Halloween...SERIOUSLY!

A sweet friend on facebook asked me to post pictures of my Halloween decoration.
She really knows the way to my heart.
I am not quite finished with them.
There are a few cobwebs to place and a few rats to place in strategic places, so while you are waiting....
Well maybe SOMEONE is waiting...
Here are some pictures from last year.
On the downside.....
It was the first time that I had been away from home for the holidays.
On the upside it was the first Halloween that I was with ALL of my kids since 2005!!
What a wonderful treat that was.
Megan pregnant with her first little ghoul...I mean girl.
Jack my pumpkin carving enthusiast who loves it just as much as I do.
And Lauren my talented makeup artist. What that girl can do with eyeliner!!
What I was unaware of though was Utah residents love of Halloween decorations!
My goodness they were festive.
In Megan and Daves neighborhood alone there were 20 or so houses that were spookily bootiful!

But there was ONE HOUSE....
I mean pirate palace.....
These mateys are the REAL DEAL....I tell you.....even I...the self proclaimed Queen of Halloween was speechless....

It was even more spectacular at night.
They had skull and crossbones projected on the garage door and windows that looked like pirate flags blowing in the wind.
They piped in jaunty sea shanties like the soundtrack from Pirates of the Caribbean and one song in particular which still plays a loop in my brain from time to time.
"What do you do with a drunken sailor....what do you do with a drunken sailor....what do you do with a drunken sailor early in the morning...
Shave his belly with a rusty razor...shave his belly with a rusty razor....."
Well you get the point.
The only thing I could do to answer back to their challenge was have my professional makeup artist make me as scary as possible.
(not as hard a task as one might think)

 The trick or treaters were ADORABLE!
My favorite of the night?

They got extra candy....in fact they got my FAVORITE candy
FUN DIP!!!!
All of the kids were given a choice of that or snickers...
Fun dip won EVERYTIME!

My lovely niece Lisa picked Fun Dip too ;)
There were a couple of trick or treaters in the house as well...

 Johnny Appleseed

And a pirate family with their baby parrot. Argggg.
And of course no Halloween would be complete without the annual Winn pumpkin carving contest.
(where EVERYONE winns)

All in all it was an amazing Halloween.
And the best part....
being with my kids.
I think I love them even MORE than I love Halloween!
(but not by too much )
BOO!

Jinx Jinx and Double Jinx

You would think I would have learned my lesson by now....
I must
NEVER
EVER
UNDER
ANY
CIRCUMSTANCES
promise to do a two part post.
It is the biggest jinx when I do.
I set it all up to show you the wonderful haul that I made at the Park City Thrift Store
with my hundred dollars
and
then
NOTHING.
Every day I would promise myself that I would take pictures and post them.
After all why should I be the only one to gaze each day upon my amazing finds.
I knew that everyone was waiting....
(humor me here....will you)
I finally found the time to take the pictures....
(ok so time really isn't my problem...it is more finding the will)
and I realized that I had lost the piece de resistance from my collection.
It was the only item with an original price tag
(which read 89 dollars and I got it for 12!!)
And it was BIG!
Which should not be an indication of the state of my house or my organizational abilities....
BUT
as they say in Hollywood....
The blog must go on!
SO here is the whole kitten kaboodle.....
minus the BIG thing which I WILL FIND!!

 These really MOOved me....I mean who DOESN'T want ceramic cow measuring cups?

 I love silver in any form and this little cup had my name written all over it....ER....well it actually had someone else's initials all over it but that makes it seem even more fun. I have already created the fictional character Mary Greenwood Pennyworth who had it custom made to drink her sparkling water out of.

 If there is a new way to display pictures...COUNT ME IN! I loved this stand and clips and plan on using it over and over with different pictures each month.

 This one was perhaps my favorite find. I already had the huge black acorn on my shelf. When I saw this silver squirrel I fell in LOVE! Then when I realized you could put a nut in his mouth..push down his tail and voila! cracked nuts!!! Well there was NO way he wasn't going home with me.

 My favorite Uncle Jack had this amazing house in Kaysville where I used to spend time at every summer. I thought that everything he did or owned was the bomb diggity. He had one of these games in his upstairs play room. Although it always frustrated me more than entertained me, it was a sign that it had to make the journey home.

UM......I am a GRANDMA now!!!! I think this purchase is completely self explanatory!!!
(Isn't this just to die for!!! When I brought it home Megan and Dave said, "Yippee It's like visiting the doctors office without all the bad stuff!)
There are three more things that I purchased....
Two cooking items
and
THE BIG thing
It is getting late and I am tired
so I will post it tomorrow.
DANG IT!
jinxed again.