Happy Halloween

The pumpkin patch--Singapore version. Each year the school ships in a container of pumpkins from the states as you can't get these kind of pumpkins here. They are expensive so we only get small/medium size ones (the large pumpkins cost US$45 a pumpkin for example). The kids have just as much fun picking the perfect pumpkin to carve. We also get a few gourds and Indian corn for fun.
























We don't carve the pumpkins until Halloween day as they mold very quickly here.




















The finished products. From left to right: Abigail's, Xander's with 4 eyes, and Maggie's friendly pumpkin.
























The costumes. Xander insisted on being a ghost this year and I left it up to Joseph to figure out his costume. Finding good costumes here is tricky because it is so hot when you go out trick-or-treating. Anyway, Joseph came up with the brilliant idea of putting one of his white shirts on Xander then covering him with mosquito netting. It is was cool enough and kept him for getting bitten, which was a factor as dusk set in. Ella came home with 3 bites on her legs. I cut out "Boo" in black felt and pinned it to his back--just to make sure he didn't look like an angel.


Maggie wanted to be a gypsy. With all the things Joseph brings home from around the world, we have some great things to work with. She is wearing an outfit he brought back from India with a crystal ball from China hanging around her neck. Abigail is a wizard/enchantress with her skirt again being from India. We had to pin Ella down to get that witch dress on her. She screamed "no" the entire time. I turned a movie on quickly and she was distracted and eventually forgot about the apparent torture. We go up to the Woodlands, aka "Little America," the neighborhood right by the school. It is a crazy trick-or-treating experience as the streets get almost too crowded to walk. Word has spread throughout the island of free candy up there. Halloween is definitely not exclusive to Americans anymore here.

Eating and Breathing Soccer

Abigail, as I mentioned before, is playing soccer again this year. This week, however takes the cake for the most soccer we've had to date in our family. Currently she plays on the American community soccer (SACAC), the typical thing where you sign up and dads volunteer to coach. She has had a fun time doing this here the last two years (and 2 years in Minnesota). Last week she tried out for a select soccer team--a team of 9 to 10 year old girls from the international American school she attends here that will be part of the sports league that organizes competition between other international schools on the island (i.e., the Australian school, the British school, etc.) The coaches for this team are hired from an international soccer academy and there will be busing to away games. She wanted to get better at soccer and try something a little more competitive, but this was still quite a bold step for her reserved nature. We didn't push it at all; in fact, with the baby coming throughout all this new soccer stuff, I was a little bit worried about being able to handle all the scheduling and support. Practices and games are during the week in the afternoons and Joseph will do what he can, of course. In any event, she is on the team and we are excited for her. This week is the "double" week with 2 practices for this select team, 1 last SACAC practice and final game on Saturday. Joseph is out of town so I will be the ultimate soccer mom this week.