Friends and Punkin' Chuckin'

“We'll be Friends Forever, won't we, Pooh?" asked Piglet. "Even longer," Pooh answered.
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

I am very blessed to have my friend Michelle as a friend. Side note...whenever I recall stories about friends, those sometimes mocking daughters of mine always harass me for prefacing their names with "my friend." For example...my friend Susie, my friend Michelle, my friend Debi, etc!

Every year "my friend" Michelle invites the whole family over for dinner to celebrate birthdays. Which is so dear of her because she always has a houseful to feed on Sunday evenings.

I asked for an action shot...so Erik picked up the nearest thing. I have no idea what he is pretending to pour into a steaming bowl of pasta.

Dinner is always fabulous and the table is set as if the Queen Mum herself were a guest of honor. Michelle uses her mother's beautiful dishes and touches of Autumn are scattered around in the decorations. I feel so spoiled!

After spending two years in Italy, Ben knows a thing or two about pasta...and pesto.

Grandma inspects them both!

Gabe...the happiest most delightful child...is morphing into a bigger version of himself right before our eyes.

Someday soon when he jumps on Dean...it will most likely leave a mark!

The conversation at both ends of the table is warm and lovely. We brought a quart of honey to share...and I love how immediately a butter knife was inserted into the golden amber liquid and passed around the dinner table.

As delightful as dinner is...the shenanigans following the meal seem to be the highlight. That's Miss Mary my Mary-godchild posing in the background. I need more posers at my house.

And Michelle's window display...I need one of those at my house too.

Let the shenanigans begin...

Given that it's been a few weeks since Halloween...the pumpkins are beginning to rot and age perfectly for tonight's activity.

I'm not sure what caused Michelle and Erik and the kids to dream up this annual Fall activity, but it is a testament to what great fun is always on tap in this household. Oozing, molding pumpkins are carefully carried upstairs where they are tossed one by one off the roof...

and splat on the driveway. If you've never heard a rotting pumpkin go splat...you should try it sometime. Amazing! The pumpkin carnage is then scooped up and washed away. Can you imagine how much fun it would be to be Michelle's neighbor? "Hey honey what's that noise outside." "Oh it's just the neighbors chucking rotten pumpkins from their roof again."

This one was a little too mushy to carry inside for the tossing.

Michelle's kids have a way of making anyone who visits feel warm, welcome,

and part of the family.

Michelle is the kind of mother every child wishes for. She tosses pumpkins from rooftops, plays like one of the kids, and makes delicious deserts all in a single bound! If I were a kid...I would stand in line to have her as a mother.

Gabe licking the dish pretty much sums up the evening. Good to the last drop! Thanks to my friend Michelle and her adorable family for an engaging and enchanting evening!