Lastnight as I was driving to church for our evening service I was admiring the new look of our little area...
Most of the trees have changed, there are leaves on the ground, people have decorated their yards with fall flags and pumpkins, etc. Every few houses there would be some kind of Halloween decoration - a black cat cutout on the window, faux spider webs on the bushes, etc.
Most of the trees have changed, there are leaves on the ground, people have decorated their yards with fall flags and pumpkins, etc. Every few houses there would be some kind of Halloween decoration - a black cat cutout on the window, faux spider webs on the bushes, etc.
And then I saw it.
Heads. About a dozen or so of them. Heads. Sticking out of the ground, bushes, you name it.. heads were stuck in it. I tried to distract Ava from it by saying something like, "honey, look over there... another red tree" and "over there" being the opposite side of the street of course. But, too late. "Head Mommy". Sigh. "yep, those are head's Ava". And really what more conversation could come out of that? I was grossed out and it just made me very promptly step onto my soap box about this ugly event. Someone had chosen to decorate their yard with the appearance of a ton of decapitated heads - fake blood included. Yuck. I can handle spider webs, black cats and the occasional white sheet hung from a tree to be a ghost... but, HEADS? Come on!
After my dad was saved in his late 20's we stopped "doing" halloween. Trick or Treating and Halloween parties were replaced with the annual trip to Chuck E Cheese or a church Harvest party. And, yes, some of those church harvest parties were just like trick or treating... I know that debate. But, dad set a precident that we didn't do halloween. And honestly I didn't really miss it. My parents were awesome about helping us pick out or make homemade costumes to wear to our church parties - and they would even buy us our own bag of candy every now and then. I loved knowing that every Halloween we would lower all the blinds, turn out the lights and escape the neighborhood for a family night. I think once or twice I may have complained that I couldn't go trick or treating with my friends... but overall loved our change.
Now, I'm not anti-Halloween. And you won't find me scorning or judging someone for dressing up their children for the day. And seriously...do you think I would complain about getting something for FREE (candy)? nope. I've seen plenty of mini-cheerleaders, pumpkins, M & M's and the like... cute. But it's the gross side of the day that gets me. I hate the fake blood, gory or prostitute-like costumes, the mean things kids do... like, smashing old ladies pumpkins in the street or spray painting pranks. I just find it very difficult to see any beauty in the holiday as a whole. I'm grossed out by walking into stores and having to weave through fake spider webs infested with ghouls covered in plastic blood just to pick up a loaf of bread... and now that Ava is getting older, I kinda dread explaining these weird things. I know its a teachable moment - but, what am I teaching? And, here's the kicker... my husband and I may or may not have seperate ideas about the day. So, yea, what do you do with that?!
Halloween. Set in my favorite month of the year (seasons-wise) and such a sore spot for me. I love the roasted pumpkin seeds, hot cider, FREE candy and cute cheerleader costumes on 1 year olds... but, what is the deal with our worlds obsession with fake blood, vampires and death? Just thoughts today. What does your family do? Do you celebrate or not? If not, what do you do instead? Today I'm thinking I just want to lower my blinds and disappear for the night because quite honestly, it freaks me out.
Heads. About a dozen or so of them. Heads. Sticking out of the ground, bushes, you name it.. heads were stuck in it. I tried to distract Ava from it by saying something like, "honey, look over there... another red tree" and "over there" being the opposite side of the street of course. But, too late. "Head Mommy". Sigh. "yep, those are head's Ava". And really what more conversation could come out of that? I was grossed out and it just made me very promptly step onto my soap box about this ugly event. Someone had chosen to decorate their yard with the appearance of a ton of decapitated heads - fake blood included. Yuck. I can handle spider webs, black cats and the occasional white sheet hung from a tree to be a ghost... but, HEADS? Come on!
After my dad was saved in his late 20's we stopped "doing" halloween. Trick or Treating and Halloween parties were replaced with the annual trip to Chuck E Cheese or a church Harvest party. And, yes, some of those church harvest parties were just like trick or treating... I know that debate. But, dad set a precident that we didn't do halloween. And honestly I didn't really miss it. My parents were awesome about helping us pick out or make homemade costumes to wear to our church parties - and they would even buy us our own bag of candy every now and then. I loved knowing that every Halloween we would lower all the blinds, turn out the lights and escape the neighborhood for a family night. I think once or twice I may have complained that I couldn't go trick or treating with my friends... but overall loved our change.
Now, I'm not anti-Halloween. And you won't find me scorning or judging someone for dressing up their children for the day. And seriously...do you think I would complain about getting something for FREE (candy)? nope. I've seen plenty of mini-cheerleaders, pumpkins, M & M's and the like... cute. But it's the gross side of the day that gets me. I hate the fake blood, gory or prostitute-like costumes, the mean things kids do... like, smashing old ladies pumpkins in the street or spray painting pranks. I just find it very difficult to see any beauty in the holiday as a whole. I'm grossed out by walking into stores and having to weave through fake spider webs infested with ghouls covered in plastic blood just to pick up a loaf of bread... and now that Ava is getting older, I kinda dread explaining these weird things. I know its a teachable moment - but, what am I teaching? And, here's the kicker... my husband and I may or may not have seperate ideas about the day. So, yea, what do you do with that?!
Halloween. Set in my favorite month of the year (seasons-wise) and such a sore spot for me. I love the roasted pumpkin seeds, hot cider, FREE candy and cute cheerleader costumes on 1 year olds... but, what is the deal with our worlds obsession with fake blood, vampires and death? Just thoughts today. What does your family do? Do you celebrate or not? If not, what do you do instead? Today I'm thinking I just want to lower my blinds and disappear for the night because quite honestly, it freaks me out.
But something tells me Ava will be suited up in her cheerleading outfit and somehow we'll have pictures taken, etc.... before I even know what's going on. {sigh}
Such precious memories of my loveable little girl who was all too eager to give Momma some smooches!
Ava's favorite part may have been that she got to be seatbelt free to look at the animals by the path. :)
I have a lot of Indian heritage in my family line - so it was really neat to learn some facts vs. myths and kinda see how they lived. The statues and artwork here was amazing. The sad thing about my heritage is that over the years prejudice and hate has erased some of our past - pages of history erased or torn up and thrown away... sad. 
What a fun day! The added bonus was spending time with my parents. I had been feeling homesick especially for my mom and dad - this was a great time to reconnect and just be together. And of course, I'm so thankful for my loving husband who took time out of his busy schedule to drive us down for a fun weekend! 
And of course there were a zillion other things to do... corn pools, duck races, REAL animals to touch and look at. Such a fun time! Maybe we'll try this shot again when the kiddos are a little older.
My camera doesn't capture just how much fun both the kids AND dad's had going down the huge slide. What a fun memory made!
Our first trip to the orchard was a great experience... and a great way to celebrate FALL with friends! :)