Days with the Dorans

  Nothing like doing things at the last minute... We carved our pumpkins on Halloween before the festivities. I have to say, I LOVE having Halloween on a weekend! Marty REALLY wanted to lick all the pumpkins but he refrained and listened to his mom. Such a good boy! I have to say, Joey's pumpkin was AMAZING!  He's such a natural artist. just eyeballed this and went with it! Then it was time to get into costume for our annual family costume! This year... THE SIMPSONS! I think that Zach and Sean especially have seen every episode ever made so this was a fun one for us! Ali, Ellie and Stella were going to go as the girls from Mama Mia but there was a bit of a mix-up and so Stella didn't come and then Ellie just wore her Diary of a Wimpy Kid Stuff. Al went with the original play because she put a lot of work into it and bought those shoes herself! I hope she can wear them again someday! They were fun. Nana and I passed out the candy and this year we did it right, avoiding the d...

Well~ We made it work. This year's costume/theme was Napoleon Dynamite and it was fun! Jeff was well enough to put on his Rex Kwan Do costume and he came out to the hallway so I could take a quick pic. Covid is no fun but being together and having the family I do made the best of it for sure. And it's so good to "see" Jeff~ even if it's from more than 6 feet away! We were able to carve pumpkins. Halloween fell on a Saturday so it was a full day of fun affair! Then it was time to get into our costumes even though there was no trick-or treating. Here is what everyone looked like... Jeff as Rex Pedro, Deb, & Napoleon Tina the Llama & Grandma Because we have the coolest friends ever- Coz stopped by and dropped off some dry ice for us to play with. He left it on the deck of course but it sure was fun!! HERE are some fun videos from the night!

 Halloween snuck up on me~ well actually it didn't... I knew it was coming but still had no idea how we were going to fit things in with our nutty schedules! October 30th and we had no pumpkins, no painted window, nothing! I was out and can't tell you how excited I was to see my kiddos starting on the window painting. This was super late into October but I hadn't had any time to get things done. I got the paint but wasn't there to supervise. Love that they got started on their own. They worked on the outline first and then carved pumpkins and went back to fill it in with the orange paint. My heart was full that they wanted to do this. I know they feel tired like I do. And so our window is painted (though I didn't take any final pictures- mom fail), our pumpkins are gutted and carved, and the pumpkin seeds are roasting. This mom may have failed, but the one thing in life she has done right is making four amazing kids! Love you guys!!!

 I LOVE that we were able to find an evening to gut our pumpkins together! I also love that the kids did ALL the work! Sean wasn't the best at pumpkin gutting or carving but the Bigs stepped in to help him!  I feel like in the past, I had a lot of seed cleaning to do before we could start cooking them but this year again~ my job was easy! Jeff and I sat back and watched. And if you're wondering why the kids keep looking toward the TV, it's because it was on.  We were watching "David S. Pumpkins" and the kids were cracking up. This has become kind of a tradition like how we watch "The Great Pumpkin" on Halloween! Here's some pics of the fab four having fun! I think Joey wins the award again for the coolest pumpkin! He also painted Jack Skeleton on the front door! I love that he carved him into a pumpkin too! Love these kids!

After a busy weekend of a Stranger Things Party, Soccer Games, Dance Rehearsal and Halloween Parties~ we had no energy left for carving pumpkins so we saved it for Monday night after Al's dance (after running to the store for last minute costume things...). I didn't actually have energy Monday night but I also didn't have any more time! I'd say we didn't get started until 7:30 which is awfully late for a school night~ but my troops impressed me! They had those pumpkins gutted in no time at all! I think my handy drill tool helped a ton. And THEY separated seeds from guts so I was thrilled! The Bigs did all the carving themselves too. I was able to work on some things while they were busy bees working. I got smart and bought a $1 table cloth from the Dollar Tree for them to work on (why didn't I do this before??). As I said, the BIGS did the carving. Sean had a harder time. Jeff had to get a new pumpkin for him since his (from the pumpkin patch) was...

We gutted and carved our pumpkins on the 30th. I still am in love with my little drill thing that makes pumpkin gutting a snap! The kids had them gutted and were off to carving in no time. The bad mom that I am I didn't take a single picture of their carved pumpkins (SOB!!).  I guess I was lost in the moment which isn't a bad place to be.  Separating the seeds from the guts is not as easy because of that tool. The pumpkin flesh is pretty ripped up which makes it small like the seeds. I spend a long time separated the seeds from the guts but finally got a system down of soaking the seeds where they floated to the top and the guts were a bit lower. Time consuming but I feel like the seeds were better than ever this year! We may have to get more pumpkins next year because everyone ate them up!

I loved that Halloween fell on a Saturday this year and wish it did every year.  I was exhausted from my class Halloween Party (not that it was nutty- it just makes for a long day).  We woke up Saturday and after Joe's last soccer game, got things done.  We put up some inflatable decorations for the kiddos and then gutted our pumpkins. This was the first year that I did absolutely NOTHING when it came to gutting pumpkins (and the first year I've EVER waited until the day of Halloween to carve them). The kids did it 100% by themselves!  Sean needed a little help but got it from the Bigs and Joe carved Seany's pumpkin for him after Seany designed it.  I'd say Jeff and I can get used to this! Forgot to get pics of all of the pumpkins... I think this was Seany's...