Halloween is coming!

[okarol]

Here's a cute Halloween card. http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=1945403309392&source=jl999

Do you do anything special for Halloween?

[Darthvadar]

Great card, Karol.... Here's another......

Click here: http://ak.imgag.com/imgag/product/preview/flash/bws8Shell.swf?ihost=http://ak.imgag.com/imgag&brandldrPath=/produc
 
Darth....

[paris]

Beth and I will be doing our Annual Nana and Aunt Bethie's Scary Halloween Party again this year for all the grandkids.    It will have to be after Halloween to accommadate everyone's schedules.   We decorate way too much, have dry ice going, special lighting and sound effects.  Lots of games, foods, craft projects and a scary movie.  No adults allowed!  They aren't even allowed inside!! Parents drop them off at the door and leave (they get a date night without worrying about a baby sitter)    Melissa has offered her house this year, so I don't have to worry about cleaning before and after.  And Beth does most of the work.    So, if you are under the age of 13, come on over! (or if you just think you are under 13!!!)        

We have always gone overboard with outside decorating since my kids were small. The boys built a coffin one year and took turns laying in it while kids were trick or treating. Unfortunately, they really scared the small ones!

[Marina]

Beth and I will be doing our Annual Nana and Aunt Bethie's Scary Halloween Party again this year for all the grandkids.    It will have to be after Halloween to accommadate everyone's schedules.   We decorate way too much, have dry ice going, special lighting and sound effects.  Lots of games, foods, craft projects and a scary movie.  No adults allowed!  They aren't even allowed inside!! Parents drop them off at the door and leave (they get a date night without worrying about a baby sitter)    Melissa has offered her house this year, so I don't have to worry about cleaning before and after.  And Beth does most of the work.    So, if you are under the age of 13, come on over! (or if you just think you are under 13!!!)        

We have always gone overboard with outside decorating since my kids were small. The boys built a coffin one year and took turns laying in it while kids were trick or treating. Unfortunately, they really scared the small ones!

I  feel  13  sometimes,  can I  come? 
confession:   I  turned  14 yesterday........

[Riki]

I've been 12 for 20 years.. can I come??

[Sunny]

Very cute Halloween cards.

[Poppylicious]

Do you do anything special for Halloween?

Yes.  I turn all the lights off and hide, or ensure that I'm out of the house between about 5 and 9.  Thankfully we don't 'do' Halloween on the big scale that you folks across the pond do (although it does seem to become a little more commercial/popular each year, for which I blame the money-grabbing supermarkets.)

 

[carol1987]

I celebrate my birthday!!  And take my DD 8 trick or treating and pass out treats!!!

[peleroja]

Every year on Halloween our travel group has a mystery trip and I always dress up.  Last year I was a clown, complete with multicolored wig and makeup.  The year before that I was Maid Marian.  This year I'm going as a taco, but not just any taco.  Underneath I will wear brown pants and a brown sweatshirt, so I will be a Del Taco with extra beef!

[gothiclovemonkey]

Oh Paris that sounds so lovely!

Im taking my son trick or treating around town, he picked out our costumes, hes going to be Batman, I am going to be Batgirl.
After that, if i can find a sitter im going to go out with my friends.

I LOVE HALLOWEEN! I cant wait until my son is a bit older, we will have so much fun!

[Riki]

I stopped going out for Halloween when I realized I couldn't make it up the street in the dark.  I think I was about 14.  I tend to hide from the kids that come to the door, and hope that there aren't many so that I can have the leftover candy

[paris]

Put your costume on and come over!!   Last year, we played pin the face on the pumpkin, Halloween bingo, Halloween charades, guess the number candies in the pumpkin. (thank you internet for all the ideas!) 
 We made crafts to take home, ate pizza and spooky cupcakes, and watched "Casper the Ghost".  Of course, I did not know they swore in the movie and the kids all were saying "Oh Nana,they said a bad word!".  It is a Disney film!  I didn't think I had to preview it!!  Lesson learned.

