I didn't go with Joe and the boys to the trunk or treat (I'd had enough of Halloween parties by then, between class parties and the Middle School Monster Mash that I was at for four hours in the closet AKA the "snack shack", another large gathering of costumed children just didn't strike me as fun....in fact, cleaning my bathroom was more enticing....really...! That is exactly what I did instead.

Levi is always my fallback photographer when I am not there. Not Joe. He won't take pictures, he will forget, or take one or two. Levi will mass produce. I like mass production. AND Levi will take video. Another huge plus in his favor.

Apparently, Joe thought that I really missed out on KK bobbing for apples....except that I didn't really, because Levi videoed it. :) See, this is why Levi is so awesome!!

KK bobbing for apples pic:

KK bobbing for apples video:

Then they got sugared up in a cake walk...
and collected more candy....
and more candy.....

Every year we make carmel apples, carve pumpkins, eat carmel apples, eat pumpkins seeds...

This year was even better because my family was here to partake.

Loads of fun.

Kaelan especially liked licking the carmel spoon. He didn't stop until he got every last bit of carmel off that sucker!

The boys prepping their pumpkins:

Kaelan loved his "little pumpkin"

......and his carmel apple.

At schools, nowadays, one cannot mention any holiday, by name, in the Classroom. So we go about the year having "Harvest" parties, "Winter" parties, and well...."Valentines" parties (Which seems to be the only Holiday left unscathed by the censors, can anybody tell me why that is???).

I am Ansel's class's "room mom" and thereby in charge of all these censored PC parties. When you have a good teacher, they roll their eyes at the taboo, and let a little of the real Holiday celebrated, slide in. Yay, for normal teachers. Ms. Lang is one of them. She is probably the most normal, real, "person- you-could-hang-out-with" teacher I have ever met. Calder had her for 1st grade, and Ansel has her this year. I have been room parent both years, and I love her! The only sad thing is that she is expecting her second boy in February and so that means we won't have her for a few months this year.

I always do rotating stations and separate the kids into groups of 4 or 5. It makes it more manageable and the kids don't get as overwhelmed. We had a pumpkin decorating station, snack station, coloring station, bingo station, and Carmel apple station.

I am also the classroom photographer, so after planning the party and organizing the parents at the stations to help, I spent the rest of the time photographing all the kids at play. It was so fun.

Here are some of the photos (of just my kids) from the day:

Kids at the carmel apple station:

The classroom spread:

Kaelan enjoying a Spider cookie:

Ansel decorating his pumpkin: