Second Childhood?

Halloween is one of those holidays that I've never enjoyed. Even as a young child I didn't like dressing in costumes or going door to door asking for treats. I did enjoy the chocolate eating part of it, but I learned that I didn't need a holiday to do that.

When we were first married, Rob liked to put on a mask and walk along with the neighbor's kids or sit on the front steps and hand out candy. Since we've lived here we don't get trick or treaters. We live at the end of a dead end street so only one or two come this far. Instead of listening to ten dogs bark all evening, we take them to the basement to watch TV and Rob and I eat whatever chocolate I've convinced myself to buy in case kids come to the door.

This year something strange has happened. Around the middle of September I felt a need to make something for Halloween. I don't know why, but my creative side needed to do this, so I started looking thru cross stitch patterns. I found these and they worked up nicely, but they weren't exactly what I wanted, so I kept looking.

I looked at dozens of patterns but couldn't settle on one. So I decided to make my own. I sat down with the graph paper but soon tired of that and decided to freehand a design. I like the way it turned out and I offer my thanks to Will Shakespeare for the sentiments.

So there, I did my Halloween thing and I was done, right? Wrong. Something was telling me that I needed to do more. I tend to listen to my creative urges because they just grow stronger and more insistent if I try to ignore them. I picked up my needles and did this.

He's made from a MochiMochi pattern and is quick to make. But still I needed to do more so I made Mr Punkman.

I guess my frenzy rubbed off on Rob because he came home from the gym with a pumpkin. He usually carves one each fall because the dogs love fresh pumpkin. They won't touch the canned stuff but can't get enough of the fresh pieces.

He became this.

I almost never dress the dogs up for Halloween, I asked them if they wanted to do something this year and was surprised at the response. Morgan wanted to be a princess, so why not?

Sebastian said he wanted to be a Boxer for Halloween. I wasn't sure what he meant, but he took care of his costume himself. Here he is, a Boxer.

Sydney and Mackenzie wish to be called Bossie and Moo today. Along with their stuffed toy, they make up a small herd of cows.

As you all know Porties can be little devils. Here's my proof. Fudge.

Norma Jean.

Bailey.

And the scariest devil of all, Noah.

And now that I've satisfied my Halloween urges I can hang up my hat,

kick off my shoes,

put my feet up,

enjoy a beverage, perhaps an eyeball highball,

and close my eyes.

My work is done.

Happy Halloween everyone.

Let Them Eat Cupcakes

We made it thru the night with no sick tummies, so back to party mode for one more day. After removing all the paper wrappers from the tiny cupcakes we're off to the back yard for a special treat.

Gather round puppies.

They seem to know what's coming.

There are two cupcakes for each and four left over for Rob and me.

 We called out names so that no one got left out.

Mac took her cupcake to the fresh dirt pile and rolled it in dirt before eating it.

Sebastian couldn't believe what she was doing. He hoped she'd bury it so he could dig it up.

There's one left and everyone is hopeful that he or she will be the lucky one.

Nope, Rob ate it.

So our three day birthday bash comes to a happy ending.

Party Games

Let's see who's not afraid to get wet. We'll do some bobbing for apples and carrots. Silly me, I thought carrots would float. Wrong! Of well, they'll just have to work a little harder.

Rob filled up the big pink bucket but because Syd and Mac are so short, we also filled a smaller brown bucket so they could play. I was curious to see what they would do because they both avoid the water when we fill the pool.

Then we tossed in the goodies. Ok everybody, get a piece of apple.

Fudge was the first head into the water.

The little pan of water was busy, too.

This is a popular game at our house.

Mac was willing to get wet if it meant getting a treat.

Syd wanted to see what was in the big bucket.

She considers herself to be a big dog.

This time she was right.

The apples went first because they were the easiest.

Carrots on the bottom? No problem.

Game over. Sydney and Fudge were the big winners but everyone had fun and plenty of treats.

Did you miss one familiar face? Sebastian watched from a distance. No water in the face for him.

Due to the amount of fruit consumed, I decided to wait till tomorrow for cupcakes. No sick tummies tonight.