Halloween Extravaganza!

And when you say 'extravaganza' you must do so with the exaggerated flair Phoebe from Friends would have done so.

We started our early Halloween celebration this past weekend by throwing a little party Saturday morning in lieu of the usual 'bagel day' coffee outing.  Special guest appearance by this guy:
Christopher.....5 months old and sweeter than candy corn.
I did all finger foods to keep clean-up easy: donuts, pumpkin bread, mini-quiches, blueberry muffins, clementines, 'mummy wraps' (turkey dogs wrapped in bread sticks), coffee, apple cider (hot and cold) and orange juice. Oh and of course, Bloody Mary's. How could I forget the alcohol? We were gifted some delicious cupcakes and insanely addictive gooey butter cake to add to the mix.
The mini-quiches earned rave reviews and were devoured with requests for the recipe...here it is and I added about 7 crumbled up pieces of cooked bacon to the mix.
Costumes were encouraged but not required. And no Grant, my sister and I both wearing black and white was not an excuse to call us 'cows'.
Pumpkin carving.....and/or drawing with a black sharpie ensued.
Loves
Mild biting was practiced (and oddly enough, not by my children)
Some serious conversation was a happenin' ---- complete with stuffed monkey
The newly re-engineered ghost** was relocated to the backyard for the festivities
**apparently mother nature thought my use of duct tape was utterly absurd and she laughed in my face...so back to the drawing board we went and actually followed the tutorial this time, nails, glue, and hand sewing of the eyes and nose. Mother nature = 1. Mom = 0. For now anyway.
Moving on....
This picture makes me smile and my ovaries scream.
And winner of the 'sharpie pumpkin drawing' competition:
Attempted family pic, 'attempt' being the operative word
Random party shots
The weather was fantastic, the food was yummy, the alcohol was flowing......a winning combination for any extravaganza in my book!