Life before 2008 25 Oct 2005 05:26 am
The Pumpkin and Soup Party
What a blast we had last night! Our friends, The Smalls, hosted thier second annual Pumpkin and Soup Party. Everyone brought a different pot of soup, we had selection of freshly baked breads, appetizers, and desserts, and the kids all carved thier pumpkins.
Yesterday was COLD; the high was only in the 50’s and it was grey and cloudy. Leaves had fallen in abundance; the Smalls have a beautiful yard and the green grass sprinkled with brown and red leaves was just so perfectly autumnal for a party of this kind! The invitation stated there would be a pumpkin-launching contest, so there were a couple of catapoults set up. Andrew and David spent a good part of Saturday designing and building thiers. It wasn’t very sturdy but it did have the distance-capabilty and they won! Andrew was positively beaming!
It seemed there were around 15 or so different soups to try. I brought Butternut Bisque and also tasted Pumpkin Chowder, White Chicken Chili, and Chicken Gumbo. David sampled every single one LOL. The women mostly ate in the living room or around the many rooms full of children but the men stood in a huddle in the kitchen. Speaking of children…the 9-early teens were in one room, the little girls in another, and the 5 and under crew in the dining room. I don’t think I heard one single conflict among them and I know ours, matched up with friends their own age, who they see at so many of the same activities, were on cloud Nine.
I had several moments last night where I looked around and marveled. It’s a similar situation with our church group. How, in such a short time, did we manage to find such a great community? We’re attatched to these people, we care about them, we have fun with them, we share so much with them. It feels as if we’ve lived here forever and it’s been so seamless that I wonder how that happened.
The mess on the porch was a sight to see! Kids and grown ups alike up to thier elbows in pumpkin slime! Faces carved, designs made, candles put in, and eventually, all of them up in a line. I can’t wait to see the pictures! It was dark out by then and the kids ran and laughed through trees and leaves, shrieking in the night air. As we wrapped it up, several men plunked out 70’s and 80’s tunes on the piano and another got his guitar out to strum several chords. Everyone seemed a little hesitant to see the night end, even as babies begged for bedtime and little whispers of “we have work tomorrow” blew in our ears.
It was a great, great party. Many thanks to the Smalls for hosting and inviting us!
Somehow in the course of yesterday, I walked into a committment to chair a committee planning a Veteran’s Day Parade. Yup, a whole parade, where there wasn’t one before, in about two and a half weeks. Don’t ask me how I’m gonna do it…I have very little idea!
