Boo Buckets

WE WERE BOO'ED THIS MORNING!! The kids were thrilled to see the adorable tin pumpkin bucket filled with goodies and treats. What a great way to start off the day!

Before we moved to Des Moines, I had never heard of Boo Buckets, so for anyone not in the know... A boo bucket is a wonderful little Halloween bucket, delivered anonymously, full of yummy goodies, candy, fruit, stickers, etc. It's similar to a May Day basket but on a grander scale. When you receive one of the coveted buckets, you immediately stick a note in your door that says "BOO" or "I've been Boo'ed", and then make up two buckets and deliver them to another house -- on the sly. The idea is that through this chain of giving, each house will eventually be tapped and place the decoration in their front window. Typically the kids wait with great anticipation to see what their bucket will look like and then plot who they'll boo in return. It's great fun for them, trying to figure out who gave them their bucket, and has become one of the fall traditions we eagerly look forward to!

I had totally forgotten about the boo buckets this year, when all of a sudden, Matt notices Andrea racing through our backyard, carrying something. He assumed she was coming in, so he went to the back door to let her in, but she disappeared. He turned to me and asked, "Is today a special day? ....like May Day or something?" Nope, I tell him, it's not. The boo bucket thing still wasn't clicking... So Matt went around to the front door, and there stood Andrea delivering the "anonymous" bucket.

I can't believe I had forgotten! In years past, I had buckets already made and ready to go, but this year it totally slipped my mind. I guess it made the surprise all that much sweeter!

So either tonight on the way home from Morgan's party, or tomorrow while Katherine is at preschool I'm going to pick up the stuff to make boo baskets. I'm going to make two for houses in our neighborhood, one for Morgan/Hannah, and two or three more for friends of ours who don't live in the neighborhood. If it wasn't anonymous, I'd throw in bags of kettle corn (yum!!) but that'd give it away, so we'll have to find something else.

After church today, Matt and I decided to take the kids back out to Howells so that we could take the tractor ride out to the pumpkin patch and pick out the all important carving pumpkins. Last weekend when we went there, the kids spent so much time playing in the kiddie area that we never actually made it out to the patch. So today was the day!!

I decided not to take any pictures today... partly because Matt was teasing me about being a paparazzi, and partly because it looked like rain and I didn't want the camera to get soaked in the middle of the patch. It was so nice just to relax and enjoy the day, without feeling like I "had" to get some great pictures. Today felt so normal again -- the kids are on the mend, we got some boo bucket love, my Grandma seems to be doing a little better, and tonight we are celebrating Morgan's 5th birthday. I like normal. Normal is good.