Holy Halloween!

Halloween is on Sunday this year, which presented our family with a dilemma.  We love to carve pumpkins and trick-or-treat, but we also feel it's really important to keep the Sabbath holy by drawing closer to God and inviting others to do the same.

After a lot of discussion, our family decided to try celebrating this holiday in a holy way.  For example, we agreed to carve cheerful pumpkins, not scary ones.

Joy took that idea one step further by carving an image of Angel Moroni, blowing his trumpet to proclaim the Gospel and welcome Jesus Christ at His Second Coming.

We also agreed that the kids could go trick-or-treating if they wanted to, but any treats they collected tonight would be donated to military personnel serving overseas. 

The three older kids opted to go trick-or-treating for charity this evening.  Joy never got around to making the Ahsoka costume she envisioned at the beginning of October, so at the last minute she dressed up as Rusnak, a Jedi padawan in a story I once made up to tell the kids in the car.  Joy's pillows fell off after the second house she visited, so she brought them home and went trick-or-treating as "The nice big sister who made her brothers' costumes."

While Daddy took kids trick-or-treating, I stayed home to hand out treats and connect with our neighbors.  I dressed as an angel, and played the Tabernacle choir full blast through our open windows.  I didn't realize that the lock-screen image of Jesus on Daddy's computer was peeking over my shoulder, but I suppose that was a fitting addition to the whole scene.

Todd didn't feel like trick-or-treating for candy he couldn't eat, so he stayed on the porch with me and read fun books about being a good friend on Halloween.  After we gave out our last treat and turned off our lights, I reflected that this has been my favorite Halloween ever.  I've always loved the creativity and generosity of this holiday, and celebrating it with a focus on serving and uplifting others made me feel even happier this year.

Happy Holy Halloween!

Trunk or Treating on a Dark and Drizzly Night

 It's Trunk-or-Treat time, folks!

Here's Anna the Baker posing with her brothers, Red Bomber and Yellow Bomber.

I thought it was cool that so many adults dressed up too.  I wore a fun mask, but after seeing my friends dressed as Cleopatra and Ms. Frizzle, I think I may try something more elaborate next year.

After the games, I took a picture of Anna . . .

. . . and Daniel (sans Red Bomber head) at the photo booth . . .

. . . then we headed out into the drizzly night to trunk or treat.  I handed out our family's treats whilst sitting in our van's trunk, so the hatch could shield me from the elements.

Then the kids went home and traded candy, because the only thing better than a big haul of treats is a big haul of your FAVORITE treats!

New Door, Old Frame

When Daddy told his boss that he'd helped put in a new door and frame last week, the boss said it's much easier to leave the old frame alone and just replace the door.

Daddy thought that sounded like a project he could tackle on his own, so he tried that approach with our broken pantry door today.

This is what our pantry looks like on the inside.  Feast your eyes.  But don't try to eat anything--this ain't Wonka Vision, people.

Meanwhile, here's Daddy out in the garage, drilling a hole for a doorknob.

Now we have not one but two non-flimsy doors!  Yay!  And don't worry--the trim will match after it's painted next month.

A Very Festive Bus

Every school day in October, our bus driver has added a new Halloween decoration to his bus.  Another mini pumpkin by the windshield, another spider decal on the door, another string of lights.

This week, he even added eyes and teeth!

He likes to decorate himself too.  This morning, he drove up wearing a jack-o-lantern mask and hoody.

Speaking of festive fun, I went to Todd's school this afternoon to watch their annual costume parade.

We didn't think Todd's Yellow costume would survive a bus ride, so he just put on his favorite Halloween shirt and a cape from our dress-up bin.  The cape looks rather dramatic on a windy day, don't you think?

A Yellow Costume

 For most of October . . .

. . . our basement floor has looked like this . . .

. . . because Joy offered to make Todd a Yellow costume for Halloween.  Cheerful little Yellow is Todd's favorite character in the video game Super Bomberman R.  

Yellow says, "Thanks, Big Sis!"

Pumpkin Math

This morning I visited a certain second-grade classroom . . .

. . . to help the students with pumpkin math.

Especially this second grader!  Todd was happy to help me measure the pumpkin and count the ribs, but he didn't want to touch the slimy stuff inside to count the seeds. Fortunately, the girls at his table were happy to help with that! 

Small Town Democracy

After dinner this evening, I headed over to the high school . . .

. . . to attend a town meeting, where any registered voter in town can come vote on this quarter's ballot items.

