Pumpkin Party

Violet Posy is having a Halloween ‘do’! I thought it only fair that I do the same….

The Pocket Dictator is having a Halloween Party tomorrow, a whimsical notion caused by the arrival of some lovely new cake cutters (the former cake cutters having been commandeered by said first born child. And destroyed.) I concluded that she, being only 17 months, was still too little for Trick or Treating, so came up with the alternative: “Pumpkin Party”. I spent hours cutting out Pumpkin invitations using my new cutter (it’s very multipurpose, don’t you know?) and trying to decide who to invite, and what to eat, and how long should it last, until I scribbled my way through an entire legal pad making endless lists and writing random thoughts followed by several question marks. I think I might have forgotten along the way that the party will ultimately be attended by a handful of under-twos, who really don’t care that everything is themed, since they won’t fully get the point of the Party anyway. Although they will totally understand cake.

The ‘buying of things I need’ stopped this morning when I bought some orange tissue paper. The preparation will begin in earnest tonight when Brother Neal has been drafted in to carve a Pumpkin and make soup with the leftovers (I shall dispatch him to a TheMadHouse for tips) and then he has the unenviable task of ‘carving’ eight oranges in similar fashion, so that I can fill them with jelly. I will be in Martha Stewart mode decorating the sitting room with inflatable Pumpkins and various other tacky bits I purchased from Poundland for the occasion.  DH is in charge of making the Pass-the-Pumpkin, since he can do that whilst watching Channel 4 news after a long day in the office. Then tomorrow whilst the PD has her nap, I shall instead be preparing:

• Pumpkin-shaped sandwiches
• Pumpkin sausage-head
• The aforementioned Pumpkin jellies
• Pumpkin juice (carrot, orange and apple served in a punch bowl to give the illusion of Pumpkin)
• Various snacks and nibbles that are small and round (I ran out of inspiration at this point)

Not to mention preparing the kitchen for the craft-fest that will be ‘Pumpkin Decorating’. I’m not mad enough (yet) to think that pumpkin carving is an appropriate activity for the under-twos, so have spent a considerable amount of time this week cutting out large pumpkin shapes from orange paper that can be decorated with cut-out pieces of foam, glitter and pom-poms. But I am mad enough to get the WH a costume to match PDs (I didn’t get one, though it turns out I could). Indeed most of the kids will be dressed in a festive ensemble: this pleases me immensely as it was not a request on the invitation but goes to prove that the other mums are just as mad excited as me! I’ll let you know how it turns out if I’m still able to stand. I get the impression a few of the dad’s are gutted to be missing it.

The best bit about my Halloween event though? That I won’t be home this weekend to deal with trick-or-treaters!!