22 days until Halloween!!
Before I met my hubby (gasp-- 20 years ago!), I was a big Halloween fan... always dressing up (20's flapper in 5th grade, Geisha in 6th, Punk Rocker in 7th, Belly Dancer in 8th, etc...) and carving pumpkins. I participated in haunted houses, the Monster Mash, went to Knott's Scary Farm, you name it! I loved being scared to death watching Jason in Friday the 13th and sleepless nights because of Nightmare on Elm Street... I read Stephen King and John Saul, wore black and had white blonde hair with dark blue tips and was considered a little odd at times-- this was before Goth was what it is now.
After meeting my hubby to
be, I realized I wasn't alone. There were others like me... though I've mellowed out in my old age. Ha Ha! Now at Halloween, I had someone to have fun with! He loves the day... actually the whole month, as much as I do!When we got married 10 years ago, we started our front yard graveyard and began to have parties each year. While Rob's carvi
ng got more intricate (see pics above & link) my cooking got creepier and creepier (french onion and fingers soup, sickening salad, putrid pasta, a frozen head in the punch bowl, etc.). Then, I discovered Martha Stewart and I added in some of her fun twists as well. Oh, and you MUST check out the fun stuff on Britta's site! She's amazing and very creative in the kitchen and in decorating/costumes/invites and more.When Em and then Ro came along, we wondered if they would love the holiday as much as we do... and they do!! Em LOVES to figure out what he wants to be, switching weekly from pirate to pumpkin to giraffe to eyeball. He's already practicing "trick or treat" and keeps asking when I'll get down his pumpkin flashlight. Ro is obsessed with the indoor decorations we have put up and holds onto his salt dough pumpkin we made last year like a beloved pet or favorite toy.
The whole family comes over now (yay grandchildren!) to celebrate with us. And the whole neighborhood celebrates as well-- our neighbor has about 1/3 of his garage reserved for Halloween house and yard accessories I think! (This pic is of my witch mom, her hubby the Hamburgler Ted and Cookie Monster Em last year.)
Since Em will be of age to actually eat his Halloween candy this year, I'm going to try something I read about on Sarah, a.k.a. Mom Unplugged's blog called The Candy Fairy where you leave your Halloween candy outside for The Candy Fairy to pick up and then he/she will leave you a gift in return. Of course, I'm sure my bargaining 3 1/2 year old will want to discuss this first, but that's what I'm going to try!
I'm now off to prep the dining room table to make papier mache pumpkins with Em (lots of crafts for kids!) and bake some pumpkin bread. Spirited Pumpkin Pie is saved for later in the month and also Thanksgiving. Then, I've got to sew something fun for my Witches' Cauldron swap partner Angela. Hi Angela! She loves Halloween as much as I do!!Ta ta for now! MWAH!
