Getting ready for the big day . . .

I have been SOO excited for Halloween ever since August. I had most of my decorating done by Oct. 3rd. Unfortunately, we had a huge snowstorm earlier this month that completely snuffed out my Halloween excitement and now I can only think about getting ready for a white Christmas. However, Dave and I still carved pumpkins, and I wanted to display a little of the stuff I put up. I got most of my ideas from my favorite Halloween stories--Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, Wuthering Heights, etc.

Here is my pumpkin already carved--while I was carving, David walked in from the back with a carving idea he had gotten from the internet--it was exactly the same as mine. In the picture he is doing Jack Skellington instead. A good choice. I wanted my pumpkin to be something I envision the Headless Horsemen to have thrown at Ichabod Crane: gleefully sinister.

Anyone know what music, roses, a magical lasso, and the ominous warning all have in common?? YES! Phantom of the Opera. I stored a bunch of our books downstairs so I'd have room for a poison/brewing shelf (I didn't even finish putting labels on the bottles . . . ), poems of E. A. Poe, a gift box complete with buttons, thread and needle (Coraline), and the pirate flag.
It certainly isn't amazing, but I had fun. I had more in mind I wanted to do--I guess I'll have a whole year to get ready for 2010!

Wenninghoff

Wenninghoff is a farm that sells produce, but during the harvest season, they have a bunch of family activities to enjoy . . . cornmazes, bonfires, hayrides, feeding farm animals, etc. There was a Creighton Women's Dental Association family activity planned there so we were there with a lot of friends and ate hotdogs and s'mores--yummy! I had a BLAST. I really enjoyed looking at the farm animals--it reminded me of home. Not because we have any farm animals growing up, but the place I grew up is really agricultural/dairy/ranch, so it was nice to hear cows again :)

Here's a goat and a chicken. There were some cute rabbits around the corner.

David to the left of the cornmaze and in the middle of the "playground" area for kids. They had so much to do there!

One of my DREAMS when we get our own place is to have a pumpkin patch. Just like this one:

I will let people come and pick up their own pumpkin and I will also sell pumpkin pies, cookies, bread, biscuits, and anything else you can make with pumpkins. Here's me picking out the perfect gourd:

Here is David and me competing who can run over the haybales the fastest. I get handicap points for being womanly and pregnant.

Newest Yates

We are going to have a baby boy on February 14th! (Doctor is 80% sure of the gender. Baby's legs were crossed and we had a hard time getting a clear view.) Here is the ultrasound picture of his head from an aerial view. He is going to be a sweet little guy, coming at the same time as all those valentine's sugar cookies . . . .