Tuesday, November 1, 2011

boo! some halloween fun!

I must admit, halloween certainly isn't one of my favourite holidays and in many ways I'm still trying to figure out exactly what I think of it. Actually, I read this article within recent days and it really made me stop and evaluate what I'm teaching my daughter. The part that stings the most is that I am exactly that person that knows something is very wrong with people mocking death, yet I'm also the same person that says halloween is just a little bit of fun for the kids. Like I said, I'm still fumbling through this, trying to keep things in perspective, and like any other parent, I want to do the right thing. Sorry, I didn't mean to go off on a tangent, this post is already going to be long enough!

All that being said, there were certainly a few memorable moments over the last week that made me grin!

Last Wednesday the little after school care (that Lilah attends) put on an afternoon of fun, for the seniors, at the local Retirement Residence. There were halloween songs and poems and lots of kiddie cuteness all around! Lilah wore her pumpkin dress (she would totally correct me here and tell me it's a jack o' dress!) for the occasion. It's the third year she has worn this dress.

Later on that evening, at home, I caught her marching around the house in her dress AND my boots! And I, of course, had to get a few shots of her! She was pretending to be the teacher in a few of these pictures - yeah, she totally rolled her eyes at me! I have some movies of the children singing halloween songs at the seniors home, but I won't be posting them, because all her little class friends are in them. So instead, I got her to quote one of the rhymes she memorized for the seniors. I think she has a pretty amazing memory, or maybe it's just my rapidly fading memory that thinks she has a pretty fabulous memory!

This is Jack O’ Happy. This is Jack O’ Sad.
This is Jack O’ Sleepy. And this is Jack O’ Mad.
This is Jack O' broken into pieces small.
Baked into a pumpkin pie, that's the best of all!

wearing my boots! wearing my boots! wearing my boots! wearing my boots!

[ the flickr set is here ]

Then on Saturday the children were invited to wear their costumes to their skating lesson.

Lilah certainly wasn't going to miss out on an opportunity to wear her "good" witch's dress. She chose this dress out a few months ago at The Children's Place and told me she wanted to be 'a good witch, with a baby'. I'm not sure where or how the idea of the baby came about, but it was certainly something she got stuck in her little head!

The children are all so cute and funny in her class, I get some of the best laughs while watching them each Saturday! This week they were all lined up nice and tight behind each other and someone at the back fell down. Well you can just imagine what happened next, I likened it to a row of dominoes, one fell down and they all fell in rapid succession! It was pretty hilarious to say the least! I love how she's bending over in the photo below, to see (past her dress) if she had reached the line perfectly!

Then on Friday there was a halloween parade at school. The children all went to school dressed up and joined in with all the other kindergarten classes. Judging by the photos the teacher emailed me, Lilah had a fabulous time! Again, I'm not posting those pictures because her little class friends are in them.

And then on Friday evening we met up with Lilah's good friend, Aiden, and her Mom and we took our girls out trick or treating together! Aiden was Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc. and Lilah was, of course, the good witch! The girls had so much fun together, they rarely let go of each others hand, helping each other up and down the steps! So sweet. It was such a lovely mild evening, one of the best (halloween) evenings I ever remember, as far as weather is concerned.

Hope your halloween was happy and safe too.

9 comments:

  1. I'm with you on the mixed feelings about Halloween. One of my good bloggy friends sent me an article last year, that really left an impression on my heart. This year I chose to take Khloe to our church's Family Fun Fest that they put on at the Civic Center in St.Cloud. It's a very large event with a lot of fun and family-friendly games for the kids, and they still come home with a ton of candy. It's a hard one, I know.

    Lilah Grace is ADORABLE any way you look at her. I can't believe how grown up she is looking these days. She is so beautiful!! I would probably dump 1/2 a bucket of candy in if she came to my door! Love that girly of yours!!

    Hugs,
    Tanya

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  2. I know what you mean about the mixed feelings.

    Yesterday afternoon I was out with the dogs on the next street. Many houses had put a lot of effort into decorating. But, some of it was pretty scary and grave yard like. Some of it seemed so scary, especially for little ones.

    I would much prefer happy pumpkins and fun decorations.

    That is the cutest little witch I have ever seen.

    lea
    xo

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  3. I, too, am torn about Halloween!! This year Trick or Treating was on Sunday night and we have church every Sunday night, so it was a non-issue! We still had plenty of candy!

    One thing about it though, it's a great opportinuty to take some sweet pics of your beautiful little pumpkin!!

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  4. I love the picture with her standing hands on hips, and her eyes gazing upwards - it cracks me up!

    I also understand your feelings. It is hard work trying to figure out what values we want to instill in our children and how to implement that in our daily lives. Some values are so easy, others are gray, and others a bits of both.

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  5. I understand about the mixed feelings. Doug reminded me that even a lot of Christmas traditions have pagan roots so part of me thinks it's what you make it...not sure..but I do enjoy the fact that it gives us a great opportunity to be friendly with neighbors that we don't often get to see.

    I do know that Lilah is the cutest little "good witch" I've seen. I loved the video clip and how cool that she's gotten three years out of that cute dress!

    Gin =)

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  6. It's interesting, my girls go to a Catholic school and they encourage the holiday (it relates to All Saints Day). All the kids dress up at school and they parade around the classrooms.
    Of course, I am a Halloween lover, always have been. Could be because I am also such a candy lover.

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  7. Love the pumpkin dress--so cute! Your nighttime pictures turned out beautifully!

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  8. I agree... your night shots are great.

    I hate halloween, but at the same time take joy in watching my children dress up, get candy, have fun and we get out to visit with the neighbours as well.

    I just don't like the creepy stuff!

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  9. wow - that is an eye opening article! and ya i have mixed feelings - well really i never have liked it - however i have taken the approach that trying to christianize it doesn't change it it is still the same thing. i just limit costume choices to non evil and non scary.

    lilah looks adorable - and she does have an amazing memory!

    xo ellie

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