Trick or Treat!

This year, trick or treating in our county, and the nearby county, was changed from the 31st to the November 1st due to heavy wind and rain. I never heard of "postponing" Halloween, but that's what they did! My kids are 4 and 2 and they really did not understand this. They were looking forward to Thursday all week! I kept telling them that "the news switched trick or treating to Friday." Normally, this would've been no big deal, but it really made the whole trick or treating ordeal very difficult, seeing as though Mekonen had a birthday party to go to smack dab in the middle of trick or treat hours. Poor buddy was so disappointed to miss out on the full trick or treating experience, even though he did have fun at the party.

We dressed up and went out for a bit before the party but not many people were home yet and handing out candy. So he was sad to leave. After we dropped him off, Evie and I went back out until his party was over and collected him lots of candy. He was super excited about this.

Mekonen was Woody from Toy Story, and Evie was a chicken. Due to many hilarious adventures we've had with our chickens and rooster this summer, I tried convincing Mekonen to be an egg, and Evie be the chicken, because, well, it was only fitting given the last many months of chicken season. But, I couldn't convince him that an egg was cooler than Woody or a superhero.

And they're off on an adventure of candy hunting. 

"Hello? Is anybody in there?"

 "I think I see someone coming!"

After dropping Mekonen off at his friend's birthday party, Evie and I went back out together. She was hysterical. She'd walk boldly, and confidently, up to every door, and say "Trick or Treat, do you have a doggie?" After one dog came ferociously barking at the door, she got so scared she fell backwards off the steps, and from then on she wanted to know who had dogs and who didn't! That lady gave her extra treats for falling off the steps. Once the candy plopped into her bag at each house she said, "Thank you! Okay Mom, next one!" She had this system down-pat! 

Evie absolutely loved the one-on-one Mommy attention and the fact that it was mixed with endless candy was BONUS! Can we say sugar high? 

After picking up Mekonen from his party we did our annual stop at Mr. and Mrs. Wolfe's house. For the last two years, Mr. Spencer and Mr. Wolfe try to one up each other by who gives the best cash prize. My kids made out with buckets of candy that night and $10! They thought they were rich. :) 

And just for fun, here's some of our Halloween costume out-takes that didn't make trick or treating this year! 

We aren't sure what this is. A dog maybe? A penguin with ears? 

 Candy corn. This one makes me laugh the most. 

 A 4th of July firecracker. This one comes in a close second to the candy corn. Haha. 

 This was the sweetest little costume, but when she walked it fell down to mid-shin and the head piece refused to stay on. Maybe next year!

Every year around Halloween, Facebook and blogs are flooded with articles about whether or not Christians should or shouldn't celebrate Halloween and go trick or treating. I wouldn't say we "celebrate" Halloween, but we do allow our kids to dress up in costumes and go out and get some candy. They think it's a blast. We don't allow scary or gory costumes, but it's fun to see them enjoy the whole experience.

There are a lot of good articles out there talking about how to engage your neighbors as they come to your door trick or treating, etc. We don't really have those same kinds of opportunities as we live in the country and don't get trick or treaters, but we do try to make a point to connect with and visit our neighbors regardless of Halloween. So for now, we usually drive to a friends neighborhood and just let the kids enjoy the evening, and have a good time.

If you're interested, I wrote a blog post in the past called "What to Do About Halloween" discussing Christians and the holiday, and how we landed on the decision to let our kids dress-up and trick or treat.