our fourth annual halloween harvest party

photo by christina

we love hosting this event every year!  this year was a packed house, and unfortunately the rain kept us mostly inside.  but aaron did devise a unique rain cover in the yard and despite the rain we powered on with the donut-on-a-string eating and the treasure hunting in the hay.  isla was a lovely princess, which should come as no surprise.  noah was a lego man in an awesome daddy-made costume.  ezra was a cozy little green monster.

aaron had some old sails someone had given him, and hung those as a small dry zone in the yard.  we added some christmas lights and the new leaf-stamp autumn garland i made.  it was really pretty and cozy!

this year's craft was sun catchers, which were a big hit!  i got the idea here.  aaron cut out the holes in the paper plates at work, which was a big help.  friends brought some dried flowers, which were really pretty.  we also used ripped up pieces of tissue paper, kite paper and other pretty paper, and some watercolored coffee filter leaves we'd painted.  (we got the idea for the watercolored leaves here.)  there was a great variety of designs!  isla has made at least five, with more to come, i'm sure.

  

the craft area was a disaster by the end of the party!  but isla was undaunted.  she kept crafting all night long!

we also made a few new glass jar lanterns this year, using the watercolored leaves as well.  last year we made this one with real leaves, and it is still holding up nicely!  and for martinmas we made some more small ones with colored tissue paper pieces.  we certainly have a lovely variety of colorful light receptacles around here.  now what we need is the light!

  

 it's fun to have an annual event that you can use as a barometer for measuring time.  i just looked through last year's pictures and am amazed at how much the kids have grown!  

look at big isla and autumn this year!  (photo by christina)

and last year!  (photo by christina)

and when they were one!  so cute!  isla had just started walking.  (photo by christina)

and noah last year.  he looks so little compared to now.  look at those cheeks!