Halloween!

It has been a busy Halloween weekend at our house.  The church trunk-or-treat on Saturday night was a big hit and the boys had a lot of fun.

Here is our costumed duo:  Benjamin went as a fireman (red shirt made by me, most of the rest pieced together over time from Goodwill) and Rhett was the dalmatian (white shirt from Goodwill, pants, hat and spots made by me).

 

No pictures of the trunk-or-treat because it was so dark.  The costume pictures are both from afterwords. While Rhett looks happy, he put up a major fight when it came time to don his costume.  Even during the construction stage when I was trying to fit the white pants on him he acted as if it was major torture.  I finally got it on him, painted his nose black when he was strapped in his car seat, and when he refused to wear the hat I told him he couldn't have any candy unless he wore it.  Worked like a charm (much to my surprise).  While his costume wasn't difficult to put together, it had been too long a day, and I had spent too long sewing on spots to have people think he was a cow.  The ears were a must.  (And only one person asked if he was a cow, even with the ears on.)

For last year's trunk-or-treat Paul had a great time putting together a real door for kids to knock on at the back of the car.  This year he wanted to come up with something equally memorable.

Can you guess what it is?

It was definitely a project, but something that's we'll reuse year after year (we'd better).  I wish now that we had taken pictures of the process but at the time of assembly things were stressful enough that I didn't want to bother.

 Basically, it was made with a structure of PVC pipes shaped by pouring heated sand through the tubes until they bent freely.  (Try it sometime, it's pretty cool.)  Then we pieced together a few bedsheets (part thrifted and part from home) that had been spray painted orange (because dying them didn't work well enough) and taylored them to fit the pumpkin form.  Paul used some window screen material for the face so that he could see through while inside, which was the most fun part of the whole thing.  Inside the pumpkin Paul attached a hard hat at the top so he could wear it and walk around in it and hand candy through the nose.

 

He got some great reactions from people at the trunk-or-treat as he walked amongst the crowd.  I wish it hadn't been too dark for the camera.  Tonight he set it up on the front lawn with a light inside to attract trick-or-treaters since ours was the only of the four houses that wasn't dark and people weren't bothering to come down our street.

 Benjamin had fun opening the door for the trick-or-treaters and was even caught calling out to the empty street  for more trick-or-treaters to come to our house when we had a lull.  I found myself having increasingly thin patience for the teenagers that would come dressed as nothing and asking for candy.  To them went one piece each of the worst candy we had.

Finally, our Halloween dinner: chili in a pumpkin and pumpkin cornbread, finished off later with some pumpkin pie.  I decided last year during the holidays that we don't eat nearly enough pumpkin pie this time of year, so we decided to start early. 

And that was the Duersch family Halloween 2010!  (So glad it's done!)

Right now I am...

Done making a batch of homemade tortillas for dinner.

Soaking pinto beans for our Halloween chili-in-a-pumpkin.

Dying bedsheets orange (and realizing I should have used two boxes of dye).

Baking a pumpkin pie on a whim.

Enjoying some intermittent peace and quiet while the boys watch The Jungle Book.

Thinking of sewing a little white shirt for a dalmatian costume.

Wishing the soon-to-be dalmatian would try on the little white pants so I could put in the elastic.

Kind of wanting a nap.


And you?

It's getting spooky around here!

 The newspaper ghosts have come to play at our house again this year!  We had a fun Family Home Evening making these this week.

Can you tell who made the rest of these?  (Hint:  It wasn't me.)

 The clam ghost

 Ummmm....

 Happy pot-bellied ghost

Pumpkin ghost, and one created by Benjamin

Whenever I ask Rhett what a ghost says, he replies, "Hee haw!"  I think he thinks I'm saying "goat" which still doesn't make it the right reply, but at least it's close.

Naked Baby Alert

Something that I was always really happy about as Benjamin's mom was that he was never the type to take off his own diaper.  I really can't recall him ever doing it, although it's possible it happened once or twice.  I definitely consider myself blessed in that respect.  (It's the little things, you know?)

With that introduction, it probably goes without saying that Rhett has not followed in those particular footsteps.

 

I'm not sure what this means for his future.  For now, I hope it stays limited to our backyard.

Stoney Ridge Farm again

We made our now-traditional autumn outing to Stoney Ridge Farm in Everson this weekend.  It was a beautiful, sunny day, and we had as much fun as ever, and even more so now that the boys are both older and able to enjoy it more fully.

