and figure out what it is we're going to do.  The funny thing is that nobody is really certain beforehand.  We just sort of work it out, and try drawing our designs using those special pencils.  We literally used up all the Goof-Off at the party.

Newcomers this year to the party - there were many.  But everyone had a great time.  The table was a bit crowded, but things were done in shifts, and it was a lot of fun!

Here's the first group shot, before the lights went down lower for the illuminating effect.  It's a nice group of pumpkins. Notice how we still have a few to spare at the top right - those will be carved later this week!

Mary Shannon finally got to come to the party!  Here she is with Camille, both practically sisters.  This is Mary Shannon's first time ever carving a pumpkin.  We found out later that there were a few others here that had never tried it before.

Another obligatory pumpkin guts photo!

Here's a an early shot, before a lot of the others arrived.  Everyone is off and running!  The afternoon was a bit hotter to begin with, although the trees and umbrella helped out.  Our canopy blew away, so we'll have to get another one.  Clint here was a bit on the hot end of the table, graciously taking that so the girls could stay in the shade.  The sun was lowering behind the trees, and it wouldn't be long before the temperature was absolutely perfect.

Camille drawing out her design.  Hers was one of our favorites, based on the movie "Tangled."  You'll see it later...

The group shot actually took a bit to set up, but it was worth it in the end.  Yeah, you can't do a traditional group shot with us unless you do an alternative 'silly shot' afterwards.

Our new neighbors came over to carve too.  They literally came from a weekend at Dollywood, and drove right here to carve away!

The Barretts arrived in full force!  These two had never carved a pumpkin before - but they did a great job!

Someone snapped this shot of Daddy's pumpkin, still in progress.  Working on Ariel's face there, but I couldn't do much more with it.  The medium is not ideal for carving, not for me, anyway.  There are some people who are amazingly talented with it, but we're not quite as obsessive!

The kids are alright!  Here they are, having fun in the front yard.  Each did a pumpkin, and still had time to run around on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

Joey and Ollie.  It was Ollie's first pumpkin carving party!

At the pumpkin carving table.  Everyone is all lined up, working away, talking and laughing.  It's a lot of fun!

Daddy reaches in deep.  It takes guts to do that.

Robbie arrives with his pumpkin, and is ready to go!

Another table shot.  You can see Mommy constantly taking bowls full of pumpkin guts, and transferring them to the garbage inside.  It was a full-time job!

Josh contemplates his design.  He's been here every year, and loves carving pumpkins.  His designs are all from the top of his head, and they are usually pretty awesome.

Here's Ollie and Camille.  But this is another Ollie!  There were two toddlers named "Ollie" here, but both are pretty cute!

Sister and brother, Amy and Josh.  Ready for fun, but first there's Mommy's famous chili.  Lance literally had four bowls of it throughout the afternoon, although I'm not supposed to tell anyone that.  There was none left by the time the afternoon was over - it's really good chili.

Pastor Lance and Joey.  He brought his own coffee, but we had plenty here today.  Mommy made pumpkin spice coffee, and it was so good that Daddy had some without any sugar in it.  It was delicious!

Camille seems a bit camera shy?  Before going out to carve, we were all sitting around, chatting about this or that.

Chris was documenting the entire thing.  He's been here with us, carving for years.  He was the first to show up with his family, all of them anxious to carve away!

Had to put in another picture of our BB-8 pumpkin.  He was presiding over the whole event as a sort-of mascot.

Here are the pumpkin cookies that we made beforehand.  

And here's the guacamole plate we made too!

Mommy made candied apples, which were a big hit.  Also below that is pumpkin bread at the bottom, and rice krispie snacks above that, sprinkled with fall colors.

Oh, and the cupcakes!  There were lots of spooky cupcakes to go around!  There was hardly anything left at the end of the day!

Ah, here's that "Tangled" pumpkin that Daddy liked so much.  The lanterns all around the silhouette were nice.  The pumpkin was so wide in its design that this picture doesn't show the work on the boat itself. 

Awww!  Look who's getting ready to carve his first pumpkin?  Got to come up with a creative design first though!

This blessed us greatly.  Camille was playing a few songs on her violin as we enjoyed the afternoon.  It makes for such pleasant atmosphere.

Though the Hudson family arrived later (coming from Dollywood), they got straight to work,  quickly making some fun pumpkins to add to the big group shot at the end.

Mary Shannon seems to have had a great time.  Seriously, we all did - it's something we look forward to each year.

Clint gets reaches in to grab the guts.  This is the messy part of the process, but nobody was complaining!

Madison was entirely self-sufficient.  She's seen here cutting the top from her pumpkin, using a tiny knife.  She said she didn't want help either.  She did this on her own, pulled out all the guts on her own.  She picked the design on her own, and then drew it all out on her own.  She chose something a little more complicated, but she was determined to get it done.  We're really proud of her!

Amy concentrates hard on her pumpkin design.  There was a fun competition aspect of this, as to 'who would make the best pumpkin carving?'  It was all in fun though, as there really aren't any prizes for that sort of thing.  It sounds goofy, but everyone's a winner.

Mary Shannon and Josh look inside a pumpkin.  This was just before he got hit on the head with her hair bun!

Here's the end result for Madison, her owl design.  Again, she made this on her own, carving it all by herself.  She wanted to do this more intricate pattern, and she set out to do it, and was working hard the whole time on making it come out the way she wanted.  She did a great job!

Another crazy group shot.  This afternoon as a lot of fun for everyone!

Madison posing with her finished product at the end of the afternoon.  This picture came out really nice!

One more group shot of the pumpkins.  This is the wonderful moment where we turn the lights down after carefully organizing the pumpkins.  We had so many that you can see them stacked up one upon the other in the middle.  But it works out, as they are arranged neatly.  Everyone sits in the great room, talking and admiring each other's handiwork, talking about designs, and watching the flickering candles illuminate the room with that orange glow.  This year, with so many, it was a bit more noisy.  But it a wonderful party, and we're so grateful to have the friends we do.

This is Daddy's pumpkin, "The Little Mermaid."  It came down to her or the Headless Horseman.  Next year will probably be the Headless Horseman.  I just liked the simple design of Ariel here, the idea behind the reflection of the water.  Plus, I sort of did it with Madison in mind.  We carve a lot of princesses here!