Buzzing through Halloween

We've been Buzz Buzz Buzz-sy with the events of Halloween, leading up to last night's big event...trick-or-treating our neighborhood for the very first time! For Pat and I it was another jack-o-lantern grin from ear to ear moment. Devi had the routine down, from knocking on the door to saying trick-or-treat and even a politely added thank you at the end, she was a pro at all 4 or 5 houses we managed to squeeze in before her bedtime.

For years, our tradition has been to meet with my parents for a harvest meal to help pass the time, anxiously awaiting the anticipated darkness, marking the moment that the trick-or-treaters emerge from the the darkness and begin their Halloween trek. This year it was stick to your ribs shepherd's pie, perfect to fuel the bones for the cold of the misty night we were having. Flickering lights and drifting fog, combined with the spooky music resonating from our garage transformed our friendly all-American neighborhood into the eeriest, spookiest Hallow's eve around. The bumble bee remained unphased, however :)

Devi requested a bee costume. With a 2 dollar price tag from the local thrift store, I put the sewing machine away this year and was counting my blessing that she is still so easily appeased. Pat and I went for the obvious bee keepers...seemed appropriate and brought us a chuckle or two from the neighbors :)


A couple of weeks ago, we began to prepare for this silly celebration of autumn. We went to Spooky's farm again and picked our pumpkins. Devi was much more aware of what we were doing this year and squealed with delight when she saw "SEEDS" inside her prized squash. "Pumpkin Guts" was also another extremely fun phrase for her to say over and over as she worked up the nerve to stick her hand into the tangled web of cold orange strings. Once inside, she was fascinated by nature's way of growing these peculiar orbs.



We attended Devi's first party this year too. A Harvest Party was sponsored by the Children's Home Society where our home study for adoption #2 is being done. They went all out with crafts, fun food and Devi's first opportunity to see what happens when she uttered the words "trick-or-treat". Each office gave out cute Halloween treats. Devi, having never had candy before was totally wowed by the colorful wrapping. She also came face to face with a child dressed as Elmo, which was hilariously confusing for her and offered a wonderful belly laugh for us.