what a witch and a cowgirl have in common

For Halloween this year we decided to step up our pumpkin carving.  While we waited for Sandi to print templates for really cool designs, Maya did some quick Sharpie magic on her pumpkin to test the fine knife skills of her mothers.  Her design was complete with stitches (!) and fine eyebrows.  Luckily once she saw what Sandi had to offer, she willingly wiped her pumpkin slate clean with a cotton ball of isopropyl alcohol. 

Unfortunately it is still a bit too precarious for the girls to wield our super-sharp fishing knives (which, let's face it are necessary to cut the thick skin of a pumpkin) but the gooey scooping holds its own appeal.

I can remember back just three years ago things looked pretty different....

 And because I can't resist- and I apologize because I think I may do this every Halloween- there must be a reference point when discussing Halloween costumes.  Two years in a row we dressed the kids in matching, stuffed costumes our friend Elisa made for her kids and we got to use as Halloween hand-me-downs.  They were so cute the first year that we couldn't resist the second year.

Except the second year we got a bit carried away with Ella's bunting...

And she had to be carried house to house (thanks Sam),

until eventually she got too tired and had to rest.

On a friend's couch.  (Poor Ella.  My stomach hurts from laughing at these pictures every time I see them.)

So each Halloween since the fateful evening of being over bunted, Ella bases her costume selection on two variables: beauty and speed.  This year it was a pretty witch.  And, as foretold, Maya was a cowgirl.  For weeks in response to the question of what she wanted to be for Halloween, Maya would reply: "I want to be whatever Momma is going to be."  I considered how I would dress her as myself. What would that be Danskos and some sort of scarf would be a must but what else?  Jeans and some layered shirts from Old Navy?  The question made me feel slightly insecure and made me want to reconsider my wardrobe.   I tried to convince her to dress up as an anesthetist but she wasn't into it.

The cowgirl boots for her birthday sealed the deal.  And really, don't Maya and a lasso just sort of go together?

And, as in every other year, we met up with Skyler and Reed for some candy collecting.  What a motley crew they are!  Sandi, Emilie and I sat in the warm van on this very wet Halloween night and crept along as they garnished candy from around our neighborhood, yelling, "Don't forget to say thank you!'  Yet another plus to having older kiddos.