Halloween 2013

As I was transferring photos onto my computer this afternoon, it came to my attention that I haven't posted about how we celebrated Halloween this year. I guess it is better late than never!

We carved pumpkins a couple of days before Halloween and roasted the seeds. The kids were really into it this year and we all had fun.

I tried a new recipe for roasting seeds, and really liked it. The main difference was boiling the seeds in saltwater before roasting them. (Note: I added less salt than called for in this recipe, then sprinkled some seasoned salt on before roasting in the oven. I also did one small batch with curry. Yum!)

On Halloween night, we enjoyed our family's traditional dinner of Chicken and Dumplings before making the trick-or-treating rounds on our street. My mom joined us this year, and it was fun having her along and hearing how seeing the grand-kids out on Halloween brought back memories of when she and Pop took us trick-or-treating when we were younger. 

The girls had the routine down pat from last year, and Merrick was a quick learner. After the first few houses, he would grab my hand and say "Run!" and want to dash off to the next house. He even started saying, "Trick or treat!" in the most adorable voice. By the time we got around the block, my pockets were stuffed, because any time Merrick got candy, we had to take it out of his bucket. If we didn't, he would just grab for it or bite it without removing the wrapper...

We didn't get any pictures while we were out, and the efforts at getting a group picture before we left were comical at best:

 

 

After trick-or-treating, we piled in the car and visited the family friends who introduced me to Mark years and years ago. All in all, it was a fun evening and we came home feeling contented and fulfilled. (And maybe just a little bit full of candy!)