I went partly to learn about the issues and cast my vote on them, but also because I find the meetings fascinating.  After the town officers announce and explain an article . . .

. . . any voter in the audience can walk up to the microphone to voice their opinion or even propose amendments.  As we were discussing one particularly contentious topic tonight, the crowd groaned a little when someone proposed a fourth or fifth amendment for us all to debate and vote on.  No one yelled for the person to sit down though.  I get the sense that people here respect the process and each other, and they're committed to letting everyone have their say, even if they disagree.  I like that about our town.

Chillin' on the Patio

It was nice to spend an October Sunday afternoon . . .

. . . chilling on our tree patio.

(Can you really call it a tree house if it doesn't have walls or a roof?)

DIY Door Replacement

There are many things we love about our house, but the doors aren't on that list.  Most of our interior doors are hollow, flimsy, and their latching mechanisms are breaking.  Ask me about the time I was about to cook dinner, and the pantry door suddenly wouldn't open.  On second thought, don't ask about that.

Anyway, our friend Rob mentioned that he has put in a lot of doors over the years, and he'd love to help us replace ours.  We invited him over this morning to work on our bathroom door, and he and Daddy made great progress . . .

. . . until they went to hang the new door and realized we'd bought the wrong size.  Time to run to the store, 'cuz we can't exactly use that bathroom until the job is done!  (Also, see the printed hamster with a paper speech bubble on the pantry door?  That's covering a big hole one of the kids accidentally created a few months after we moved in.  Like I said, flimsy doors.)

After Phillip and I bought the right-size door, the dads went back to work . . .

. . . while I took the kids to buy Halloween pumpkins . . .

. . . and then they played a Bomberman game with a kick ball out front.

Here's our new door, ready and waiting for the painters who are coming to paint our kitchen next month!  The kids are horrified that I want all the doors and trim to be white, but I love the new door's white trim so much more than the brown trim of its next door neighbor.  I'm really looking forward to giving our kitchen and hall a makeover!

Thank You, Frank!

Remember the treehouse our friends helped us build back in June?  It's been more like a tree platform, because Daddy and our friend Frank have had trouble finding time to add railings around the edges.

Frank recently obtained a bunch of wood from someone who was tearing out a fence, so he brought it over today, and he and Daddy spent the morning adding our railings.

They worked until Frank had to leave for a short appointment, then I helped Daddy add the rest of the rails.

We saved the final piece for Frank to screw on, in honor of all the work he's done on this project for our family.

Then he said he actually wanted to stay and work on the trap door too.  Wait--our treehouse has a trap door???  Cool! 

Chirp-munks

 When you live next door to the woods, you learn some interesting things about your wild little neighbors. 

 For example, if you hear a bird that keeps chirping the same loud note over and over . . .

. . . it's probably a chipmunk, warning its friends that there's a predator nearby.  This one has taken up residence under our deck this year, and I often see (and hear) it perched on one of our patio chairs . . .

. . . or our covered BBQ, chirping its loud warning until a predator leaves.  Sometimes you can even hear the chirp of another chipmunk in the area saying, "Yeah! I see it too!"

  I love that these little guys aren't just content to keep themselves safe; they want to protect their neighbors as well.

The View from Anna's Bus Stop

The autumn colors near Anna's bus stop are beautiful these days.

I love the vibrant colors on this neighbor's tree . . .

. . . and the rain of golden leaves from the birches near the brook.

But here's the best view at this bus stop: Anna's home!

Time for a Trim

Ever since I accidentally cut her hair too short three years ago (a few days before this post), Joy hasn't allowed me anywhere near her hair with scissors.  She recently decided that her hair needed a trim . . .

. . . but requested that we let a professional handle it this time (while she sipped some lemon herbal tea).

The Rapunzel Club think the stylist did a good job.

My 2nd Annual Quarantine

Almost a year to the day since I briefly quarantined last year. . .

. . . I once again found myself wearing a mask around the house and avoiding other humans like a leper while I waited to find out if the sore throat, aches, and fatigue I felt this weekend were COVID.

On the up side, it's been nice to have uninterrupted time to read this lovely book . . .

. . . while Daddy and the kids cook meals and make yummy cookie bars.

On the down side, I soon became so lonely and bored that I jumped at the chance to talk the kids through a pressure cooker recipe for dinner last night, even though I had to do it from the other end of the hall.

Thank goodness my COVID test came back negative this afternoon!  I'm so tired for quarantining!