oh how i love hallowe'en. even as a kid i remember so clearly pulling my mom over to the pattern books at the fabric store to begin inspiration for my holiday transformation. i love dressing up. i love not knowing exactly who is at my front door. i love the screams and the giggles.
we are so lucky to live in a pretty tight neighborhood. where trick-or-treating door-to-door still happens. and where some of the neighbors are famous for their decorations (mainly at christmas but hallowe'en does pretty well too!). there will be a group of four families getting together this year to head out together. our kids range in ages from 20 months to 5 years. my big bug will certainly be the ringleader. (seems she has my "holiday-love" gene.)
this weekend we had a few of the kids over to the house to help make decorations. nothing elaborate here. we stuck gooey eyes on a wreath (a la martha). made pumpkins and cats out of cut paper (as i recall doing as a grade-schooler). linked together orange, black and white paper chains. and devoured cookies we baked in the shapes of owls, bats, cats and pumpkins.
it was so much fun. my dear friend always says this is her favorite time of year. from now on through to new year's. (she called me last night feeling quite festive - making dinner while listening to this!) and i agree. i know that the hustle and bustle can get us down. i try to ignore what is going on in the stores. we have an unspoken agreement that no christmas music is played until after thanksgiving. (at least when d is around!) but i just love to relish the togetherness of it all. the little things. like watching the big bug helping a little friend form a cat from folded paper. and having an elderly neighbor come up the driveway to help me adjust our pumpkin lights swagged over the front door. hallowe'en seems to be the holiday that brings it all in. the temps start to cool. the nights come earlier. we aren't on our front steps after dinner anymore. but we still find some great community time.
happy monday.
9 comments:
I am soooo much the opposite. Except for all the togetherness. Love that part of the holidays.
My sister, however, is like you. She loves Halloween so much she got married on that day, which gives a whole new meaning to Oct. 31. Three years ago, while I was sitting in my house with the lights out not giving out candy (what is a Halloween Scrooge called?) she showed up with a flapper costume. She has keys to my house, so she let herself in, barged into my bedroom and said, "Put this on. It's my anniversary and I want to celebrate." Which is how I ended up in a country bar with my sister and her husband, Little Bo Peep, and a cow.
Glad you and your girls have been making merry!
That wreath is so fun -- I love it! I don't buy Martha's magazine much, so I hadn't seen that before.
We don't even have our pumpkin yet! Your house sounds like it is so fun right now!
i'm with you... except for the halloween part-- maybe when sam is bigger? yes. i think so. but the rest i love. even the hustle and the bustle, which reminds me of every christmas-type movie i saw growing up. very "western" in my thinking i'm sure. ah well.
Oh, Halloween is by far my favorite holiday! I love everything about it.
Your neighborhood sounds dreamy.I wish we had more kids around here.
Ahhh love the gooey eyes. Not so sure how I feel about the holidays - seems to vary year to year, though looking forward to decorating my *own* house for the first time that's for sure (do Xmas decorations work with raw drywall?). As for Xmas music, I'm looking forward to the Sufjan Stevens 5CD set of xmas tunes that will be out soon I believe. Saw him in concert on the weekend at a church here - what a visual and aural treat!!! (pictures from the same tour at http://sarahana.com/?p=75 - there is a link to the ryspace recording of the same concert, including the delightful tune "That was the Worst Xmas Ever" :).
xoxJ
That is a top wreath. I wish we celebrated Halloween here, just so I could put that up!
i just got the hustle bustly feeling from reading this. i wish i was a decorator. i think i could be, but i always have that "when we are in a different house" excuse. foo. at least we do have two carved pumpkins already, and shape cookies are definitely on the list!
i have a crush on your neighborhood.
I completely agree..this time of year just starts to become a little more magical! For me it starts with cdn thanksgiving but it must just be the arrival of October and the changes of fall. And of course, christmas is great if you can get over the frenzy. Love your wreath and the pumpkin is classic!
I love halloween too because it brings the whole neighborhood out again, just when people are starting to hole up more indoors. Also, the candy! Also, I love the challenge of a good costume! Can't wait to see what the bugs will be.
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