Halloween. It’s a peculiar day at best. Probably the funniest, weirdest, craziest, most exciting days of the year here in America. I’ll be honest. I love Halloween.
It’s a day where everything normal and sane is thrown out the window. It’s a day we can pretend our children are giant crayons.
It’s a day we can dress ourselves and our kids up as the evil things that on the other 364 days of the year we denounce as dark or wrong. But, on Halloween it’s just plain old awesome and cute.
It’s the one day every year where we teach our kids that it’s okay to take candy from strangers.
It’s the only day of the year that we don’t care if other people call us a nerd.
Or even a cow.
It’s the one day of the year we can put our baby inside of a giant squash and feel okay about it.
It’s a day where we can go for totally bizarre. We can be as gruesome and gross as we like. And it’s funny .
It’s a day where we take it as a compliment when people tell us to “go to hell”.
It’s a day when kids get as much candy as they can and get to go nuts with it. They come home and sort it, they make trades with their friends and siblings, they make themselves sick.
It’s a day when us grown-ups get to let loose and party it up.
Yes, it truly is a bizarre day.
We sometimes pretend it’s a day just for the kids. But let’s be honest, sometimes it’s more for the parents than it is for our little pumpkins.
Yes, Halloween is just… plain… awesome.
Even when your parents hand you a carrot instead of a bag of candy.
Why do you like Halloween and what are your plans for making this one awesome?
Dan Pearce, Single Dad Laughing
PS, thanks to all of you who posted these pics on the Facebook wall for me to use. I wish I could have used all of them!
best this site its so best
i like it very much
same my blog ...........
best places
bla
This was the first year my boys went trick or treating. It was simple and fun for them. They were so excited when people gave them candy and said thank you to each one -like it was a special gift. I love their innocence throughout the whole thing. You could tell that it was just pure simple fun and nothing else! : )
It' s nice that we are now starting to enjoy the thought of holloween here in the Philippines. People are dressing up more, more trick or treats. When I was a child, we go to cemetery to commemorate the lives of our love ones and just play with the flower and candle drips. It' s also a time when the family finds time to get together.
as a friend of mine so rightly put it "I am grateful we can take for granted friendly neighbors and that kids in this country can get excited to walk their streets in the dark to get treats from strangers. When you can have fear for fun and not for real in your life - you have to step back and be grateful."
Halloween is AWEsome.
Last night, Almost Hubby and I escaped the kids, drove 4 hours to a 100 year old castle for a murder mystery dinner. Tonight, it's all about my ninja and psyco man as we trick or treat the adjacent neihborhoods. I hate freezing my butt off as they beg for candy, but I be sad when it ends in 4 years and they are all off to parties instead. :)
Every year for the past 4 years we have decorated our barn to be the "Haunted Barn". The barn actually comes before our house. The families love it because I keep it fairly small child friendly. I have had to turn the lights on once in awhile to let the littllest ones see everything in the bright light to see that it's just pretend.
Nothing gory or evil. Just witches, gosts, bats, skeletons and spiders and a nana passing out candy bars that's having just as much fun as they are.
Next year I think we'll set up a photo wall.
I LOVE Halloween! All the scary movies! Dressing up! Whats not to love?? I'll be cooking all day while my ladybug and spider princess watch some scary movies! My tradition is making an entire Halloween meal before the kids go trick or treating. This year our menu is, worms with eyeballs (spaghetti and meatballs) stuffed into a pumpkin (orange pepper), Veggie tombstone pizza, fruit salad stuffed in a pumpkin (orange), all served with the finest witch's brew you can imagine! Oh, and for dessert, pumpkin creampuffs!
My Halloween costume this year is pretty epic. I went for a steampunk theme. Won second prize in the costume contest at work! Pic is here: http://twitpic.com/31xn32
Halloween is my absolute FAVORITE holiday!! It's the one day of the year I can be myself and not be called a freak or weird or whatnot!! We had a joint halloween/birthday party Friday night for my daughter and her best friend. 17 screaming tweens in my house was insane to say the least, but they all LOVED it and everyone had a blast. There was a fog machine, strobe lights, halloween cake, werewolf and vampire cupcakes, "day old bathwater" punch that was awesome, cookies, candy, and pizza! They loved the costume contest winners too!
