pumpkin carving

ever since olive could paint a pumpkin, we’ve always invited our family over to our house to carve pumpkins. maybe do dinner and the kids would have fun outside {based on the weather} or in the garage and carve pumpkins!

this year, we decided to do it the weekend before halloween…as halloween fell on thursday.

everyone came over late afternoon and i had made a couple appetizers to tide everyone over while we waited for kim and famille to arrive with the chili. i was so geeked out to make my spooky charcuterie board! i pulled a sheet of white paper off the girl’s drawing roll…i kind of wished it was bigger but that was what i had, i used that as the ‘board’. i had purchased so much cheese and accroutrements that it turned out way bigger than expected, so there was no room for me to write out the components onto the piece of paper. bummer but no matter…i’m always extra anyways. LOL

i filled and filled and filled the sheet with cheese, crackers, and all sorts of jam. then made a spidery onion dip with chips. it all turned out so cute, if i say so myself! the apps were a hit and were quickly gobbled up!

slowly everyone arrived and we just hung out and relaxed. kim and terry finally arrived with the chili that was so delicious! hc started to prepare the toppings and soon we were all feasting on all sorts of yummy food!

the girls were the only ones who ended up painting pumpkins as no one brought over any pumpkins to carve. i was bummed as i love seeing everyone’s finished products! no matter, the girls had so much fun painting their pumpkins and everyone had full bellies and full hearts.

it was another successful family get together and so much holiday fun!

[bat girl]

[my charcuterie ‘board’…it did it on paper. if i had more time or space…i would have written out the make up of it onto the paper!]

[daaaaaaaaaang i look old and tired AF in this pic]

[boo bar]

[hc]

[buggy swizzle sticks]

[silly uncle dan and ellie]

[he had his work cut out for him…she’s persistent]

[boo cake]

[thuy super ‘angry’ she’s baking…just kidding. it’s all for play]

[nope…i don’t have enough pics of my charcuterie. not a chance. not enough at all]

[ba and dan]

[thuy and mom]

[bennett]

[brotherly love]

[reagan and kim]

[olive’s favorite person. LOL]

[olive’s is to the left and ellie’s is to the right]

H A L L O W E E N

[monarch butterfly…minus the wings]

xoxo

every year my family and i carve pumpkins together! it’s a fun tradition that makes the holiday a little more special. we love ordering pizza or putting together a quick dinner and then carving pumpkins in hc’s heated garage.

the fam came over with apps and we noshed on food until the pizza arrived. we ate and drank and ate and talked and ate and hung out. after our early dinner, the kids were begging for desserts. i said no dessert until i was done in the kitchen {cleaning up, washing dishes, etc.}. i’m sure they were rolling their eyes in annoyance…hahaha! i have a process for everything.

fiiiiiinally we served dessert – festive cookies, ice cream sandwiches, chocolate ice cream, salted caramel cupcakes…it was all so yummy! olive thoroughly enjoyed her chocolate ice cream. i have to say, it’s the cuuuuuutest thing to see her admire reagan so much. she loves copying him and doing anything he’s doing. olive wanted a cookie but when she saw reagan eating chocolate ice cream, she had to have it too. i think she thinks he’s the coolest {literally}.

the kids and adults then went outside and carved their pumpkins. ellie colored hers {she was a pro!} and olive asked for a scaredy cat cut out {which hc obliged}. the boys wanted intricate designs and ended up just bringing their pumpkins home to finish. it was a school night and they had to go.

overall it was a fun afternoon! it always is with family. i love spending the holidays with them and they honestly make our world go round. life is good when it involves them.