Happy Halloween!

Candy, costumes, ghosts, goblins...that's what Halloween means to some people. But what about fun, family time, candy, and carving? That's what Halloween means to us.

Pumpkins and patterns were in the works long before Halloween week. A favorite topic of discussion was: "What am I going to carve on my pumpkin this year?" Many ideas were discussed and discarded. But by the time Wednesday night rolled around, we all had our particular pumpkin planned out.

Of course, you can't have a fun Halloween celebration without candy. This year the selection and preparation fell to me. Beka was busy with school, and though she was ready with advice, the standing-over-a-steaming-pot-with-a-candy-thermometer part was mine. I decided to make popcorn balls and divinity. Chewy, caramel popcorn balls are a favorite around here, but divinity was something new for me.

The day before Halloween I made the divinity...a much longer, harder thing to do than I had anticipated. It did turn out, but no thanks to me! I made the popcorn balls on Wednesday afternoon, much to Matthew, Timmy, and Caleb's satisfaction. They gathered around for tastes and spoonfuls until Beka and I kicked them all out of the kitchen and fell to work, shaping the hot, sticky, caramel-coated popcorn into balls.

And finally it was time for the real festivities to begin. After supper Halloween night, the table was cleared, and out came knives, pencils, pumpkins, and patterns. There was much laughter and joking as the work began. Caleb was doing a pumpkin on his own for the first time. We watched in silent amusement as he jumped right in and began work on the design without cutting out the top first!

Beka putting finishings touches on her pumpkin. Photo by Mom.

Matthew, as always, was highly original. He held a small pumpkin in his lap, humming quietly as he sketched, erased, admired, and criticized the design taking shape under his pencil. We all laughed when he called Buddy over to his chair, and began a long, detailed description to his attentive pet on how to properly carve a pumpkin. Buddy sat at attention, watching Matthew closely. It was very funny.

Once the tops were out of the pumpkins the task of clearing out the insides was begun. There were grimaces and exclamations of "Yuck!" as the seeds and pulp were dug out by slimy hands. That was done as quickly as possible, and then with much excitement, we began the actual carving process.

All of us but Matthew had printed designs off the web. (I'm afraid Matthew is the only one with any real artistic talent.) As each person labored over their pumpkin, the traditional "Whoops! That was an accident!" and "Oh, I did NOT mean to do that" could be heard.

Caleb finished his carving first. He carried a funny, cute pumpkin over to the bay window and proudly surveyed the work of his hands. He'd done it "all by himself", and we had to admit that he had done a very good job.

Matthew was finished next. His very ugly, very bad-looking pumpkin was admired and laughed over by everyone, before it went to join Caleb's.

Timmy's pumpkin soon joined the rest. His also bore a bad expression, but Timmy was very proud of it.

That left Beka and me, with our more complex designs, to finish. Caleb dug out the popcorn balls and divinity. I'm not sure how many he ate. It must have been quite a few. Timmy was close behind him, while Matthew, Beka, and I restrained ourselves to just one or two.

After 45 minutes of work, Beka and I proudly carried our masterpieces to the window. Beka's was a patriotic pumpkin, with 'United We Stand' printed on it. Mine was a cat sitting on the moon. We all agreed that our pumpkins were lovely, and one of the best batches we had ever had. With satisfaction, we sat down in the darkened room to enjoy the effect.

Caleb, Timmy, Beka, and Matthew's pumpkins. (The reason my pumpkin is not in here is that most of the pictures taken that night turned out fuzzy and wobbly. This was one of the only good pictures, and it was taken before I had added my pumpkin to the line-up.) Photo by Mom.

After the pumpkins had all been criticized and admired to everybody's heart's content, we trooped into Mom and Dad's room to watch our 'scary' movie. To most people, it probably wouldn't have been very scary. But it was plenty scary enough for me.

We watched 'Darby O'Gill and the Little People'. We had seen the same movie last Halloween, and we were all looking forward to being 'terrified again', as Caleb put it. That movie is always enjoyable, with a little something for everyone. It centers around an old Irishman and the battle of wits between him and the King of the Leprechauns. We always enjoy it.

Once the movie was finished and we were all good and scared, we went to bed.

And so, Halloween is safely behind us once again. It's never that big of a deal (except to Caleb). As Beka puts it, Halloween for us is just another excuse to spend time together and have a little fun.

The Weekly Bible Verse

Matthew 6:19-21: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroys, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Bits and Pieces

We took out our tomato fences this week. We chose a nice, WINDY day to do it. Beka, Caleb, Timmy, and I spent all morning chopping out the vines, rolling up the fences, and pulling out the T-posts. I was very tired afterwards, but glad to have that big job behind us. Now we are nearly done the winter garden work. We just have to move the chicken pen, and straw the strawberries.

Beka rolling up the tomato fence wire. Photo by Mom.

Can you believe that it is November already? I sure can't! Just a week or two now until Thanksgiving, and then straight on till Christmas! I actually went Christmas shopping this week. We haven't pulled out the Christmas CD's yet, but I expect they'll be coming soon.

A Word About The Weather

It's been pretty chilly this week. The rain stopped, thank goodness! The days and nights are getting colder and colder. I'm starting to wonder if we'll have snow by Thanksgiving! It's happened before.

A Word Of Wisdom

Never, ever put sugar in the freezer. It will harden into a solid lump, making it impossible to work with.