grand ol' time . . .

So with a crew far away in California, and a crew kinda doing their own thing this year, Todd and I just chilled (on the boat on the lake) and let the pictures of the good times roll in! First, I had delivered the placemats for the local crew . . .

I got a good one of the girls (well, two of them ... Evey had a headache that evening, poor dear) and a good one of the placemats.  So you get to see them both. 

Before I get too far into the Halloween antics, let me also remark that first and foremostly, Sunday was also June Madelyn's birthday!!  No tricks — she's our *treat*!!

Here she is carving her pumpkin!  Sweet girl -- hard to believe she's NINE! Thankfully, a quick trip into San Diego last week saw an end to her cast—after a good MRI! Yay and Happy Birthday, Junie June!

The California crew agreed to themed costuming this year.  They went as characters from Adventure Time.

Marlene, Finn, and Princess Bubblegum.  Too cool for school!

They appeared to have done very well in the trick or treating department!

For the local crew, Halloween is a family affair.  This year the girls and Jocelyn read through the entire series of The Little House on the Prairie.  May I introduce to you Pa, Ma, Mary, Laura, Carrie, and Jack the brindle bull dog . . .

Isn't that fun?  Ma and Jack the brindle bull dog actually stayed home and manned the door, while Pa and the girls hit the trail . . .

They've got their trick or treat bags! It tickles me ... the bags work quite well with the costumes (which again, I didn't make ... though I did hem three of the four dresses!)

And just to make sure you didn't miss this trick . . .

The little treat "Laura" is holding here is Jack the brindle bull dog!  How precious is that ... Ezra's first Halloween!

The local girls also did well in the trick or treating department . . .

It appears those bags were plenty big enough!

So ... good times all around.  Even for us . . .

Perfect sunset for the day; glowing and a soft, pumpkin orange.

And just like that, it's November. *blink*

:)

trick or treat . . .

. . . and Happy Halloween!  I am participating in the Trick or Treat blog hop, offered by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching!!  If you haven't visited her blog yet, head over there and definitely check it out.  She's got a list of participating blogs, and at each blog you'll find a clue to the mystery Halloween phrase!  You'll find my clue at the bottom of this post!

You know how there's spooky fun and spooky scary?  For the most part, I'm definitely a fan of spooky fun! When I was trying to figure out something new to 'brew up' for this stitchy hop, I kept coming up short.  Until I did a search for the word "Halloween" in my saved embroidery patterns, and pulled up this:

This was a cute coloring page I'd saved from holiday-crafts-and-creations.com. I've found that coloring pages make great embroidery, applique, and wool applique patterns!

So I edited the image to get just the frame I wanted . . .

Super easy! Then I needed to decide how to "color" my selection! I decided to go with wool on wool applique.

It was a fast an easy little piece to put together.  It fits perfectly in my mini stand, too!

I love how the yellow face pieces really glow!!!  Spooky fun, right?? I also did something new (to me, at least) with the outline blanket stitch around the background.  I skipped the corners and did a French knot in the center of the open block. I like the way it looks! Linking up also with the slow Sunday stitching post at Kathy's Quilts.  :)

This guy is spooky scary . . .

Todd found him wrapped up cozily in a box of tarps. Trying to stay warm I guess.  Todd said he was not quite as big as the palm of his hand. You'd have heard me from WHEREVER you are if I'd been the one to find him! I'm not even sure how Todd could get that close to snap a photo. <shudder>

Thanks for dropping by!!  My clue for the mystery Halloween phrase is . . .

Yup .. O!  Now head back to Jo's blog Serendipitous Stitching for the final clue.  Have a spooky fun day!!! 

:)