Halloween lasts all month at this house

Before starting anything, be sure to hug your pumpkin

Here's how to celebrate Halloween Harper-style:

STEP ONE: you must carve pumpkins and one of them must be from some sort of nerdy fandom. That's a must. This was especially fun this year since Juli had never carved pumpkins before so we got to teach her this very important American tradition. It should really be part of the citizenship test. If you can't properly carve a pumpkin... then no soup for you!

First taste-test the pumpkin

Abi kept trying to bite her pumpkin. Thank goodness it's a little large for even her mouth.

It may take a couple bites

Second, cut the top out in a unique shape

Third, pull the top off and examine the guts

Abi was very interested in this whole process

This is such a fantastic picture! I just love all the emotion, love and trust in her face as she looks up at her daddy. Yeah... Definitely a Kodak moment!

I love this face!

Fourth, scoop the guts out...

...and taste-test those

Haha! It was so much fun to watch Juli carve her first pumpkin! It brought back so many great childhood memories.

Juli's first time touching slimy pumpkin guts

If at any time during this process, your dad dangles pumpkin guts over your head, be sure to catch them

If you're not having fun yet, you're doing it wrong; go back and start again

Thank goodness her head was too big for this activity. Haha!

Or, better yet, try sticking your head in a pumpkin shell

Don't forget to get pictures of the fun!

BEFORE MOVING ON, see if you can guess the artists!

Can you guess who carved each pumpkin?

Note to future self, have a cool porch like this for displaying your holiday creations when you finally build your dream house.

We have a pretty amazing front porch for pumpkin displays

SPOILER ALERT, here are the answers to who did which pumpkin! Did you guess right? Abi is really into eyes lately so I picked that one to be hers and mine because I knew she'd love it every time she saw it and she did!

Selfies with the jack-o-laterns!

STEP TWO: go to the Trunk-or-Treat event at your local church. We love the trunk-or-treats at our church because we don't worry a bit about candy, creepers, or cars. It's the best!

Nothing like a good book before trick-or-treating

So, you may think Abi's costume is random but remember all the rooster posts??? She loves chickens and roosters right now! Roosters are pretty much the top animal in the kingdom currently so this totally fits her. But, as we are very much believers in family costumes, you will see that her costume is not at all random a little later.

Our adorable golden-egg-laying chicken

Leave it to Abi to raid the serving table while I'm not looking. This was a mess of crumbs but luckily it wasn't the worst mess I saw that night. I did see grated cheese smushed into the carpet - AUGH! - and a really great woman in our ward spent time on her hands and knees scraping it out. Wow! She will go to heaven for that act alone!

Yes, I'll have two cornbread muffins

Here's the whole group! Can you guess who we are? I'll give you some time to guess.

Group costumes!

Abi with her haul. She did not understand the concept at all in the beginning. I walked her up to a car, instructed her to say "Trick or treat!" which she didn't do because she hardly talks, but I did, so we got candy. We opened that very candy and I let her eat it. Then she wanted more so we walked to the next car, I said, "Trick or treat!" we got candy, she ate it. We did this about six times before she said, "O'tree!" And that, folks, is how we define success in the nonverbal world! Some may call it bribery or excessive use of sugar, but I call it parenting genius with a little help from generations of sugar-filled traditions! And let me tell you, she was the best "O'tree"-er you ever saw! Everyone she walked up to the rest of the night was greeted with a shrill "O'tree!" She had so much candy by the end that it didn't fit in her Ziploc baggie. What a first-world problem!

Trick Or Treat!

I feel a need to stop and thank all the people who have toddler-friendly options for trick-or-treating candy. Suckers, M&M's, Smarties, Sixlets, all good options. Gum, taffy, gobstoppers, hard tack, not so great. However, I also need to thank the ones who provide parent-friendly candy: Snickers, Twix, Milky Ways, Kits Kats, again, all good options.


STEP THREE: Dress up with your team at work so you can win an abstract prize. Maybe.

James's "mask"

Each year, Samsung has a contest for the team with the best costumes. Last year, James's team did Star Wars. This year, The Peanuts! Haha! Too funny. Not sure how anyone gets work done like this.

The work space

All the masks

Ugh, I searched and searched for just the right shirt for this costume and couldn't find anything we liked at a price we liked. Finally I bought a plain colored t-shirt and black fabric paint and we sprayed it the night before. Thankfully it dried in time, but we also ran out of paint halfway through the backside so... haha! He didn't take any pictures facing away from the camera for good reason... not that anyone usually does that...

James and Bob Ross

Here's the whole team! I don't know how they took themselves seriously. Hehe!

The whole clan

STEP FOUR: Go Trick-or-Treating at the zoo! When you're a toddler and walking between houses is like hiking to Mordor, you should just go to the zoo. We were so excited to get pictures of Abi with the rooster but unfortunately (and probably wisely), the petting zoo was closed for the day. I guess they didn't think goats needed Skittles. Weird. We were so disappointed but it was still fun to walk around and see all the costumes and get the alotted 10 pieces of candy (not that she needed more candy but FYI, the zoo is not the place to get a huge haul).

This little chicken is at the zoo!

Aren't we adorable?

Have you figured out what we are yet? If not, get a guess fast! The answer is coming up!

Family photo

So, we worked with Abi's love for roosters and made her the chicken that laid golden eggs from Jack and the Beanstalk. I'm Jack.

Perfect spot for a photo

James is the sly salesman who sold Jack the magic beans. His bag came filled with Skittles (we couldn't find Jelly Bellies), which was great because my sugar tooth started out satisfied and stayed that way all through the Halloween evening! :)

Don't take those magic beans!

Juli was the magically playing, golden harp because she wanted to be a "Harper" for Halloween! Haha! Pun totally intended!

Hope you enjoyed our Halloween season! Now you should be fully equipped on how to have a Harper-style Halloween. Because who wouldn't want a holiday this fun??