Changing Things Up and Loving It

Typically I'm not a fan of Halloween. I think maybe it's because it isn't a holiday I grew up with. For the last few years I say every year that the next year we won't celebrate it, but every year we still do.

As I went to bed on Halloween night this year, I realized something.

I had actually really enjoyed the evening. I think the reason why, is because I let go of a previous Halloween tradition that seemed to cause me more stress each year than enjoyment.

Typically we have people over to dinner, then a bonfire in the cul-de-sac. It always seems dinner starts too late, I'm trying to get over-anxious children to eat dinner and get dressed, answer the doorbell from early trick-or-treaters, etc. Then late at night when the trick-or-treating is all over, my kitchen is still a huge mess from dinner, everyone needs to shower because of the bonfire smoke and I am swearing next year I'll do something different.

So this year I changed it all up. We had an early dinner alone with just our family, the children leisurely got dressed up in costume, I cleaned up my kitchen from dinner, and then enjoyed all the trick-or-treaters from inside the house instead of out in the cul-de-sac.

My neighbor did call me and say she missed the bonfire, but with the fact the warm temperature set records around here, a bonfire wouldn't have been as appreciated anyway.

Enough rambling.
In no particular order, I introduce you to...
The boy who "ARGH"-ed every time I took his picture:

(Striped pants, red vest and gold sash sewed by yours truly last week. Yes, please be impressed. Just don't look closely.)

The boy who came home and said, "Nobody asked me to work."

The girl who proudly organized her 94 pieces of candy upon arrival home.

The cow that only lasted so long before he returned home to shed the costume and greet trick-or-treaters at the front door in his standard attire--underwear. (A.K.A. "Michael Phelps costume" as one trick-or-treater's parent said.)

And we can't forget the kind teenager that made it possible for Mike and me to stay in the comfort of our own house...

(I'm not sure where she was when the individual photo shoots were occurring with the real camera instead of the group shots with the cell-phone.)

Oh and I let the children choose whether to carve or paint pumpkins. Luke opted to carve an elk, (which I forgot to light up on Halloween night!) Ellie, Joshua and Drew opted to paint. And Megan decided to forgo the whole thing.

Such is Halloween around here.