Pumpkins - Quick Post

Lemony has always enjoyed Halloween. This has passed on to the kids. To get everyone into the fall season, here posted are a few pictures of pumpkins that the kids and Lemony carved a few years ago.

Addendum, from Lemony: The next photos are from two years ago; my favorite Halloween costumes the kids have had so far. We love Halloween, but I like to keep the holiday focused on the original notion of "ancestor appreciation", so we try to stick with themes out of our History curriculum. Here are Bastet, Seeta (with Hanuman), and Ares, and a close-up of Hanuman:

Bastet's mask is a foam black panther mask, purchased from the gift shop at the zoo. We put a big gold hoop earring from the dollar store in the panther's left earlobe. Her hair is a Peggy Sue wig from a Halloween store. Her tunic was sewn by Wort, from pillowcases, with curtain tie trim. Her wedjat is made from air-dry clay, hand painted with cobalt blue acrylic paint and finished with tsuyadashi coating for origami (it's what I had on hand). The sistrum was made of metal coat hangers, floral wire, butttons, newspaper, masking tape, and paint. Seeta's saree was bought online from an Indian clothing store. She is also wearing a maang tika and bindi. The henna is Dover art tattoos. Ares' costume is a souvenir that Wort brought home from Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. He's also wearing thick cotton tights with socks underneath, and sandals. Hanuman (real name Pippo) wears shorts made from a recycled t-shirt. His heart is cut from the same fabric. The mace and crown are made of cardboard, tape, and paint. He carries a plastic gold ring.

The kids (and I) were mortified that no one at our community Halloween Block Party had a clue what any of their costumes were. The horror!

This year, Bastet wants to be a Cat Mummy, Seeta wants to be Cleopatra, and Ares wants to be a Medieval Knight. (They're pretty consistent.) Stay tuned!