Kalista's pumpkin

Halloween came and went.  We survived it.  I remember as a kid Halloween was my favorite holiday.  It was so exciting with the costumes, carnivals, and the candy.....  oh the mountains of candy!  For a kid, it is the closest thing you will get to gambling in Vegas.  You have to brave the cold/ mud to get to a dark strangers door...  maybe they have a mean dog or have planed some trick to scar you off.  When you get to the door you do get something but it could be anything. ((I mean ANYTHING))  It could be a poison apple, a toothbrush, a low end candy like dumb dumbs or sugar bees.....  but there is always the chance that you will hit the jackpot and get a full sized snicker bar. 

I still love Halloween but my Angel sure doesn't. To someone with sensory processing disorder it really is scary and overstimulating.  There are crazy kids running around ringing your bell all night making lots of noise.  Your mom tries to make you get into a scratchy costume and puts greasy goo on your face.  You get drilled and drilled on how to say "trick or treat"  and then all you get is one crappy piece of something you can't have anyway because of the GF/CF diet.  Good thing Grandma knows what you CAN have and brings it right to your house.

For the most part we just try to make it through without a meltdown.  The one tradition I do keep up is the Jack O lantern.  Even this is difficult for her.  the smell makes her gag at first and the feel of the pumpkin guts sent her senses into over drive.  When it is done she loves it....  just getting to that place is a journey.  this year the pumpkin turned out really cute.

We cut the top off and Dad tell her to "reach in there" and pull the seeds out.  I had to laugh so hard at the look she gave him.  She did NOT want to reach in there because it looks like this!

In the end she was very brave and put her hand in there.....  and then had to wash off using the whole bottle of disinfectant soap.

Dad wants her to help with the carving.  She does help but is having a really hard time concentrating because of all the pumpkin guts next to her.

Soon enough she relaxes and starts to have some fun.   ((see the flappy hand starting))

Here she is!  My happy Angel.  This was the perfect Halloween moment.  When she is happy it is a Giant HAPPY that fills the whole room and makes everyone happy too.

They even wrote her name on the side! I think it turned out really good.