The Hazard Chronicles

"This pumpkin thing is just more stress than it's worth!"
-Rachel

Yes, Halloween is here- my favorite holiday of the year. So why haven't we gotten out the decorations yet? Why have we not carved pumpkins yet? Why have we not even looked at costumes for ourselves? The answer, of course, is that we have been having far too much fun to spend time on these trivial matters.

First of all, this week was Rachel's pre-school week. She loves planning out the day for these kids and does a fantastic job of balancing fun and education. And, of course, the crafts. This week our house smells like men's shaving cream due to one of her crafts. But all of the hard work always pays off because Rachel and the kids all had a good time- except for when a naked baby doll got thrown through our big front window- but even the macabre after-effects of that incident fit in with the Halloween theme. So all was well.

We also went to some parties. First off, Rachel took the kids to park day on Friday, like she does every week. This time, however, they did it at the institute building and they had rooms blocked off and they decorated cookies and everyone was wearing costumes and getting into the Halloween spirit and having fun. Evelyn tells me that I should have been there. It was fun. Also, the ward Halloween party was on Saturday, complete with a chili cook-off, pumpkin decorating, and a trunk-or-treat for the kids. Evelyn had a great time, and Jack and Addy were "mostly good."

And then we rounded off the week by going on not one, but two dates. That's right. Rachel and I got to leave our kids in the capable hands of babysitters twice this week. Yes, it has been a great Halloween season indeed. On our first date we went and saw Inception, which was actually a pretty good movie that I still don't feel like I have totally figured out. It's one of those shows you have to go back and watch a second time- or maybe a third- to really understand. I love that!

On our second date we went out to the Melting Pot. If you are not familiar with it, this is a fondue restaurant and it is amazing. Rachel had been here before on one of her girls-nights-out and has ever since wanted to take me. The cheese fondue alone leaves you wanting to come back again, and that was only our appetizer. After the entree and dessert I am convinced that we have found a little piece of heaven on earth. The only thing that could make it better would be a dramatic decrease in the price, because I don't know that we'll be going back very often. But one can still dream, right?

So anyway, here we are, on the afternoon of Halloween, and we still have not carved our pumpkins. If you have been following this blog for any number of years, then you realize what a dent this has put in our Halloween traditions. See, we have normally spent a great deal of time on our pumpkins. Well, now we have somewhere between one and two hours until the kids wake up from their naps to get them done- so don't expect much.

Here are some pictures. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Rachel may have been stressed, but her pumpkins turned out super nice. The Whinnie the Pooh pumpkin got more comments than any other

And my theme was The Nightmare Before Christmas. Simple, but I like how they turned out.

And Evelyn did a Princess, of course.

Carving pumpkins is fun- but "very, very dirty," according to Evelyn

Update: Whew! We got the house all decorated and the music playing and everything. I am convinced it was the best house on the block. Evelyn had a blast running from house to house trick-or-treating and we are now trying to tear her away from her candy bucket to put her to bed. Yea right.