Tonight, I will finish decorating the yard, put out my fog machine and strobe lights and sit on the porch and hand out the candy. Unfortunately, due to my Fibro Myalgia, I will be unable to do the trick or treating with my kids this year...I am usually the one that ALWAYS goes with them...so I am a bit sad about this. I will do the girls hair, help them finish up their costumes, dress myself up as well, and sit out and enjoy the kids that come by though! No costume, no candy though, you at least gotta put some effort into it! My chihuahua will be dressed up with me though! I was listening to the radio the other day and in some places, they make you tell a joke before you can get the candy! LOL I might make them do a "trick" to get the treat this year...I dunno yet! :D
Can ya tell I LOVE halloween?? :D
Awesome :) I am so glad I threw a Halloween Party this year. My daughter got the idea pretty much after Christmas 2009 and never let go so I granted her wish. It was a great success and within a few days of the party both of them came down with a virus that knocked them out for about 3 days, during which time they missed their school Halloween Parties and my daughter her Sparks Halloween night. Thankfully they are both better in time to go trick-or-treating. This year my daughter is going as a princess/fairy and my son is going as a ghost. A couple of years ago I thought I got of easy when my daughter wanted to be a ghost until I tried draping her in a sheet to figure out where to put the eyes and where to cut the bottom. She didn't like the feeling of being temporary blinded and wouldn't stay still. Both of us got increasingly frustrated until we both finally threw in the towel and figured out another costume. When my son asked to be a ghost this year I was actually dreading it. I ended up getting him and adult ghost costume and the hood worked perfectly so I just had to cut the bottom. What a relief!
oops didn't me to submit that again. hopefully you can remove it!
The Kangaroo costume is about the most adorable thing I'e ever seen :)
Awesome :) I am so glad I threw a Halloween Party this year. My daughter got the idea pretty much after Christmas 2009 and never let go so I granted her wish. It was a great success and within a few days of the party both of them came down with a virus that knocked them out for about 3 days, during which time they missed their school Halloween Parties and my daughter her Sparks Halloween night. Thankfully they are both better in time to go trick-or-treating. This year my daughter is going as a princess/fairy and my son is going as a ghost. A couple of years ago I thought I got of easy when my daughter wanted to be a ghost until I tried draping her in a sheet to figure out where to put the eyes and where to cut the bottom. She didn't like the feeling of being temporary blinded and wouldn't stay still. Both of us got increasingly frustrated until we both finally threw in the towel and figured out another costume. When my son asked to be a ghost this year I was actually dreading it. I ended up getting him and adult ghost costume and the hood worked perfectly so I just had to cut the bottom. What a relief!
What a boring response...this is why I don't blog but love to read other peoples :)
Our neighborhood has a parade around 4pm every year, complete with fire engine, horses, wagons, and all the kids of the neighborhood, and quite a few adutls.
We always get, among the first visitors, the folks from the developmentally disabled house around the corner from us--we look forward to their visit.
I agree about the over-sexualized girls' costumes--and the dance community is not immune to that.
My teen son is going ToT for UNICEF this year.
I love seeing the little kids, with parents hovering, sometimes uncertain what to do once they get to the door. The very polite kids of all ages. The original costumes, not store-bought.
Honestly it's everything! I celebrate Samhain (I'm Wiccan) though it's hard because I don't have a big group of people so there isn't much party. Mostly I'll just be helping my mother in law pass out candy because my parents are party poopers and don't celebrate because they don't want candy in the house.
I love dressing up and dancing like a spaz to songs like "This is Halloween" and "Halloween" by Stephan Lynch. It is by far my favorite holiday ever!
I am not a big Halloween fan but I usually enjoy the Utah tradition of "Trunk or Treat," held at the neighborhood church parking lot so the kids can go from trunk to trunk and collect candy from their friends and neighbors. There is usually soup and rolls. I usually take my camera so I can capture the fun. Why am I saying "usually?" Because this year, it was different. Thanks to POURING rain and a cold wintry wind, this year kids and parents alike crowded under the pavilion and the kids simply grabbed their candy from bowls set up on the long picnic tables. The kids were so bundled up it was hard to see their cute costumes and no one wanted to chat long because everyone wanted to go home and get warm and dry. The kids were excited about having a whole "candy buffet" though! It takes a lot more than rain to dampen the enthusiasm of kids faced with the prospect of grabbing all the candy they want! There was no yummy soups, either...just hot chocolate and doughnuts, and by the time I got to it, it was "lukewarm" chocolate. I was sad...my favorite part of Halloween was less than stellar this year! :(
I love Halloween because, coming from a theater background, it's one day of the year I can dress as fun and crazy as I want to and not have to be cast in a role to do it. :) I love how excited the kids get to decorate and go get candy from complete strangers.
