Halloween: Why Me Likey and Why Me Don't

I can say, quite honestly, that I'm not a big Halloween person. The prevalence of demons, goblins, and witches during this season are a constant reminder of the demonic undertones of the "holiday" that pumpkin patches, delicious candy, and adorable kids in adorable costumes attempt to overshadow.

That being said, there are some parts of Halloween that I enjoy.

Like candy.

Livers is doing her first trick-or-treat this year, and you better believe that Mama is going to tear into some Reese cups when she's asleep. (Don't worry, she'll get some, too. A 22-month-old can't eat a Snickers safely yet anyway.)

It's also fun to dress up. I myself will not be participating, but I will enjoy putting Livers in her cutie little costume. I had great plans of being frugal and creative by making her costume. She was going to be....a box of Mac-N-Cheese. I had everything planned and had gotten her arm and leg holes cut out last night. She even enjoyed walking around in her cute blue box. However, the idea went to pot when I put the last coat of spray paint on the box before detail painting and it bubbled really bad. Since sending my child out in a crappily constructed costume would look very badly upon her (and me), I sucked it up and found the CUTEST costume on discount today. Pictures will be forthcoming.

Also fun at Halloween: pumpkin carving.

I've had grand aspirations the past few years to carve a pumpkin for Halloween. The first year J and I were married, I'm sure I had an excuse (like being tired from work), but I don't remember it. The second Halloween in our marriage I was seven months pregnant, so I was A) tired, and B) had dinner plans and didn't get the chance to do it. The third year I waited until the day before Halloween to find a pumpkin and was out of luck.

This year I finally got it done.

I'm not one to just slap a simple face on a pumpkin and call it a night. I prefer something fancy, because it gives me a chance to let my creative hair down. The first pumpkin I ever carved was when I was in college. I was working a residence hall desk on Halloween, and the Resident Director didn't mind me carving the pumpkin that was there for decoration. Since I had to sit work for three hours straight, I decided to up the ante on myself and make a scared cat. I had the worst knife in the world, but it actually turned out recognizable. This year I was going to find a pretty pumpkin face on Google to emulate. That is until I found the world's cutest pumpkin design:


I just had to try it, and after about an hour's work with actual decent knives, this is what I created:


Not half bad, considering the amount of experience I have in pumpkin carving. I'd love to learn to carve pumpkins where you use a relief effect, but that might be something for next year.

Oh, also fun with pumpkin carving: roasting pumpkin seeds. I forgot how yummy they can be!

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