I don't know of any other time in my life that I've carved a jack-o-lantern on September 17th. But I've also never been the mother of four-year-old Eli during the Fall of 2008. For Eli, Halloween is very close to being as exciting as Christmas. He has ALWAYS loved Halloween ever since he's had any concept of holidays and celebrations. I don't know how many times a year he pulls out the Halloween decorations and wants to play with them. We have a skeleton that is about 24 inches high that sings and dances to the song, "Play That Funky Music White Boy," that is supposed to be a Halloween decoration, but Eli plays with it all year round. Maybe his great love of Halloween has something to do with going house to house getting free candy- Eli LOVES candy!!! The first time we took Eli trick-or-treating he refused to put any candy in his bag- he ate every piece of candy as soon as he got it and before we got to the next house. It's a good thing we only hit a few that year!!! Whatever the reason for his tremendous love, Eli was so thrilled when we were at Rite Aid yesterday when he could look at all of the Halloween decorations. I told him he could pick out one small toy. He decided on a pumpkin carving kit and for two days, forty-eight solid hours (he probably even dreamt about it!) all I heard over and over and over is, "Mom, I need a pumpkin to carve!" I gave him crab apples and tomatoes to "carve," but he was holding out for the real deal. This afternoon, more for my mental health than anything else because I knew if I heard, "I need a pumpkin," one more time I was sure to end up in a corner in the fetal position rocking back and forth, I took Eli to get his pumpkin. I tried to convince him to wait to carve his pumpkin because it would be rotten and all shriveled up before Halloween- no such luck. He wanted it carved and he wanted it carved now. I guess maybe doing one now and one again at Halloween will some how make up for the fact that we never did get them carved last year...
All of the Halloween decorations showing up in the stores is just fine with me. I LOVE fall!!! Not only is Eli anxious for the Halloween season, I must be, too. I ordered the pictures to include with our Christmas card a few weeks ago. It was mostly influenced because I had 100 free prints that were expiring that I wanted to make use of, but I, too, am looking forward to Halloween, sitting in front of a warm fire, Thanksgiving, hot chocolate, Christmas shopping, getting to bed earlier because the sun actually goes down before midnight, and the most fun of all - CHRISTMAS!!!
All of the Halloween decorations showing up in the stores is just fine with me. I LOVE fall!!! Not only is Eli anxious for the Halloween season, I must be, too. I ordered the pictures to include with our Christmas card a few weeks ago. It was mostly influenced because I had 100 free prints that were expiring that I wanted to make use of, but I, too, am looking forward to Halloween, sitting in front of a warm fire, Thanksgiving, hot chocolate, Christmas shopping, getting to bed earlier because the sun actually goes down before midnight, and the most fun of all - CHRISTMAS!!!
Eli has his pumpkin carving kit and is ready for action!
The finished product! I was so glad when he picked an easy pattern.
"How would I look with a jack-o-lantern smile?"
This is Eli's "scary Halloween Face."