This year, with the rain the kids are "playing" trick or treat with my parents. They're babysitting for me cause I was lucky and got invited to go hang with some awesomely amazing people! :D
Hallowe'en has always been my favorite holiday, my hubby is really into it too and we're hoping that our 2 year old daughter will come to love it as we do! I'm all for making her costumes when the time comes, but we've been lucky that an old high school friend hands down her daughters clothes twice a year to us. And in amongst those hand me downs there has been a costume. Her first year, at 2 months old she was a bunny. Last year, a frog (which I put a huge pink bow on the head), this year she's going to be a monkey. I think next year she gets a Tinkerbell costume.
haha giant crayon!
I don't really like Halloween but I do like how much fun my kids have so I suck it up and go to the pumpkin patch, carve jack-o-lanterns, dress them up and cart them around to collect candy. This year is Rapunzel and Snow White... not very scary but definitely adorable.
I Love halloween!! I mean how often can a twenty-something mom of 3 go to the store dressed as cinderella and have people tell her she looks nice instead of wonder if I am going crazy? This year we had a great time going to a couple different events around town as a family, and can't wait to go to our Churches trunk or treat here soon.
I have worn one of two costumes every year for years now: pirate or Zorro... for the simple fact that I get to strap on my Zorro replica movie sword.
We don't normally join in many festivities though. No one comes to our area on the 31st and I'm the only one in the family that really likes to dress up. Though I think my daughter is starting to dig it. We'll see... right now, I don't want my 3 year old hording a bunch of candy, so it's hard to jump in too heavily yet.
Halloween is my elder son's birthday! He is going to be 22 this year...not sure where the time has gone! When he was three and we were going out trick or treating, he asked, "mommy is this all for me for my birthday"? and was so excited when I told him, "yes". It was sooo cute...he was adorable at three and thought it was just a big party for him!
This year my kids are going as Captain America, a ninja and Peter Pan. They love picking out their costumes and going trick or treating in the town next to ours. All the shops give out candy and they have a ball. I will be sure to post pics on my facebook.
I love the pic of your son being held by your sister! We moved (back) to Austria 5 yrs ago, where Halloween is just another weird American thing aimed at consumers, but we still DO it, pumkin carving, trick or treating and all (and Thanksgiving)... and slowly the crowd is getting bigger :) I do miss the great haunted displays on our runs though.
We don't really celebrate it in Oz, though it's slowly coming in. I just love it ...people go on about the wisdom of taking candy from strangers (lollies we call them here), and links to paganism or whatever ... but I just think it's fun. We went to a local Halloween festival yesterday and kids had a ball.
Very cute! I love the jailbirds with the baby dressed up as a bag of money!! Check out my Halloween post, it's full of win ;-) http://trbobitch.blogspot.com/2010/10/its-hallowe...
I love Halloween! It's one of my favorite holidays. This year I'm going as a gypsy (don't worry, I look awesome but nothing skimpy) and I'm thinking about going trick-or-treating.
I am a proud mom of a 4 month old soon-to-be giraffe! Naturally, I intend to parade her around to show her off like a prized pig. She won't have any idea what the heck is going on.. but I will certainly have a blast! A parent can never hear too many "oh my gosh!!!"'s or "awwwwWWwwWW"'s. Loving the kangaroo outfit!!
My son has issues with the way materials feel against his skin. So he has four costumes each one will probably be worn for about 30 seconds before it "feels funny" lol I love my little man. I used to strip off my socks when I was little because the seams in the toes felt funny.
This will be the first Halloween with my son. He just missed being born on the spookiest day of the year :) I'm so excited to take him out in a costume and trick or treat! Even if he is too little to remember or eat any of the candy :)
Loved the pictures! Hope to take our kids out to a haunted house and around the neighborhood :) Hope you and Noah have an awesome time too! Loved the cute kids and their costumes :)
I'm just pumped because at 3 Rylan finally has a concept of Halloween, he's chosen his costume(a pirate), has mastered his declaration of 'TRICK OR TREAT!' and I just can't wait to see his face light up when we begin going to local houses.
