Halloween Traditions

Halloween.  For us it marks the beginning of the holiday season.  When the pumpkins come out, so does my Christmas music. What a great way to kick  it off by spending an evening with your neighborhood, building friendships and having fun together.  We started a tradition a few years ago of hosting our neighbors for a potluck dinner prior to trick or treating.  It is a day when parents get off of work early and no one has plans to leave the street for the whole night.  Truly the most perfect time to host a get together.  Plus it helps the kids to possibly get some protein into their systems prior to the sweet fest.

Another halloween tradition is carving pumpkins.  We usually do our pumpkin carving outside, but hurricane Sandy forced us indoors this year.  Nothing a tarp and some furniture rearranging couldn't handle.  The girls painted two pumpkins they had picked out at a pumpkin farm about a month ago.  Two pumpkins, two paint trays, two cups, two brushes = two happy girls.  This kept them busy while the rest of us worked on our designs.

We didn't buy our bigger pumpkins until the last minute before the storm hit.  The selection was very limited so we got some interesting shapes this year.  The boys thought the hunt was great fun.  The first two stores we went to were completely out of pumpkins.  When we drove up to the third store and saw a pumpkin on the front walkway, the boys started screaming.  They jumped out of the car yelling, "That pumpkin is ours!"  We claimed our territory and three more we found inside.

Daddy had a new idea this year to use his jigsaw to carve out the designs.  Brilliant.  And so much  more fun than just using a knife.

Along with the carving, we always read The Pumpkin Patch Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs. It is a great book that tells the story of God's salvation through the carving of the pumpkin.  Just like the pumpkin farmer, God plants the seeds and waits patiently for growth.  He picks us up from the dirt, washes us off, gives us a new face and a new destiny, cleans out all the junk and then lights us with the light of Christ.  The writing is perfect for children and each page also has a scripture to go along with the story.

We found something new to try this year.  You can print out candy wrappers here.  Each wrapper shares a message of God's love.  Great for cutting and taping practice.  Great for sharing Jesus along with all the sweets you are giving out.

We are all looking forward to a fun night of dressing up in costumes, spending time with our neighbors and making family memories.  Hope you all have a wonderful evening and Happy Halloween!