And the winners are...

SWAT had their second annual Halloween party at S's house this afternoon. S is a bit fanatical about Halloween and goes to great lengths to decorate and plan a great party. She really outdid herself this year. It was a beautiful day so the kiddos were able to spend a lot of time playing outside. She built and painted a pumpkin toss set, a worms, teeth and eyes feeling set, and a ghost cut-out set. She also had a hay bale and pumpkin area for family photos. This girl thinks of everything!

K and J. K is dressed as a peacock and didn't crack a smile all day.

J was in true party form and spent most of his time eating and his free time playing. He wanted to eat all of the pumpkin muffins I brought, but he also enjoyed some grilled cheese and apple sandwich slices as well as some of the pumpkin chili I made. It seemed to get good reviews so here's the recipe:

Pumpkin Chili:

1lb. Ground turkey

1/2 cup chopped onions (I used more)

1 large red or green pepper, chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

2 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes (no salt added)

1 can tomato sauce (15 oz)

1 can kidney beans, drained

1 can packed pumpkin

1 4 oz. can diced green chiles

1/2 cup loose-pack frozen whole kernel corn
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

I also added a teaspoon or so of pumpkin pie spice, which gave it a great smell and about another quarter can of pumpkin. The pumpkin acts as a thickener, so the more you add, the thicker your chili will be.

In a large saucepan, cook onions, garlic and peppers until soft. Add turkey and cook on medium high heat until brown, drain. Add everything else. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes or more. Be careful not to burn the bottom by having the heat on too high.

There was a vote for best dressed family and guess what? We won! No, we weren't the only family that dressed up. The prize was a skeleton trophy. When J's friend K handed him the trophy as her mom announced us as the winners, he uttered, "No! No! No!" He was terribly frightened by the trophy and didn't want to win! Everyone said that he was just being humble. B and I joked that we finally had a chance to be popular and our kid was ruining it for us!

It was so great to see everybody. There were some babies there that I hadn't seen in nearly a year. It's amazing how much growing happens in so little time. More pics on Halloween!