I also love hearing people tell me how adorable my kids are. lol. Lykin(9 months) is going to be an elephant for his first Halloween and if I do say, he's the cutest elephant I've ever seen. :P
And of course being pregnant I can not wait to raid the left overs of the box of 50 chocolate bars we got for trick or treaters... (even though in our neck of the woods we are lucky to see 1 or 2 people.) shhh ;)
Noah looks adorable!
I LOVE Halloween... Not just the Candy (even though that part kinda rocks, too!)... but I Love the Costumes, the laughter, Carving Pumpkins, Black Cats, Macabre Decorations everywhere, it's like the one day of the year when we forget that death is SAD and we poke fun at it a little... "Ha! Skeletons and Ghosts!" But most of all, I LOVE the excitement on my daughters face before trick or treating, as we pick out costumes, as we watch "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown"... and as we both get dressed up in our party costumes ... this year we did 3 different ones.. (I was CatWoman and she was BatGirl, She was Alice and I was The Queen of Hearts and We are finishing it off on Sunday as a Merry Band of Pirates!) ... no, for US... Halloween is not just about the Candy... it's about enjoying LIFE and enjoying our family time. The Fun things... mostly, the Memories. She's only 4, but I want her to remember this time... FOREVER!!
I dress my horse up every year and we ride into town to go trick or treating. It makes the kids' lives to get to pet a horse. Last year, there was a family visiting from the city. The looks on their faces when we rang the doorbell on horseback were priceless!
http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/rr323/dom_n/Ha...
Canadians riding moose meet the gingerbread man.
Every year my son has wanted to be Tony Stewart, we went with it the past couple, but the outfit doesn't fit him anymore. This year he requested to go as an army man because he wants to help protect our country, his words not mine. (he is only 6) My daughter has always wanted to be something that has anything to do with a fairy or a princess. This year I was expecting the same, but she shocked the snot out of us when she requested a vampire outfit. (she's 7)
I do agree with Susan, the costumes out now are so not appropriate for half the people wearing them, mainly the parents that allow their young children to wear them. I never had a store bought costume, my momma always made mine and did an awesome job of it. She did the same with my brother, and one year he went as "Road Rash" and it was so gory that it made him feel ill to his stomach. She is a very talented lady.
Thanks for sharing all these pictures, I love seeing the adorable costumes of children.
I LOVE HALLOWEEN!!! My children are grown, but when they were little WE would dress up and spend the day out shopping, having lunch and enjoying the day. Yes, I would give them the day off from school for this activity...my daughters have very fond memories of Halloween!
I wish the costumes for girls had not gotten so slutty over the years. Naughty nurse, nearly naked fairies, and just try to find a modestly dressed female superhero.
I saw quite a few teen girls dressed really immodestly, and out of curiosity I asked what they were dressed as - cuz I sure couldn't tell with the lack of clothes. The answer? "We're sluts."
I think my belief in homeschooling was reinforced that night.
I worked at a local zoo last night and three nights previously and I can not TELL you how many slutty costumes I saw...even when the temp made it very inadvisable.
However, I have a friend who went as a cat to a strip club. She was fully covered and still won 300 in the costume contest.
My son is crying pumpkin, and no I did not make him wear that beyond the 5 minutes to took to get a few pics for the relative who bought it for him. :) This year, he's going as Scooby Doo and LOVES it and doesn't want to take it off. I'll be Velma and my son is going to be a police detective. I've always loved Halloween, it's just fun to get candy and dress up. My parents used to have awesome adult-themed parties too which were fun to spy on. I have to work all weekend so unfortunately will just be taking a couple hours to trick-or-treat and that's about it.
Haha, that's my favorite picture in the bunch!!!
:) So much fun!
Awwww! Total awesomeness! Love, love, love the pics your fans posted.
It'll be a quiet night with the exception of dinner at my in-laws for my father in law's birthday. I just might have my camera readily available though to take pics of ANYONE I see in a cool costume.
I actually do not like halloween. My 2 boys love it, and they will be going trick-or-treating in the neighborhood of a family friend. They will probably wander about 4 or 5 blocks and have a grand ol' time
Oh my goodness. People are so clever! My favorite part of Halloween and what makes it awesome for me is the creativity I get to see oozing out in many gross, funny, clever, indescribable ways. Thanks Dan for a great laugh this morning!
Halloween IS the most awesome holiday. It's the holiday when I get to be my real self >:)