All Hallows Eve

We had a great party :). This is how it worked out in practice ... we turned off all the lights upstairs, lit the sitting room and kitchen with candles, and left a lamp on in the dining room (pumpkin carving by candlelight sounded like one risk too many!). Little Cherub threw a fit just as we were about to start, so I set the girls to scooping out pumpkins while I got her settled happily in her wrap. After they carved pumpkins, we moved on to soul cakes while Tevye kindly cleared up the pumpkin debris.

I hung a small inflatable skeleton in the sitting room and used him as a talking point. G and F knew it was All Hallows Eve, and G had even heard of soul cakes. I was impressed! The girls had to beg for soul cakes, which they were told they could have in return for lighting a candle (I stocked up on tea lights) and saying a prayer for someone who was dead or dying. The soul cakes were mini doughnuts, so everyone had three - lots of prayers and lots of candles.

Next the girls decorated pumpkin shaped biscuits - they came ready boxed with coloured icing (frosting?) and Smarties - and made toffee apples, also from a boxed kit. (I have a baby. If I'm going to throw a party I'm going to do it the easy way!). They ate a supper of baked potatoes, cheese and beans, followed by the biscuits and toffee apples as dessert. Little Cherub helpfully nodded off and was put to bed. I love my wrap!

After supper they tried bobbing for apples (trying to get apples out of water with their teeth and with hands behind their backs). This was a big success and proved that Cherub can sleep through anything. They were very loud. And very wet. Everyone had four turns each, except Star who got so wet she had to change and ended up disenchanted with the game. Tevye vetoed hide-and-seek in the dark because Little Cherub was asleep, so they finished off with Blind Man's Buff instead. Oh, and everyone got sweets ;).