My mother-in-law had a children's only Christmas party for her grands. It is still an important memory for my grown kids.  So, I thought I would do Halloween, to continue her tradition but not take over the memory of her day.   

I'll have extras, so just come on in and join us!   

[cariad]

I don't dare tell my children about your party, Paris. My older son knows how to use the computer and would probably book seats on the next plane.

I buy my kids costumes but that is about the extent of it. We have memberships at museums and zoos all over town, and all of them are throwing some sort of Halloween party with trick or treating. We are attending the one at the natural history museum, and may go to the zoo for one of their events. We've already been to one - a nature walk with little skits about animals. No candy! Then there is trick or treating in town and I will probably just send my older child with a friend. It is all too much after a very short while.

Kids are a T-Rex and a vampire this year. My younger son was squealing when he put his costume on - it is really gorgeous and he just loved it. In fact, every month or so he is Featured Kid in his class, and the kids get special honours including bringing some object from home to show everyone (kids usually bring a toy). He was Featured Kid yesterday and he wore his costume. We sent along another set of clothes for him, but when I went to collect him in the afternoon, there was a little T-Rex running round the play yard. 

[Riki]

The zoo in Moncton, New Brunswick, has something every year called Boo at the Zoo.  I'd love to go to that, but Moncton is a 4 hour drive from here, and the event goes from 6-10pm and my mom doesn't like driving in the dark if she doesn't have to, so I haven't bothered to ask her about it.

[okarol]

Maybe I will dress up as a witch and scare the kids, keep all the candy for myself too. 

[needlephobic]

I wonder if the staff will dress up on halloween at the d center ?

[Riki]

I wonder if the staff will dress up on halloween at the d center ?

Not here, since Halloween is on Sunday, and the unit is closed on Sundays.  I don't remember Halloween last year.  I do seem to remember a lot of candy, though.

[Des]

We (South Africans) don't do Haloween.

I wish we did - it sounds like so much fun. !

[-Lady Noir-]

Yeah, it's not a big deal over here in NZ either. Yes, there are costumes and all that for sale but it's odd to see decorations on the street.

[paris]

I find it interesting how many don't know the origin or Halloween---- All Saints Day is Nov 1st.  It is a day to honor Saints and those who have died during the year.  In times gone by, the night before, families would go to the cemetaries and decorate the graves to honor and to keep bad spirits away.   Roman Catholics celebrate All Saints Day as well as a lot of Protestant churches.  It is a  nice day of remembering.   So the going to the cemetary and decorating (some areas would take food to the graves for their loved ones) over time turned into trick or treating.  This is a very simple explanation---google All Saints Day. It is a fascinating  Mexico and Central America celebrate the original way.  I would love to see the procession to the cemetary.   Also, people would makes lots of special foods and neighbors would go house to house to taste their neighbors food.    Handing out candy is so much easier!!   

In our church we light candles and say each name of those who died that year.  Sad, but nice to honor those we lost. 

[texasstyle]

Don't do much since I've gotten older but used to love going out when we were young. Here's a cute story. At 15 I wasn't really trick or treating anymore but one year I did take my 5 year old little brother around the neighbor hood for Halloween. Most of the neighbors I knew and the others had been there for years. I would stnad at the end of the driveway while he went in. He'd kept coming back with his plastic pumpkin full of money with a couple pieces of fruit.. Gee, I thought. I guess because of the candy scare everyone was giving money instead. The pumpkin kept getting fuller, and fuller.  I said "Danny, why are you getting so much money?" He said "because I told them I can't have candy". lol.

[cariad]

Put your costume on and come over!!   Last year, we played pin the face on the pumpkin, Halloween bingo, Halloween charades, guess the number candies in the pumpkin. (thank you internet for all the ideas!) 
 We made crafts to take home, ate pizza and spooky cupcakes, and watched "Casper the Ghost".  Of course, I did not know they swore in the movie and the kids all were saying "Oh Nana,they said a bad word!".  It is a Disney film!  I didn't think I had to preview it!!  Lesson learned.

