Pumpkins and Trick or Treating

The night before Halloween we decided that we better not be total slackers and carve some pumpkins. We went over to my brother Dave's house and made it an event with their family.
It ended up being a lot of fun and everyone got into the action.
Even Nora Jayne wanted to get messy!
Ella was determined to get a lot of seeds so we could toast them and eat them up!

This is my SIL Natalie with two of her five... Andrew, and Lauren.

Here is Dave instructing four of the five...Andrew - holding Audrey, Ashley, and Hannah.
The next night was Halloween and there was a change of costumes for the boys. Jack decided to be a sheriff/cowboy, and Max donned the Captain Jack Sparrow costume. They looked great and were geared up for the trick-or-treating.

The mustache didn't last long as you can imagine. Cute though!
Now that face beats out Johnny Depp any day!
Here they are with all their loot. If you look closely you can see that Ella's bag is literally filled to the brim. I realized this year that we had crossed the threshold of casual, around the block, trick-or-treating. Ella and Jack had the motivation to keep going and going. I was so appalled by the amount of candy that they brought home that when I saw it I blurted out (without really even thinking), "I'll give you $10 for your candy." Without hesitation Jack said, "OK" and promptly handed me his bag of candy. It took Ella a little bit while she wrestled with the dilemma. Finally we told her she could keep 10 (out of 126 - yes she counted) pieces. She was happy with that arrangement and we made the deal. I hadn't planned on doing this, but I was so glad to see that candy, and the wrappers, and the sugar high, and the turmoil it would cause, GO AWAY!!!

Quick side story. A few days later I went into Ella's room and she was eating something. I found several wrappers on her floor and I asked her where she got the candy. She claimed that she forgot that she had hid some of it in her room. I told her that she had made the deal to give us all but the 10 pieces and that she had been dishonest. I gave her the whole "I'm disappointed" speech, along with the, "now I'm not sure if I can trust you" sentiment. She was very sad and I just left her with her thoughts, no consequences...yet. About 5 minutes later she came into the kitchen with her purse and emptied it out on the counter. I asked her what she was doing and she said it was for the candy. I was so proud of her that I started crying. She was willing to give it all back to make up for what she had done. I told her that I was so proud and that now I knew she understood. I really thought that was great because I never said anything about what I thought she should do, or what I was going to do. I did take back two dollars, but let her keep the rest. I figured she had learned exactly what I would want her to learn. What an absolute sweetie. This girls heart really is made of gold.
I had to include these priceless photos of crazy man Max! A picture says a thousand words...
and these articulate this kids personality perfectly. Love him!