pookie Halloween and ghostly moans

A couple of weeks ago we didn't have our costumes nailed down, so we ordered these gorgeous Lyra shimmering color face/body coloring pencils, just in case we needed them, and gorgeous and shimmering they are. We had a test run in the backyard with flowing capes and pistachios, but it appears we may not need them after all, except for Magdalena's pink cheeks.

Somehow, in our not-media-overloaded world, the Disney princess theme has taken root and Magdalena has decided she Will. Be. Disney. Sleeping. Beauty. No ifs ands or butts about it. A mama made Sleeping Beauty dress is in the works, and it will be lovely and comfortable and a Sleeping Beauty Princess dress, with accompanying fresh flower crown and some kind of embellished fancy shoes. Augustus has declared Max the King of all Wild Things to be himself, and it is a perfect fit. Many a night, especially the other night after he had been a wild thing with a grand finale of Magdalena's harmonica in the toilet, I thought about saying "WILD THING, GO TO BED" the way the mama does in the book, but thought getting the harmonica out of the toilet and cleaning it took precedence.

We went to a small pumpkin patch near our house to hunt for the perfect pumpkin and lo and behold, they closed right as we pulled up. I knew of a pumpkin patch across town that a friend of mine had told me about, I conveniently forgot the words fall festival preceded with a pumpkin patch, so we ended up at this wonderful fall festival with a huge bouncy slide that the babes rode over and over and over, with Ethan going up with Augustus. I'm not sure which was more delicious: the look of sheer terror/pure joy on Augustus's face as he sped down the slide, or the look of pure joy on Ethan's face as he raced behind him. We rode the slide, enjoyed the chill in the air, and took our time perusing pumpkins looking for just the right one for each of us. Augustus chose a white one, which are totally new to me, where have I been?

I remember two years ago, meeting our NM buddies Jon, Nora with Jubi in the belly, and Zephyr at the Maize Maze in Las Cruces, with the entire Simmons clan clad in overalls. Magdalena and Augustus matched them, Ethan and I did not. Has it really been two years?

In the top photo, Zephyr and Magdalena are holding hands. I recently read the Nora's blog here:http://noradawn.blogspot.com/ and see that the Simmons family is still rocking the matching overalls. I got all nostalgic for our time together, and am plotting and scheming to have access to Nora and Jon's pantry of put up goods, live in their rhythm, soak up their love and have many many opportunities to shoot photos of our children playing together this holiday season. Stay tuned.

pumpkins Magdalena, Augustus, Papa and fading slightly, Mama

Monday night we got busy carving and the fruit of our labor is gloriously spookie and festive and Halloweeny. Magdalena's favorite thing to say is (in a ghostly voice) "ghostly moans". So the theme this Halloween is Poooookie (the way Augustus says "spooky) and ghostly moans.

Ghostly moans to you.