Is This Normal?
The chaos that is the KerbersArchive for Halloween
Halloween fun
The weather made us nervous all week, but luckily it pretty much cooperated in order for us to have a very fun Halloween night. It was a tad bit chilly, but thankfully the rain finally stopped.
We started the night with pizza, and Grandma & Grandpa Kerber joined us first. Then Aunt Theresa came, and finally Auntie M, Salina, and Bella rounded out our group. It didn’t take anyone long to finish eating…the anticipation of trick-or-treating was on the forefront of everyone’s mind. 
So after we ate we changed into our costumes (which luckily were big enough to leave room for a couple of extra layers underneath) and headed out. Ben the panther, Emma the lion and Bella as Magenta the dog made up our costumed group. 
Since Auntie M and Salina both came with us, the adults outnumbered the kids for once, which is never a bad thing!
We started down the street and the kids were into it right away. Emma had not napped this afternoon, so after only a couple of houses, she was getting droopy and was pretty far behind.
But Ben was very patient with both of the little girls. He would wait out on the sidewalk and I can’t remember him complaining once. After about 40 minutes of trick-or-treating both of the girls were ready to head in. Neither of them really knew what any of the candy was in the first place, and they were pooped from walking. Plus, Bella had other stops to make, so Auntie M and Salina were off.
Ben, however, was still ready to go. So Dave took him around one more block. Needless to say, his pumpkin was very heavy by the time they got home a half hour later. He was so excited about some of the things in there. It was too funny. By this time Grandma & Grandpa had gone home, but Aunt Theresa still had a bag of goodies for the kids. They both loved opening these, and we had to have just one more treat before bed.
Both kids had so much fun trick-or-treating. 
We ran into almost all of our neighborhood friends and saw some pretty cool Halloween houses. While Halloween is certainly not my favorite holiday, I have to admit that a smile came to my face on more than one occasion tonight. There’s not much more you can ask than that.
Oh wait, icing on the cake…the Illini football team beat Michigan tonight, too! Woo HOO!!
We just can’t wait!
Today when I picked Ben up from preschool, the first thing he said to me was, “Mommy, next time we come to preschool it’s our pumpkin party!” There was so much excitement in his voice, and he had one o f the biggest smiles I had ever seen. So I decided that we should try on our costumes tonight to make sure that everything was all set. As soon as I got the coats on each kid, they were crawling all over the floor roaring (that would be Emma the lion) and rawring (from Ben the panther) all over the place. It was hilarious.
While I’m not the biggest fan of Halloween, it is definitely fun to anticipate something with the kids. While Ems is still not really sure what’s going to happen Saturday night, Ben remembers it well and is just so psyched for the big event. Let’s hope that Mother Nature cooperates with us so we can have all the fun we think we will!
Carve-o-rama
Tonight was pumpkin carving time! We had gotten a perfect carving pumpkin this afternoon, and after dinner we cleaned off the table and embarked in our adventure. It was decided by the kids that they wanted a happy face, so I drew the face on the pumpkin, and Dave cut the top off. 
As we expected, Ben wanted nothing to do with the “gross part” and Emma dove right in to scoop out the guts. 
So typical! It was cracking us up…she was totally into it. She said things like, “It’s digutsing” (which isn’t a typo…that’s phoentic Emma talk) with a huge grin on her face.
Since Ben was pretty much doing nothing during the entire “gutting” of the pumpkin, he decided he wanted to draw on his with a marker. He wanted very little help with this, and I was actually surprised at how awesome it turned out. 
Of course I had to use some serious persuasive skills to talk him out of drawing animals on it, and I also convinced him to put his name on the back so he wouldn’t write all over his pumpkin’s face. Once Emma saw him doing this, she wanted to do hers, too. I tried my best to help her draw a face, but of course she let me help with one eye before she yanked the marker away from my hand and said, “No, Mommy, I can do it myself!” Little Ms. Independent pretty much just drew some straight lines all over her pumpkin, but she was thrilled with it. In the meantime, Daddy was busy carving away on our big one.
Things definitely got a little hairy at times, and Mommy’s patience was tested big time, but overall, we had a great time, and the results were awesome.
Off to the pumpkin farm
Between the weather being crappy and a couple previous commitments, we were not sure that we’d get to a pumpkin farm at all this fall. Luckily, though, the rain subsided for awhile this afternoon, and we were able to hit Rader’s Family Farm for a short time. Our main goal was to have some fun and to get a good carving pumpkin. We had two smallish pumpkins sitting on our porch from the kids’ visit to Grandma Judy and Grandpa Scott’s, but they were smashed in the street last night, so situation had instantly become more urgent. We needed a pumpkin to carve, darn it! So after church and lunch, we were off.
Since we’ve had so much rain lately, the place was a total mud pit. The owners had done as much as they could to help with the mud situation…there was straw laid down all over the place out there, but it was still a muddy mess. Nonetheless, we played on the straw pile, in the big trough of corn, ran around the play area a bit, and even stopped at the photo spot.
You’ll probably notice how talented my kids are at posing for a staged picture. (Yes, that is written with a great amount of sarcasm…look at that picture!)
As the clouds started to roll in, we decided that the play time could wait and we had better pick out a pumpkin quick! 
Daddy found the carving one, and Ben and Emma each picked their own that they could carry. As Dave paid for our treasures, the kids and I quickly went through the barn and looked at the animals, and then we headed for the car. The first sprinkles were coming down as we loaded up.
It was a short, but profitable trip. The kids were thrilled with their pumpkins, and we were home in time for Emma to still get a nice nap in. A win/win situation, if I do say so myself.
Happy Halloween
What a beautiful night! The weather could not have cooperated with us any more than a clear night with temperatures in the upper 60s. We had a lot of fun trick-or-treating.
Ready to go...
On our way!
The perfect photo spot
Then back home to pass out candy
Emma was just so happy to be out walking around. She didn’t even really go up to doors much, which was fine with us since we’d already gotten plenty of candy. I think Ben may have had more fun passing out candy when we got home. He would say, “Hi, guys” to all the kids at the door, and sometimes he’d ask, “what are you?” It was great. Now we get to sort candy, decide what to freeze, and figure out which things will disappear from his pumpkin. Sometimes it’s great to be the grownup!
Hope you all had a happy, safe Halloween!
Carving out some fun
Tonight we carved the first Kerber Jack-o’-lantern ever. It was so fun. Ben didn’t want to touch any of the “limey tuff” (slimey stuff) inside the pumpkin, but Emma was all for it. Of course, she wanted to eat the guts, too. We had a hard time deciding what kind of face to make, but finally Ben decided he should be mad, so that’s what we went for. I think it was quite successful.
It was so exciting to see inside for the first time.
Little Miss No Fear
The finished product
- And back on the front porch it went
I don’t know about any of you, but I’m looking forward to Halloween much more than usual this year. It’s so fun to experience it through my childrens’ eyes.
