A couple days ago when I was starting to let the “hate” part of my love/hate relationship with Halloween take over, I was reminded by my-2012-Halloween-self back HERE not to get mired down with the Halloween details and just let my eyes shine with my my kids. It reminded me that I used to be smart :) It also helped me chill out and not fuss about all the hoopla of outfit-finding and candy-eating and just BE with these sweet kids I get to call my own. It’s amazing what that little shift of mindset can do I tell you! I love when the roles reverse and my kids start pushing our holiday traditions rather than me. They decided the Monday night before Halloween would be the perfect night for pumpkin carving and made sure I wrote it in my calendar. They even scraped out the “guts” all by themselves this year. 
Now that is a tiny miracle in and of itself. This blurry picture is the only one I have of Dave, dang it!
He’s not quite so giddy about this activity that I for some reason think is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Maybe it’s all those years we did it with my family growing up. Maybe it’s the love-of-creating-things in me. Maybe it’s just family-togetherness or that I could forget that load of laundry to fold in the background below… :). 
I don’t know, but I love it. My brother Josh almost always joins us for this festivity.
I think this year his pumpkin took “best of show:”
Wouldn’t you agree? Here’s what the kids ended up with:
(Max put a lot of effort in his this year…ha!) 
Lucy was pretty excited about her cat pumpkin (the same one she’s had me help her with for I think the last three years).
…and since we happened to have a watermelon sitting around I decided to carve it up.
(Not quite as fancy as the one Max and I did a few years back here.) Claire let me know that caramel apples really do great things to top off a good pumpkin carving night.
I believe she was spot-on about that little observation. 
We do this every year.
(Excuse the blurriness and straight-from-tennis-and-gymnastics-and-volleyball-outfits the girls are sporting…)
Now here’s a preview for tonight:
Ok, not so much that last one because usually there’s only one dress-up per year for this guy and me (that was a Great Gatsby Halloween party last weekend). But check out the sparkles in those girls eyes above. I’m off to let mine sparkle with them. Happy Halloween!
So cute, all those pumpkins are adorable and I love to see kids (and adults) in costumes!
What fun memories! The cat pumpkin is adorable!!
Your reminders to yourself and us are the reasons we keeping coming back reading! The picture of you and Dave is great!!
And the laundry in the background is funny because I have been wondering recently if you have ever shared your laundry routine…ugh!
Have a wonderful Halloween full of sparkly eyes!
awesome!! what does Elle's stand for? or is it suppose to be like "ellie"
So fun to see! You and Josh rocked it!
Shawni, I thought of you the other day when I was at my son's school. His little classmate has BBS. I started to tell his mother about you, but she said she'd already met you. Small world. 😉 Your family is just as darling as ever! Happy Halloween!
You and your husband look FAB in your costume, and I love the watermelon carved;)