Halloween 09 Extravaganza

So Halloween is a little different here in Ohio. Most of the neighborhoods, towns, churches, etc celebrate Halloween on other days before and after Oct. 31st. I still haven't quite figured out why this is but let's just say I was so tired of Halloween related events by the time Saturday rolled around that we did absolutely nothing on the actual holiday, except watch Sleepy Hollow at night.

So here is our week leading up to Halloween and all our fun adventures. On Wednesday morning our playgroup went to Richardson Farms to pick pumpkins and apples and go on a hayride. Once again the weather was not perfect, overcast and chilly, but we had a great time and the kids loved it!

Morgan and Mallory

Hayley and Reed

They took us on a little tour of their working farm and we got to see the egg laying hens.

Apple orchards.

Saturday I made an apple pie with my pickins' and my was it good!

Honey making demonstration.

Jack had a fight with the cement floor and lost!

This kid just cracks me up!

Jack, Becky and Abby

Excited to start our hayride.

Reed, Hayley and Mallory

Venturing into the mud to pick pumpkins.

Morgan really loved helping me pick apples and the hayride.

What a great day!

That night was our ward Halloween party and Trunk-or-Treat.

Abby, Jack and Morgan

Cody had to work late so I had to be a lone farmer but we were glad Daddy was able to join us for some of the fun.

Jen, Pepper, Wade and me

Heather, PJ and Jack

Becky, Ben, Cody and Pepper

The results of our pumpkin carving.

My cat.

Cody hard at work.

I thought Cody's turned out awesome!

On Thursday morning I hosted another playgroup to paint the pumpkins we had picked.

Morgan, Abby and Jack had a great time and are quite the artists!

I also made some Halloween themed sugar cookies and let the kids decorate them. We didn't have any icing so we used peanut butter and sprinkles!

Lack of money definitely helps with creativity!

Morgan showing off their work.

On Thursday afternoon our apartment complex had a little Halloween party for the kids at the clubhouse. Morgan got to decorate yet another pumpkin and play some fun games.

I thought Pepper looked like a pumpkin colored Batman in this picture.

After the party, Jack, Heather and PJ came over so we could take the boys Trick-or-Treating around our complex. It was a lot of fun but very tiring since our complex is pretty big and each building has three floors and no elevators. Also, not every apartment was participating so you had to hunt through each building looking for orange signs on doors. The boys really loved knocking on doors but usually chickened out when it came time to say "trick or treat." Luckily, they usually managed to say "thank you." Heather and I completely forgot to take any pictures of our boys out and about but here I am showing off Morgan's spoils.

My dried cherry/apple pie heading into the oven.

I still don't have a pie crust shield so I have to use tin foil, well the foil squished my nice edges and kept one side from browning. Besides those aesthetic downfalls the pie came out great and was very yummy. I love pie season and can't wait to start making more!

So Happy Halloween everyone...I'm still tired!