Halloween 2014

We had a fun time celebrating Halloween.

Brad had quite a bit of stress leading up to it, as he was in charge of Makin's costume. Back around June I started asking the kids what they wanted to be for Halloween (don't act like that surprises you...you know I'm that much of a planner) and Makin had a very specific request. "A race car with a string you can pull to open the trunk to put the candy in."  Further details included, black with green stripes and a green spoiler. (The kid loves spoilers.) Later he added that he wanted it to have eyes and a mouth like Lightening McQueen, but not be LM...so this is what his dad came up with! We kept with our budget of under $30, but if you count his hourly rate...well, we would rather not do that math. :) It was all worth it to see how happy he was and how much he beamed when everyone would compliment his costume. He loved surprising people when they didn't know where to give him candy. We even got a few "come look at this!" moments trick or treating. :)

Here is a video...

We took pictures the day before Halloween, knowing a cold front was coming in. We were pretty chilly for pictures because it was already arriving!

Lorelei was thrilled to be Elsa. And oh yes, I finally learned to french braid just for this magical moment!!! She loved dressing up and cherishes her dress, which is still hanging specially in her closet so it will not get damaged. You can tell she always feels special when she wears it. I loved how the blue made her eyes pop. :)

While I was taking pictures of Makin she loved getting in pretend mode and imagining she was going up the mountain just like Elsa. :)

Our happy boy in his car costume. :)

Brad was in charge of carving and I was in charge of cleaning and baking pumpkin seeds, as usual! One change this year, though, was that both kids helped cut out part of the faces! :) They did help me clean out some of the pulp and seeds too. I chuckled at Makin while he was scooping out the pulp and said "these are our sins right?" :) 

That morning, Makin and I joined the MOPS group and went on a Halloween parade at two nursing homes. He really enjoyed it!

1C always has a Trunk Or Treat, so we joined the masses (900 people total, not in front of us!) and enjoyed seeing people from church and check out their fun decorations. :)

After that, we did stop by the few houses on our block that had lights on, but it was very cold so we did minimal trick or treating. Drue did stop by so they could see each other's costumes. :)

I liked this post on FB about Halloween from Natalie Grant...not that any of you need convincing but this way I can go back and read it again if I want! :) 

I've dealt with plenty of negative comments on facebook. I've got pretty thick skin and I know who I am in Christ. But sometimes it still gets to me. However, I figured I might as well get this topic out of the way. 
I've had many people over the years ask me if I "celebrate" Halloween. I don't celebrate evil. Or darkness. Or witches, ghosts and goblins. But I DO celebrate kids. And princesses. And fairies. And candy. Lots and lots of candy. And neighbors. And community. As children of the Light, why in the world would we hide in our houses on what is considered a "dark" day? And what other day of the year does your entire neighborhood show up at your doorstep? What good does it do to make sure all of the lights are out, trying to make a "stand" for righteousness while the neighbors turn and walk away? No - as a Jesus follower I will open my door wide, greet everyone with a smile and hand out the best candy possible. You don't have to agree with me. That's totally ok. We still both belong to Christ. Oh, and I forgot one other thing I celebrate...freedom in Christ WITHOUT the yoke of legalism. Let the candy collecting begin.

PS - read Romans 14 xoxo

Hope you all had fun celebrating!