Happy Halloween!

I know I've said it in the past, but Halloween is just not my thing.  I hate scary movies, creepy macabre decorations and weirdo adults running rampant in whatever nasty costume (or lack-thereof) that fits their fancy.  SO, this year I decided to focus on the things that I do like about the holiday and make it a fun time instead.

I love having an excuse to get together with friends and family, which is exactly what we did to celebrate!  Burke and I decided to host a little get-together and it was so nice to have Cath & Matt, Nellie & Chev, the Burrs, and the Hughes over to see our new digs, eat dinner and play a few games.  It was especially nice to be able to fit them all inside comfortably!  We ate delicious butternut squash soup in festive pumpkin shaped bread bowls, chips and salsa, apples dipped in caramel, pumpkin bread, and apple cider.

One thing I do love about Halloween is seeing little kiddos in their costumes.  I could just eat that lil' Cookie Monster and Elmo right up! Also, Cath and Matt's Tide with Bleach was incredibly creative and if I had thought ahead, I would have given them a prize for best costumes!

Daphne went as a pea in a pod for her 1st Halloween.  Burke and I were going to dress up as a farmer/gardener, but we ran out of time before our guests arrived and settled on orange shirts instead.  Lame, I know.  We'll be more in character next year.  Poor Daph was so tired that she wasn't our usual smiley little lady and ended up pulling this stoic face most of the night.

We played a game to see who could eat a doughnut off a string with no hands and then whistle the fastest.  Firsts the kiddies went (though truthfully, only Brinley seemed to get what was going on).

Then the ladies...

And finally the hubbies,

who were such heated competitors that they managed to pull the bar down, but that didn't stop their chewing or whistling for even a second!

Finally, we set out to make a craft, but ended up visiting and never got around to it.  Here are the ghost lanterns I made beforehand as a demo.  I stole this idea from Mindy's blog, but her examples of the lanterns are WAY cuter.  If you want to know how to make them all you do is take an old mason jar, modge-podge tissue paper on the outside, slap a face on it with either marker or other scrap papers and put a tea-light inside.  Cheap and cute, especially lit up and hanging from a tree.  I think I may try some for Christmas.