Halloween 2011

Such a boring title, I know, but accurate.

Halloween weekend kicked off this year when we woke up to this Saturday morning:

Yes, friends, it snowed BEFORE Halloween.  I haven't seen this since I moved out of Michigan 10 years ago.  I cordially invite Mother Nature to bite me.

Since it was disgusting outside that day we stayed in and I did the Great Toy Purge of 2011.  We had a lot of junk in this house that was either trash or could be donated.  I sorted through ALL the toys and did a major toss of junk, amassed a huge heap of donateable toys, and rearranged the kids' rooms.  Liam, in particular, was completely ruthless with the divesting of junk.  Good use of a nasty snowy day in late October.  We still have a lot of junk in this house but they're not junk toys at least.

Sunday morning we took the kids to Coffee Buddha (a local coffee shop) who was having Halloween specials all day, costumes encouraged.  Liam wore his Jedi costume and brought a light saber but Jamie was having NONE of that business.  

I'd rather lay on the coffee shop floor and read Vonnegut, Mom.

We met up with some friends while we were there and had a really nice time chatting, drinking coffee, and herding our kids.  Thanks, Coffee Buddha!

Today was The Big Day.  Liam had his Halloween parade and party at school - according to reports, everything was very fun - and then we had trick-or-treating this evening.  The weather was decent most of the day today, gray but not frigid, and precisely at 6 pm it began to rain in earnest. 

Oh joy.

But, we made the best of it anyway.

I really wanted to carve those pumpkins this year but my schedule is a harsh mistress and I simply ran out of time.  Luckily, Granddad had bought the kids kits to decorate pumpkins with and there was plenty for everyone to choose from.  Next year.  Next year I'll carve, dammit.

Jamie: Curious George

Liam: A Star Wars Bounty Hunter named Pre Vizsla

Liam's costume came with a helmet and toy guns but he chose to leave those behind at the house in an effort to streamline the candy acquisition process.  Good thought, as it was raining and gross out.  The quicker we got through trick-or-treating, the drier we would be.

Jamie was the polar opposite of his brother at this age.  Liam was completely uninterested in trick-or-treating when he was 2.  It was like pulling teeth to get him to go out and we just gave up.  Jamie?  He practically tripped over those floppy George feet while trying to keep up with the big kids.  He dug the whole concept.  He learned how to say "Trick or Treat!" and when I reminded him to say thank you, he blew kisses.  I kept asking him if he was getting tired and wanted to go home and every time I asked he responded with a growled "NO!"

It was Liam who finally said that he had enough candy and was ready to go home.  We hit a lot fewer houses than I expected but he was happy so I wasn't going to complain about it.  It was getting wetter by the minute.  So, we headed home, got the kids undressed, let them have some candy and then chucked them into bed.

The aftermath.  Jamie's costume came home DISGUSTING.

Happy Halloween to one an all!

Hodgepodge: Halloween Edition

1.  It's possible that we have finally broken the Halloween curse in our house.  Almost every year since Liam's birth, Halloween has been cursed.  Only the first one was relatively normal.  When he was 9 months old, he sat out with me a for a little bit but that was it.  After that it was bedtime.  When he was 21 months old, it rained so hard we couldn't possibly go trick-or-treating.  Also, Scot got rear-ended on his way home from work that night.  When he was 2.5, he did half the street and then it was time for bed.  When he was 3.5, he flat out refused to go trick-or-treating.  When he was 4.5, he spent the entire night before Halloween puking all night long.  We gave our bowl of candy to the neighbor to hand out and stayed in.  This year finally seemed to work out.  I handed out candy while Scot took the kids.  Scot came home with Jamie after about 30 minutes and Liam stayed with the group of kids and adults that were working the neighborhood.  He came home an hour later with a such a haul he said "Mommy!  It's so heavy I can't even lift it!"

Score.

2.  Speaking of scores, when did Halloween candy go so upscale?  I thought I was being a good house by buying the good candy (no dum-dums, tootsie rolls, or bit o' honeys here!) and giving out at least 2 pieces per kid.  Apparently that's the chintzy way to go about things, these days.  Liam got more than one full treat bag in his candy.  How much time and money do these people have that they are handing out whole bags of treats to each kid?!  He also got several full size candy bars, including a Dove bar.  Now, what 5 year old is going to appreciate that one?  I'm pretty sure that's going to make its way into Mommy's emergency stash.  Also?  Not a single dum dum sucker.  No tootsie rolls.  Nary a bit o' honey.

3.  He did get one thing that is making me shake my head.  Let's call it the Christian Tootsie Roll (because it's a piece of poop).  He was given a fake piece of money in the amount of $1,000,000.00.  On the front it says things like "Department of Eternal Affairs" and "All Saints Eve, October 31."  Then, on the back, in small letters around the edge, it says the following:

The million dollar question:  Will you go to Heaven?  Here's a quick test.  Have you ever told a lie, stolen anything, or used God's name in vain?  Jesus said "Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."  Have you looked with lust?  Will you be guilty on Judgment Day?  If you have done those things, God sees you as a lying, thieving, blasphemous, adulterer-at-heart.  The Bible warns that if you are guilty you will end up in Hell.  That's not God's will.  He sent his Son  to suffer and die on the cross for you.  Jesus took your punishment upon Himself.  "God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."  Then he rose from the dead and defeated death.  Please repent (turn from sin) today and trust in Jesus, and God will grant you everlasting life.  Then read your Bible daily and obey it.

My problems with the Christian Tootsie Roll are numerous.  First of all, I don't think most kids know what lust is.  And what if they're looking at a man in lust?  Is that OK?  Also, don't you dare tell my kid how God sees him.  How are you to know what God thinks?  Are you God?  Running around in righteous indignation about sin makes you just as bad as the sin you keep pointing out.  See you in Hell with my kid.  Furthermore, stop threatening my kid with Hell just because you think Halloween is a sinful, awful, pagan holiday.  It is, but if you don't like it, don't participate.  

I'm just glad Liam can't read well enough yet to understand what the Christian Tootsie Roll is trying to shame him about.  I'll be shredding that little bit of propaganda toute suite. 

Happy Halloween!

Well, Halloween was a bit of a bust this year because I spent the night before awake all night with Liam puking. So, we missed out on trick or treating. Sigh. Maybe next year. Halloween seems to be a bit cursed for us.

Anyway, because of illness and the fact that Liam refuses to put his costume back on so I can actually get decent pics of the kids in their outfits, here's the best I could do this year.

Liam was Luke Skywalker

Jamie was Darth Vader

It was a very Star Wars Halloween!

Meet the Pumpkins

Here are the hand-carved fruits of our labors.


From left to right we have Flamey, Batsy, Bob, and that's Bob Jr. sittin' on top.