Preparing for Halloween??

What?! Kiwis don't celebrate Halloween?! They don't get it and see it as a strange American thing. Oh well, we've decided we're going to celebrate Halloween anyway. After all, ages 1 and 3 are formidable Halloween years. It's a little bit strange since it's spring here, and the usual autumn associations with Halloween are not present. We started by brining a bunch of books about Halloween to Ella's classroom. The kids were very intrigued with the whole idea. Yesterday, we went to a Farmer's Market and bought 8 pumpkins. As we were checking out the attendant asked us, "What ever are you going to do with all of those pumpkins?". Seriously - It's mid October and we just bought 8 pumpkins - we're going to carve them!!! As we were carving in our driveway our neighbor noticed and was so intrigued that he went back home and brought his wife and son over to see the crazy Americans carving pumpkins. We ended with a great display of jack-o-lanterns which have been quite amusing for the neighborhood. We've already spotted several folks stopping as they walk by to point, smile and check out the jack-o-lanterns. Ella is also excited to take one of the jack-o-lanterns to school to show her friends. We've also warned our immediate neighbors that we will be trick-or-treating.