OCTOBER

October's highlight was most definitely Halloween.  For us, Halloween celebrations include the pumpkin party at Aunt Bebe's church and trick or treat night, nothing too overboard.  And it was so much fun.

I am the type of person who has giant pinterest-style ambitions for adorable costumes.  My track record with follow through is relatively low, but still.  The decision though is ultimately up to Mason. And when we asked him what he wanted to be, he mentioned a couple of super heroes (Thor and the Hulk) but ultimately decided on the dinosaur costume that still fit from the year before.  Maybe this is a story that only a mama will appreciate, but to me it just shows me how his little brain and personality work.  It was almost as if he thought Duh, Mom.  We have a dinosaur costume right here, what else would I wear? I'm hoping that this means he is a lower drama kid than his mama was growing up.  Fingers Crossed.

TRICK OR TREAT

This will bring us to the end of this fall-slash-Halloween extravaganza.  The last thing that we did with Mason to celebrate Halloween was trick or treating.  As usual, I stayed home and passed out candy while Byron and Mason took on the neighborhood.  Well, taking on the neighborhood was a quick five houses, followed by Mason saying "Daddy, I shivering."  So they came home quickly.

But then Mason quickly adapted from collecting candy to passing it out.  He took his job very seriously.  Every time the doorbell rang, he would jump up and say "That's my job!"  He would open the door all by himself, put one piece of candy in each kid's bag and watch them walk away.  Several times after he closed the door he would even wipe is brow and say "That was hard."  Where does he get all that cuteness?

Here he is checking out his spoils.  It wouldn't be much, but we have a certain next door neighbor (Papa) who may have loaded him up with some special treats.  I guess this is all until next year.  It is neat to see how things have changed over the past years and it will be neat to see how Mason handles it all next year!

HOW NOT TO CARVE PUMPKINS WITH A PRESCHOOLER

Remember when you were a kid, and carving pumpkins involved stabbing them with a steak knife in order to get triangle eyes and a jagged smile?  That was more or less the pumpkin carving experience of my childhood.  Fancy was when our pumpkins had a few teeth thrown in the mix.  Fast forward to today, when elaborate patterns and power tools are plastered all over Pinterest.  Those ideas are great and all, but let me tell you they are not for us.  At least not until Mason turns 16.

We bought the pattern book.  "This is going to be great!" we thought.  Mason and Byron conspire to select the best patterns.

They decide on two different skeletons.  SKELETONS.  This is where things started to go wrong.  Skeletons have dozens of teeny tiny bones.  I didn't realize it at the time, but like five minutes later I would see the error in our ways.  Second mistake.  How many adults does it take to understand the directions on how to apply the pattern?  She looks happy.  It's fake.

And then, when we were carving and carving and carving those tiny little slits, we all began to feel like this.

We did finally finish those pumpkins...right before Mason went to bed.  The redeeming moment was when Byron got them finished, he turned out the lights and showed Mason what they look like lit up. Mason exclaimed, "Daddy, you made a Halloween!"  Love him.

So next year, would someone please remind me that we will enjoy ourselves a whole lot more if we just cut out triangle eyes?

THE GREAT PUMPKIN PARTY

The second of our fall traditions is to go to the Great Pumpkin Party hosted by my sister's church.  Games, inflatables, candy...what could be more fun?  We stuck mostly to those three things, although the church offers a science show, petting zoo, pony rides, concerts, and probably much much more.  Mason was a bit hard to capture, so I only got a few photos.  But isn't he the cutest little Triceratops you ever did see?  Of course he is.

At the end of the night and after several turns in the bounce house, the costume definitely came off.  That dinosaur head is no joke.  We also did something that was a family first - we took our turn in a photo booth.  So not only did we come home with plenty of candy and a worn out little boy, but a cool souvenir as well!