Something Better

It has always been our philosophy that if we are not going to deny our children something without offering them something better. We have not 'celebrated' Halloween for several years now. We do not want to get caught up in something that is so blatantly pagan and has no God honoring qualities. This year Tami gave me the best idea ever, go shoot pumpkins. The puny pumpkins on the left of the photo are ones from our garden the other ones we managed to procure from the local grocery store. I texted Syndi this morning and asked if they wanted to go shoot some pumpkins?

Just a few of the guns used to obliterate the pumpkins. We stopped at the store and asked for the produce manager and after a few attempts we finally got to talk to him. We convinced him that the pumpkins were old and that we really needed them. He asked what we wanted them for, and we told him we were going to shoot them, so he offered us as many as we could carry because he would have to dispose of them tomorrow. We were happy to help him out.

Have you ever shot an assault rifle? It is REALLY fun, especially to watch the pieces of pumpkin fly ~ some even flew all the way back to where we were standing.

I really liked the .22 with the great sight (it was Syndi's birthday present). I have only shot guns a few times before but I know what I want for Christmas!

Not a bad grouping for a beginner. The pumpkins on the left and the top of mine were shot with a 12 gauge and a M4 which were really satisfying to shoot.

Aaron tried out all the guns and liked Ben's .22 rifle the best.

This is way easier and much more fun than carving pumpkins.

We did not even have to scrape out the seeds. The design goes all the way through. Aaron had the satisfaction of knocking the top pumpkin off.

Tim was so encouraging! When Erik shot he missed the pumpkin and Tim told him that he made the dirt fly! Erik loved that. I just realized that I don't have the picture of Erik in here and I don't know how to add a photo in the middle so I will post it tomorrow.

We cleaned up, came home ate dinner and got our PJ's on and started watching "Robin Hood" with Errol Flynn. At intermission we made ice cream sundaes. My children love ice cream and Ruby was pleased as punch to get to help dish up. We had Strawberry, Praline Pecan, Chocolate Coffee Crunch, and for the non dairy eaters we had vanilla and chocolate soy ice cream complete with non dairy whipped topping (what is it?) and chocolate sauce and sprinkles.

Liberty got right in there with everyone else when I asked if anyone wanted more whipped cream.

What better way to get more whipped cream than directly into the mouth?

At bed time Aaron said, "I am sure glad we don't celebrate Halloween! Today was the Best!"

Exactly.