My mother-in-law had a children's only Christmas party for her grands. It is still an important memory for my grown kids.  So, I thought I would do Halloween, to continue her tradition but not take over the memory of her day.   

I'll have extras, so just come on in and join us!   

Interesting info, Paris!

I was taught in anthropology that the origin of trick or treating is unknown, so I would bet that there would be some who dispute that part. This is not at all unusual in anthropology - debates become really heated, especially in archaeology.

Halloween originally marked the pagan new year, in fact, it is still celebrated as the new year by followers of wicca. The belief was that at midnight on Halloween, just as the New Year dawned, a tear would open up in time allowing dead souls to return to earth. Jack o' lanterns were created to light the way for loved ones back from the underworld. The name comes from the classic prankster and star of many fairy tales, Jack. I do not remember the details of his escapades in the underworld, but believe he traveled to the underworld and then had to outsmart some god to escape.

As far as I know, trick or treating is a strictly American phenomenon. Anyone from outside the US know differently? I know they do not bother in Britain. My husband really did not get it the first time we took our children out and I had to explain the code of conduct to him. I still think he finds it the strangest behaviour he's ever seen.

We celebrate Dia de los Muertos here because my son is in a Spanish-speaking school with a high latino population. We are going to a celebration on November 2 that will have face painting and kids can make ofrendas for their lost relatives and we can listen to music and stories from hispanic families about their family traditions. Then everyone walks to the cafe for pan de muertos and coffee. I feel well this year, so am looking forward to it, and it makes for a nice cultural lesson for the kids after all the costumes and trick or treating.

[RichardMEL]

Paris I have been 12 for ages.... will aunty Beth sit on my lap? 

Yeah halloween has never traditionally been a big deal here either, but this year I've noticed a bit more emphasis about it - like costumes for sale at the supermarket(!) and candy and stuff "on sale" for halloween. Also one of my nurses asked me what we'd do for halloween because her kids are big into it. I told her I'd come naked which would scare EVERYONE!  She suddenly put her request in to swap shifts.....

I don't think we'll do anything specific given yeah D will be on Sat so not really the day.

[gothiclovemonkey]

There is alot of theory about the origins of trick or treating, but most of them basically the same thing, people eating alot of food, presumably drinking, and talking about dead people... Sounds like the typical day at my house...
Different religions, different times, but all basically feasted for the love of dead ones.

heres some examples:

Celts tried to appease the spirits. They would leave out food, hoping that this would please the spirit world. If they did not leave a thing, then hence, the spirits would play evil "tricks" on the living in that house.

The Druids required human sacrifices, they would go door to door asking for the virgin daughters. If this was not obtained at the chosen homes, then a hexagram was painted on the door in blood to show the appointed evil spirits to cause all kinds of evil to fall on the home. In some cases, even resulted in death.

The practice of dressing up in costumes and begging door to door for treats on holidays,dates back to the Middle Ages and includes Christmas wassailing. Trick-or-treating resembles the late medieval practice of souling, when poor folk would go door to door on Hallowmas (November 1), receiving food in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls Day (November 2).

I love Halloween, the true meanings behind it, and everything that has to do with fall. Its kind of crappy how its just for the sake of spending large amounts of money, these days. Or at least, so it seems...

[paris]

I like any reason to party!!   

I think anthropologist and religious scholors will always disagree on everything!  lol    In our denomination, and many others, All Saints Day is a very important date on the church calendar.    I love having a special day where everyone remembers those they lost that year. 

Richard, my sweet boy, I have been inviting your here for years, for every occasion I can make up!!       "Auntie Beth's" lap is ready and waiting.        I have tried to marry you off and adopt you --- nothing has worked so far!!