Our Halloween Bash!

Last year in Georgia our super awesome and fun friends, the Forsyth's, introduced us to their annual Halloween Bash.  We made an attempt to re-create the awesome-ness here in the southwest.  I thought it was really fun though I don't think our "attendees" knew quite what they were getting in to!

The Set-up:

 The Victims:

Napoleon and Deb

 Bleeker and Juno

 Gorilla and Banana

 Killer Bee and Bee Catcher

 Superman and Lois

 Pregnant Bella

 TMNT

 My Fave-The Day of the Dead

 Frankenstein and Elvira

 Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox

 Eliza Doolittle and Prof Higgins

 The game:

It was really fun and obviously a good way to get out of your comfort zones.  Thanks, Forsyth's, for the tradition and thanks to all of our ABQ friends who were willing to participate!  Until next year...

Halloween, Before, During, and After

I feel like I celebrated 3 or 4 different Halloween's this year so that is why you are getting a Before, During, and After. 

Before (Trying to decide what to wear, pumpkin carving, etc.):

 Cooper was the only decisive one!  

The final products: Coop=pirate, Luke=Optimus Prime, Shuggy=Bumblebee

 THE PUMPKIN WARS! Jake is a pumpkin carving enthusiast so this is a big deal in the Hutchings household.  Perfection is demanded, therefore Emily is the photographer as my lack of patience usually results in a hideous pumpkin!

Jake's pumpkin (mine is not pictured as it was not worthy of a picture!)

 Our outdoor decor thanks to Dollar Tree!

 Caramel apples which, admittedly, didn't fare too well!

 Coop's adorable holiday preschool teacher put on a really cute Halloween buffet!

 Like father, like son for the Ward Trunk or Treat

  Like mother, like...Pocahontas?

During:

We went with the kiddos cousin's, the Tasker fam.  It was fun to go to a rich neighborhood!  The kids got several big candy bars which may or may not have been secretly confiscated by the parents.

 Hayden and Luke

 Scored a big candy bar from Hermione...and glow necklaces!

 After:

G-H-E-T-T-O Fabulous

You read it right, we are G-H-E-T-T-O...Fabulous!

Once upon a time we went on an early morning walk with Grammy around the neighborhood.  We had heard rumors about the neighborhood xeriscaping and, there was the proof!  The landscapers were taking out beautiful, luscious green lawn!  Pondering out loud, I said to Grammy, "wouldn't that be nice to take that beautiful grass and put it in our backyard."  Next thing I know Grammy is going over and asking, not very effectively in English to Mexican laborers, if we could have the grass.  I don't know if they knew what they were saying but they told us that we could come haul it off tonight.

GOLD!

That night, with many curious on-lookers, we began our first of 13 and a half horrible, wet, heavy, dirty, bug-laden, loads of sod.  If I had known at the beginning what I was getting myself in to I might not have done it.  But Jake knew, so shame on him!  Looking back it was worth the rash that covered both of my entire arms, worth the shaking and quaking and not knowing if I could lift one more finger let alone a 75 pound roll, worth all of the jealous passer-byers, worth pushing others out of the way after they caught on to our brilliant idea and tried to steal our grass, worth 2 days of being covered in mud and probably ruining Grammy's vacation, worth it all because.....

OUR FREE YARD IS SO BEAUTIFUL!

The funniest part about this is--a few weeks later they put back the grass from where we took it out.  I guess they had mistakenly taken that section out.  Oh well, their loss our gain!

**Grammy, was it worth it to you?  I am so sorry, but it was your idea:).

Fall...Yes, I am Writing About Fall

I am officially writing about our Fall activities in the month of January-what gives?

Grammy came to visit us in October and we had so much fun together!

We visited the pumpkin patch:

 We took her to the Aquarium and Botanical Gardens:

 We baked, and ate, Fall cookies:

 We used her for slave labor:

And she smiled the whole time...until we all broke down and cried from exhaustion!

We LOVED having you here, Grammy.  Thank you so much for coming!