Smashing Pumpkins (Is Halloween over yet?)

You know, smashing, as in, "extraordinarily impressive"? :)  And also, I hope no one considers smashing these tonight.  I think I'd be more upset than the kiddos.

Before the carving!  What a gorgeous day.

The girls have been talking for a month about which face they'd like on their pumpkin (Haley even went so far today as to tell me she really needs it to have eyelids as well as eyebrows). We visited an orchard, a pumpkin patch, gone out twice already in our costumes, baked three kinds of pumpkin dessert... I've been burning my pumpkin spice candle since the end of August. And I have certainly consumed more than my fair share of pumpkin spice lattes. We've watched and re-watched Halloween cartoons and colored reams of spooky coloring sheets. This brings me to the point of today's post: Does it seem like Halloween has really lasted a long time this year? Could this phenomenon be weather related? We didn't have much of a summer--maybe we hit the fast forward button to Halloween just to have something to get excited about.

The girls aren't tired of it yet, they're thrilled any time I mention trick-or-treating. So the festivities continue!

After! Meet the Donovan Pumpkin Family.



The uber-cute book we have read no less than 37 times.  It's loooong.

Emeril's Spicy Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Okay, I know I said you'd never see another Emeril recipe from me, but this one isn't fussy at all. Although he does use the word 'essence' to describe the seasoning he uses in his cooking, and I think it's ridiculous--he says it all the time, it's his thing. Like, "BAM! ESSENCE!"  It's not magic--it's mostly paprika, buddy.  But the pumpkin seeds are top notch.

Emeril's "Essence".  Are you ooooo-ing and ahhhh-ing?



Get in there girls!  Up to our elbows in pumpkin smithereens.

Holly, taking a peek.  She was very hesitant to reach in and grab the guts.

We'll go ahead and call this "The Carter Method"

Get in there, boys!

Mickey, Green Triangle Jack, Vampire, Fire Hydrant!



A [five favorites] list from Parenting Magazine -- Reasons Fall Is Fabulous!

-Fall clothes come in the same colors as your kids' food stains: chocolate brown, fruit-punch red, and mac-and-cheese orange!

-It gets dark earlier and is, therefore, easier to put the kids to bed.

-Trick-or-treating, that blessed evening when sleep-deprived moms who look like zombies simply blend in with the crowd.

-We're suckers for the sight of little kids in footy pajamas.

-Hot cider. Hot chocolate. Hot toddy!