Hell-oween

Those of you who know me know that I hate certain months of the year. February is one of them. October happens to be another one. When I was little, I was never really allowed to go trick-or-treating like other kids. Not that I complained because I never understood the whole “gimme candy” thing in the first place. My mom would make my costumes for the Halloween parade at school. At night, my grandparents and I would retire to the back of the house and make sure all of the front lights were turned off so we wouldn’t have to deal with obnoxious children interrupting our television time… a tradition I continued through my young adulthood.

When the boys were little, I decided to do better. I stayed up one mischief night creating the most awesome penguin costumes ever! (if my scanner worked I would show you the actual picture of a proud little Stevie in his penguin outfit but this other adorable kid will have to do) I even made the feet from scratch by dying three sets of tube socks orange, stuffing them and making cute webbed feet that would slide over their real shoes. Not one word of thanks was uttered from the beaks of penguins that Halloween. Not that I really expected it anyway…

Then came Ahole… Our Halloween “tradition” was for Ahole to either stay home or drive in a car around the neighborhood while drinking liquor to warm his belly. My most miserable Helloween was spent walking three children and pushing a fourth in a stroller through Dogwood Village in Galena. By the end of the trip, I was actually carrying one on my back, pushing a stroller AND yelling at the boys that trick-or-treating was OVER and I had to pee so bad my eyeballs were floating somewhere above my head. The worst part is Ahole and the car were nowhere to be found… I think I might have ended up with wet underwear that night but it’s quite possible that has been blocked from my memory.

Suffice it to say, Halloween has never been one of my favorite holidays. Mr. McD is fanatical about it… yes, it’s a source of contention for me this month… We’ll see if I last through it… I’ve been trying hard to stick to the “traditions” that I enjoy about this time of year. Carving jack-o-lanterns is one of these traditions. The best part is toasted pumpkin seeds! Here are our creations for this year:

Abby's Pumpkin ~ She cut it all by herself!

Beth's awesome monster pumpkin

Mommy's Outstanding Bat pumpkin