Cole is ready to carve with his huge pumpkin, UVA stencil and Disney princess carving tools.

While the hurricane was starting to blow outside, we carved pumpkins on Monday. These pumpkins were huge! We picked some great ones at the pumpkin patch. Missed that fun event? Check out Fall: Orchard, Pumpkins, Leaves.

While getting the pumpkins was great fun, finding carving tools was not. Either people don't carve pumpkins in Virginia, or they think the little carving knives are too dangerous. We tried about five different stores, including Wal-Mart (yes, Wal-Mart didn't have something). Finally, the Halloween store in the mall had a nice Disney princess set. . . .

Trick or treat! Thanks for the Halloween welcome sign, Mom.

It's a hurricane Halloween here on the East Coast. So let's swirl them together just like the weather decided to do for trivia this week.

1. How much will people spend on Halloween candy this year?

• a. $8 million
• b. $6.2 billion
• c. $2.3 billion
• d. $4.5 billion

2. What wind speed must a storm reach to be classified as a hurricane? . . .

Cole tosses the peach tree leaves at the orchard.

This weekend was Funday Saturday because of the encroaching bad weather caused by Hurricane Sandy. Don't worry too much, we are pretty far inland and will experience rain and high winds, but nothing like on the coast. But this will be our first hurricane!

Around here the leaves have been shifting, much slower than they ever did in Kansas. Plus, Virginia has an abundance of trees. We took a drive west of Charlottesville to visit an orchard and take a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway to enjoy the fall scenery before it disappeared. The high hurricane winds won't help falling leaves. . . .

Meet the fierce, very pink Lawrence Pump-fake Piggies! Janel took me up on my offer, and she hired me as her fantasy basketball team's graphic designer and brand manager. (May be a self-proclaimed title.)

Before the formation of the Pump-fake Piggies, I was given some criteria.

• 1. Make it cute.

Yep, that was the whole list. So I went to work using my research skills to find out a little more about the team I was about to represent with cuteness. She has a decent lineup with names I recognize. The other leagues branched out past my name knowledge a little more. She drafted Wade, Melo, Griffin and Bosh. What do I know about them...umm...they are headline worthy...Wade posed for the Olympic Vogue...Jay really wants to trade for Melo...Griffin eats at Subway...I see Bosh when Cole watches the Heat play. A lot of facts that detour from their actual skills. . . .

Meet the Nash Potatoes based in Bikini Bottom. Today, 13 players talented players signed with the Bikini Bottom Nash Potatoes (bbnp), my NBA fantasy team, and need to shine in the East Conference starting the end of the month.

The team is named after mash potatoes, my favorite food, and Steve Nash, who's name just happens to be pretty close to mash.Plus, I hear mashed potatoes are the fuel of champions. Based underwater helps us have an edge when we play out land-loving friends, and SpongeBob whips us up Krabby Patties for post-game celebrations. It's a win-win. . . .