All We Have Left Are The Memories...

This is all that we have left of Halloween week. We'd love to tell you that it's all gone because we didn't really get that much candy to begin with, but that would be a lie. Here are a few of the happenings at the Cluff house on Halloween week.

Allie got ANOTHER job and is already hard at work. I didn't say a different job, I said ANOTHER job. Allie has been interested in photography for a long time and this week she was hired by Darby Elizabeth Photography. Go Allie! This is a picture of Allie looking at wedding videos and trying to learn the business before she is actually the person taking the pictures. Yes, she does still work as a secretary to a pool builder in Queen Creek and she takes college classes 4 nights a week. How is she going to fit in another job you ask? The wedding photography takes place on Saturdays. How does she manage to survive with such a crazy schedule? Well, if you click on this photo of Allie and enlarge it you will see where she gets her strength from. Yup, you guessed it, Sonic slush and Skittles are the secret to Allie's success. Can't you just taste the rainbow?

This is Paige giving this photographer the thumbs down sign. She really isn't giving it to me, she is just showing us what she thinks of 6th grade homework. I must say that I agree with her, 6th grade homework can be very difficult at times. We actually played our own version of "Would You Rather" this week and when I was asked would I rather assist with 6th grade homework every night or teach another kid to drive I didn't even hesitate to say that I would much rather put my life at risk and teach another kid to drive. Poor Paige. Yucky homework and on Halloween week too. How can teachers be so cruel? Are you listening Meg?

These are some of the perfect pumpkins that we found and thought we would carve. Did we carve them all, of course not, we were too busy. However, we are using some of them as lovely Fall decorations outside now that Halloween is over.

I looked at one of our flower beds to see why it looked so yucky. It was full of pumpkin seeds and guts. Who would do that?

Apparently, Matt would. Oh well, pumpkin carving is serious business.

I think that one of the reasons we didn't get all of the pumpkins carved is because society has made pumpkin carving too hard. You are frowned upon if you simply make your jack-o-lantern face out of circles, triangles and squares. Now you must carve intricate designs that take FOREVER. Personally, I like circles, triangles and squares and if there was a jack-o-lantern petition being signed to take us back to simpler times, I for one, would sign it.

To the children's credit, the pumpkins that did get carved were amazing when they were done. This picture of an unlit pumpkin does not do it justice.

Here is the same pumpkin with a candle in it after dark. Is that an amazing Grim Reaper or what? Way to go, Matt!

Where are the parents you might ask, while all of these shenanigans are taking place? We are at Sarah's volleyball game. It was parents night and all of the parents were presented with a rose and a poster handmade by their child telling them how much they were loved. We had lots of fun cheering for Sarah.

Who is this and what is he doing?

It's just Matt looking for chickens and trying to chase them back into the coop.

Each of us has our own technique when it comes to herding chickens, but I must say that I find Matt's approach particularly amusing. I was so glad I was around and didn't miss out on this show.

Sweet success! He has them back in the coop and is getting ready to shut the door. His chicken chasing technique usually involves at least one stick and often two, which he uses to direct the chickens similar to a police officer directing traffic. His technique also involves lots of running and I think the whole show is very funny from beginning to end.

This is a picture of the inside of the chicken coop. Up until Halloween morning it was just plain inside with a dirt floor, until Richard built them this amazing chicken condominium. What a good job he did! He even got some straw to help keep them warm, insuring that our daily temperatures would rise back up to the 90's. Isn't that how life works? If you enlarge this picture, you will see some brown eggs on the straw. Are the chickens already laying eggs? Nope, not until sometime in February. We are trying out a little chicken psychology. Someone told us that if you bought fake, wooden eggs when the chickens were still little and put them in the coop that they would peck them and decide that eggs were nothing special so that when they actually start laying eggs they won't peck their own eggs and break them. What do you think? Who needs the therapist, the chickens or the Cluffs?

They like it, they really do. Here is a picture of the chickens checking out their new condominium right after they have been directed back into the coop by Matt.

Here is Farmer Cluff sitting in the backyard and enjoying a little satisfaction for a job well done.

Here is Farmer Cluff looking into the coop and wondering when these silly chickens are going to grow up, start laying eggs and give him a little return on his investment.

This is our front door. We have a side entrance instead of a door that faces the front of our house. You know what is so great about that? We can do whatever we want to the door and few people see it except for us. Cluff tradition is that we decorate the door every month. Okay, maybe it is my tradition and not the whole family's tradition, but we have lots of fun with it.

Kaylee is standing in front of the door right before we rip off the Halloween stuff and start plotting what we want to put up for Thanksgiving.

And, last but not least. This is a picture of Paige's knee. She hurt it on the morning of Halloween riding her scooter. She wants you to know that Halloween is not for wimps and that it was incredibly painful for her to walk all over the neighborhood on Halloween night collecting candy, but she was happy to do it, because that is just the thoughtful kind of person that she is. Well, this is all that we have. We didn't get any pictures taken of Paige and Kaylee's costumes. That would be way too predictable and normal. We can tell you that Kaylee was Superwoman and Paige was a cowgirl and her stiff leg that caused her to limp around all night really made her outfit look authentic and believable. Besides, it's the little everyday things that make life fun and memorable. We hope that you had a Happy Halloween!