Wednesday, October 31, 2007

trick or treat

Well that's Halloween done for another year. I actually enjoyed myself quite a lot this year. In fact I'm just realizing now I didn't feel anxious at all tonight. Maybe I'm finally outgrowing my fear of costumed children. Who would have thought?

I have to admit, one thing I do really enjoy is the pumpkins. I take great care and pride in my pumpkin carving. I wasn't at home tonight, but I hear from my candy hander outers that there was lots of nice comments about my pumpkin carving skills. In fact we saw one truck actually stop and back up to get a better look. This year's selections were:

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Yeah, that's right. Gene Simmons. I think this may be my best pumpkin to date. I was very pleased with this one.

And one for the kids....

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In honour of the upcoming release of Shrek the Third on dvd. I actually had some problems with this one coming apart in the nose area, but a wooden skewer, a couple of staples and no one was the wiser.

Now I know I gave you a sneak peak of Abby's costume earlier, but here it is ready to dazzle the neighbours with it's cuteness.

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Now Maya had been a bit of a pill when it came to the trying on of the costumes. I say costumes because some over indulgent Granny (I don't want to name names) had picked her up three. Yes you read that right, three costumes. I was really torn about which one she should wear. She did have the same pink dress as Abby and I was really leaning in that direction because that would have been so cute I think my heart may have burst from the sight of it. In the end I let Abby pick which costume for her to wear and the winning one was......

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the skunk. Which I believe was the one my Mom originally wanted to buy her, but talked herself out of it because "little girls shouldn't be skunks." As you can see it was way too stinkin' cute for words and as a bonus Mike had the opportunity to wear out the "she's a little stinker" joke. Seriously. Every house.

And finally one of our new Halloween traditions, building a scarecrow. Here's this year's attempt. Clothes by Papa. Head by Abby. Stuffing courtesy of Mommy.

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7 comments:

Karen said...

You totally rule the pumpkin carving world. I'm blown away.

The girls looked great - Maya was the perfect skunk.

Glad the night didn't stink for you. :)

Anonymous said...

Wow great carving skills! I'm glad you all had a Happy Halloween. The girls looked great, I'm amazed you got Maya into the costume cause she is a little stinker. Thank Abby for the pictures.

Then theres something about the costume being too "stinkin" cheap :)

roxie said...

When I carve my pumpkins, I use a linoleum knife, and just carve off the outer part of the rind. If the meat of the pumpkin is an inch or so thick, the light will shine through it. It provides a lot of stability for the more intricate designs, and gives a splendid translucent, fully lighted effect. (You eye won't be dazzled by the brightness of the candle flame. The whole carving will be lighted equally.) You will need to carve two little airholes in the back of the pumpkin so the candle can breathe. I put one low for draft and one high for exhaust.

One of these years, I'm going to go for the reverse cameo effect where you create highlights by carving more deeply, and create shadows by leaving thicker sections.

Your pumpkins are wicked good!! And once you start with the lineoleum knife, people will start hiring you to do theirs as well.

L Sass said...

Wow--Maya's costume is too cute!!! Abby is also adorable. Hope they made a good haul last night.

Anonymous said...

Wow, your pumpkins carving skills are impressive! The girls looked so sweet!

darlene said...

i love these pumpkins!!...next year!!...yur doing mine girl!!...
Love the skunk costume!...wtg granny dianne!...

Michelle | Bleeding Espresso said...

OK you should definitely sell your pumpkins next year--the proceeds could fund Christmas!

And your girls look just adorable as always. Love the skunk. LOVE THE SKUNK.