Halloween Palooza

We just had our biggest holiday party yet. I promised the kids this Halloween party originally in lieu of trick or treating, but then after much protest on the part of Mia and the family we usually trick or treat with, I gave in to doing both. The party was deemed a success by everyone who attended. The kids said it was the greatest party ever! We had right around 50 people here and after a record breaking storm blew through this weekend, we were all kind of amazed that anyone showed up at all. The day was beautiful, albeit a little slushy from the melting snow. The weather was great considering the storm. It was around 40 all day, so totally warm enough to be out in the yard and jumping in the bounce house we rented. We set up the bounce house at about 11 and the kids were basically in it the entire day until we made them go to bed around 8:30. They definitely got their exercise today.

Luckily, the downstairs apartment is in between tenants right now, so we were able to use it as the party room. With all the slushy snow, mud and dropped food, I was definitely grateful for the empty apartment.

We were given all these pumpkins at a Stoneham TV thing we went to yesterday because they were leftover, so we set up a pumpkin decorating station at the party for kids to take a rest from the cold.

Jessica came early and she and Lennon used his awesome veggie slicer that he scored at a thrift shop to make some home made baked sweet potato chips

Mia set up a precious little story time area for later in the party when the kids needed some down time. She gathered all the remaining kids and read a few Halloween books to them. It was really cute.

This is the killer bounce house/slide combo we rented for the party. Several people chipped in for the rental so that it wasn't crazy to rent. We were worried that we weren't going to get to use it at all when the weather turned bad yesterday, but it all worked out in the end. The kids were even still sweaty while they were jumping in there. I don't even think any of them wore coats all day.

Shelby-our fire man

We couldn't get ahold of Lennon for this picture, but we were all characters from The Golden Compass. Shelby's costume cost a whopping $12. Thank you Salvation Army. Mine is a reused Homecoming dress with $5 worth of clearance fabric safety pinned on. Shelby is Lee Scorsby and I am Serafina Pekkala. Lennon's costume picture is on Facebook. Mia wore several costume over the course of the day.

We finished cleaning up right around 9:30 and this is all that is left of the carnage from the party. Not too shabby.

A Halloween Winter Wonderland

We got a huge winter storm just blow through, right in the middle of fall. The kids -and I-are in HEAVEN! I've been listening the Christmas music all morning while the kids played in the snow. They woke up and were sooo excited! Mia and Lennon dressed Mia's American Girl dolls in their winter gear and then came down stairs to decorate the cups for our party tonight. As soon as I was up they geared up and went outside to sled and build snowmen.

Goofballs to the core.

There are tons of fallen limbs, but luckily we didn't lose anything devastating. We very briefly lost power during the night, but all was well by this morning.

While the kids were out playing in the snow, I baked some muffins at Lennon's request. I used the last of some fresh pumpkin we cooked ourselves and filled them with raspberry jam that Mia got from a farmer's market in Vermont recently. They are pretty delicious! Especially along with the Trader Joe's Pumpkin Spice coffee I made this morning.

New Haircut and Halloween Happenings

Last night we went to this great event at The Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary called Halloween Happenings. They start you out in the barn with crafts, games and activities. The kids did leaf rubbings, played bingo and fishing for prizes and made masks. They also learned a bit about native animals. When our group was called we went on a one hour hike in the forest - in the dark! Along the way, we came across several "animals" - costumed characters who told us all about their habitat and life cycle as well as lots of other interesting facts. We even encountered a rotting tree. At the end of the hike there was a booth with cider, cupcakes and a bonfire. There were also tons and tons of really intricately carved jack o lanterns.

It was around 30 degrees last night, so Mia dressed in her Hermione costume to stay warm. The woman who carved this pumpkin said it took her all day. Pretty awesome!

Surprisingly, this is all the hair he lost. Sadly, it was pretty much all of the curls.

I still need to even up the back a bit, but overall I think I did a pretty good job. It should be a lot easier to take care of for the winter now.