Never, Never Land

(Here are the pictures, sorry it too so long!)



I must confess that Halloween is in fact one of my favorite holidays. Yes, I realize this is controversial and as a Christian I should in fact be handing out tracts to save these poor desperate people that celebrate Halloween but I don't do that, I join them with gusto (ha, but on Halloween we did get some of those Chick tracts that try to scare you in to heaven- brought back memories). No need to fill me in on the evils surrounding Halloween's history I am well aware of the pagan background of not only Halloween but Christmas and Easter too. Nope, I'm not celebrating Satan on Halloween, I'm laughing at him. There is no way that I'm going to give him even just one day out of my calendar year to claim as his own. For our family Halloween is the time to celebrate make believe, laugh at the silliness of "spokes," visit with our neighbors, learn about a time in history (usually from what our costumes are from), be creative, stick our tongue out at Satan, rejoice in the imaginations God gave us, and eat candy.

This year we didn't get to make cookies or even finish carving our pumpkins but we still had a blast. Our new neighborhood has three times as many kids and it was as if the neighborhood just emptied out onto the streets in colorful costumes and friendly greetings. The house across the street from us was all done up with a "haunted porch" that made little kids scream once in a while followed by peals of laughter and most of the houses had their porch lights on. The girls would walk up to a house, count to three and yell "trick or treat!" in unison followed by sweet "Happy Halloween" and "Thank you" as they eyed their candy loot.

The girls choose Peter Pan for their costume theme this year. Ophelia was Peter (and a darn good one), Lavinia was Captain Hook (is anyone surprised at this?), and Helena was Tinkerbell (after her costume was on I really thought she looked like a real fairy). Jeremy and I usually dress up too but this year we just didn't have the chance to get out costumes together so we went as modern day Mr. and Mrs. Darling, AKA Mommy and Daddy. Ophelia enjoyed being Peter Pan and didn't seem bothered at all to play a boy this time. I couldn't believe how tall and grown up she looked in her brown tights and green pan shirt with a sword at her side. Lavinia played a great Captain Hook in a borrowed jacket and hat. We had figured out her costume weeks ago but then misplaced those important pieces in our move so I called a friend whose son was Captain Hook last year and Lavinia loved the velvet coat and the large plum in the hat. Her hook, treasure chest, sword and handle bar mustache made for a complete Hook look. Helena charmed everyone in her Tinkerbell costume and sweet lisping "twick o' tweet!" in a dress I got at the thrift store and cut up before spraying with "fairy dust" and adding a pair of wings with Velcro. She left a trail of fairy dust where ever she went (Daddy was covered in it from carrying her by the end) and had to bring along her baby (also in a Tinkerbell costume I made from the scraps of Helena's dress) to show everyone she met. As usual we had a great time putting our costumes together and getting ready for the exciting night.

Saturday night we close out our Halloween celebrations by joining another, rather new tradition: the Sugar Sprite. Several families in our new school shared what they do to deal with the hordes of candy their children bring home from trick or treating. The children get to pick several pieces of candy (so do Mommy and Daddy), candy is selected for someone special (a teacher, friend, etc.), and then the candy is gathered and set out under a tree or on the front porch for a little fairy that lives on sweets (because she's not human so it doesn't hurt her like it would us) and her name is Sugar Sprite. The Sugar Sprite, much like the Tooth Fairy, leaves a thank you gift in exchange for the children either a small amount of money or small toy. We look forward to seeing what the Sugar Sprite leaves at our house.

Hope your Halloween was tons of fun too. Don't forget that November 1st is All Saints day, a day to remember the loved ones you have lost and thank God for them.