Happy Halloween

For years we didn't acknowledge Halloween. We attended harvest parties, and reformation day parties, and various other Halloween alternatives. Our first year in town I had carved our Jack-0-Lantern and set it on my porch. The young man (six year old) that car pooled with us gave me a lecture on celebrating satanic holidays that almost drove me to attend confession the next Sunday. We have since done some background research and are okay with celebrating Halloween the way we did when we were kids. Dressing up, and begging from the neighbors.

Last year we moved into a neighborhood with many families of small children. Most of the neighborhoods in town have a few trick or treaters, but ours is the place to trick or treat. Well, when my kids found out you could dress up, takes bags around to your neighbors, ring their doorbells, say "Trick or Treat" and they would give you handfuls of candy, you can forget about harvest parties. They LOVE Halloween. We don't let them dress up as ghouls, or witches or any of the creepy stuff. We had Napoleon Dynamite and Pedro, a couple of princesses (or a queen and a princess, depending on who you asked) and a couple of 80's rockers. I would have taken more pictures, but we had a snafu with my oldest daughter's class party, and I got stranded at a haunted barn until too late in the evening. The kids had a great time, I wish N could have been here to join in. Next year I will get costumes together much sooner.