Pumpkin Carving Party

We hosted our third annual pumpkin carving party on Sunday and this year the event got a major upgrade!

We rented the clubhouse! And with the larger space we were able to invite several families this time and I think everyone enjoyed the expansion. In years past we've just done it in the garage but with the kids getting bigger and wanting to extend the invitation farther, the rented space was a good investment. We all had a blast. 

Say hello to the festive hosts:

And party planning duo:

And the two reasons we do it all for fun family memories:

 

 

The clubhouse was perfect for this event with loads of open space and a great view. We kept decorations simple with yard blow-ups and inflated balloons. We had two tables for carving, a "patch" of pumpkins, a craft table, and several games around the room including tic-tac-toe chocolate vs. gummy and a scavenger hunt. And of course a table for eats (which all the guests contributed to).

See what came in handy here Grandma???

We invited five families each with a friend from Kip's grade and their sibling. Only one family wasn't able to make it! 

The kids ran around A LOT but we managed to reign them in to design their pumpkins and help carve a bit. They all enjoyed it but I think what they loved most was just running around with each other and playing Simon Says and red light/green light. 

All the pumpkins turned out really cute and none of them were moldy inside even though we bought them three weeks ago!

NOT hosting this event in our home made ALL the difference in terms of stress and enjoyment. We're all grateful we have the clubhouse as an option for stuff like this and we're looking forward to hosting it again.

We hope you're having a fun and festive week!

Mr. Bones

This is Mr. Bones.

He has been causing quite a scene all month. And contributing to a lot of entertainment.

Obviously, he's a "bad guy" according to the kids. This morning I said, well maybe Mr. Bones has a good heart and he's just misunderstood. Kip responded, "he doesn't have a heart." 

Well, touché. 

There you have it, heartless Mr. Bones.

Potions Class with Aunt Mimi

We didn't do anything with our weekend, so I'm skipping our weekending it post and treating you all to some random happenings that I've been meaning to share.

Last week when the kids had a half day of school and I was home, Mandy pulled out a little activity she had been collecting supplies and putting together for awhile. She had seen a really cute and fun little potions kit on social media but it was super expensive. So, she went about making her own and it turned out so cute and fun!

She got little bottles and found fun stickers to use to make the ingredients interesting and then loaded all the bottles with cool things to mix together. She found little cauldrons and sticks for stirring.

All the ingredients were super exciting. Raven's blood, Lover's Tears, Vampire hearts, Candied Skulls...of course the favorites were Unicorn Dust and Dragon Scales!

Everything shimmered and fizzed swirled and the kids got to work mixing.

They played with it for over an hour. Pouring and mixing and stirring and starting over. At the end Mandy gave them special potions wands. Then we cleaned everything off and packed up the supplies for another time. Kip and Ivy have both asked me several times when they can do potions again. 

Super fun activity. Thanks Aunt Mandy!