 They posed in front of this giant pumpkin--the largest in Whatcom County--that weighed in at something like 784 lbs.

 There was a little area with several vintage rocking horses for kids 3 and under to play on.  It was a little hard to tell Benjamin he couldn't do it.

 They boys loved all the animals.  Thankfully Rhett didn't get bit by any chickens this year.  Benjamin even fed a handful of food to a pony.

 We loved this tree silhouette painted on the pumpkins.

 We picked some apples to take home this year and the boys each ate one right off the tree.

 

 With our bag of apples and a jug of cider we headed home in the early afternoon.  Rhett looks pretty sober in the picture but he was actually acting really silly.  Benjamin must have tired out though because his grumpy face was genuine.

Because these things must be blogged if they are to be remembered

About a month ago Rhett emptied a bottle of nutmeg into the detergent dispenser of our dishwasher.  I thought I wouldn't bother cleaning it out because it would all get washed down the drain in the wash cycle.  Instead, specs of nutmeg lingered on the dishes for several cycles afterward.  Next time, clean it out.  And someday, move the spices to higher ground.  (As if that will help.  This morning, while Paul and I were desperately trying to sleep in, Rhett figured out that he could push our kitchen table up to the refrigerator, push a chair up to that, and reach the cookies up on top.  Nothing is safe from this kid.)

Benjamin's Birthday

Benjamin turned four years old at the very end of September!  He was anticipating the day for months, and it was really fun to watch him get excited for and then appreciate his birthday this year.

Paul took Benjamin with him on a boy scout camp-out the night before his birthday.  I think Benjamin really liked that father-son time all to himself and he thought that sleeping with Dada in the "fun-runner" (our Toyota 4Runner) was really cool.

We celebrated that afternoon with a construction-themed birthday cake.  Just before lighting the candles and getting the party started, Paul and I debated whether we should take a video of the birthday song, blowing out the candles, etc.  We ultimately decided that, no, we did not need another video of singing "Happy Birthday."  After all, we do it several times a year, and are we really going to go back years from now and watch all of those "Happy Birthday" videos?  We thought not.

Mistake!

Perhaps it was karma working against him.  At the end of the birthday song, as Benjamin took a breath to blow out his four candles, Rhett beat him to it!  He blew out the candles like a pro and poor Benjamin cried tears of disappointment.  It was actually quite funny, which is why we wish we had taken a video.  At least candles can be re-lit, and Benjamin was consoled, as well as extra cautious of his sneaky little brother the second time around.

(Take 2)

Somehow Rhett hasn't caught onto the idea that you're supposed to lick the bottom of the candle, not the flame end when you take it out of the icing.

Licking the wheels clean

Why does Benjamin, the 4-year-old, use his fingers to eat while Rhett, the 2-year old, uses his fork?

 The most highly anticipated present was this Buzz Lightyear toy from Grandma Key.  I'm not sure which boy was more excited.  Coming in at a close second was the big Lightning McQueen toy that I found at a thrift store.  Benjamin was with me at the time so he knew it was coming even though I wouldn't let him play with it until his birthday.

But the most exciting gift, and something we had wanted to get for Benjamin for a while, was his first bike!  He has ridden it pretty much every day since, rain or shine.
 

 Checking himself out

 Of course, as soon as an opportunity presented itself, Rhett had to have a go on the bike too.  I'm not sure who rides it more often now.  We think we might have to get a second bike sooner than later because there have been more that a few screaming matches over who gets to ride the bike vs. who is left riding the tricycle.

 Benjamin is already anticipating his next birthday.  And the next and the next.  He is growing up too fast, and I wish we could capture and preserve every single moment with him (except for the tantrums).  He constantly amazes us with the things he remembers and understands.  Right now he is loving learning about letters and their sounds and the things they spell.  He loves reading scripture stories at bedtime and having Family Home Evening.  (Side note: He even requested a mid-week FHE with me this week while Paul was in Alaska for work.  He wanted to "watch a movie about Jesus" so on his own he picked out "Finding Faith in Christ" and we watched the whole thing together while Rhett slept.  He paid attention and asked questions and really enjoyed it more than I would expect a 4-year-old to do.)  

He brings so much joy to our family!