Trick or Treat!

While I despise Hal.loween, Trick or Treating has become something our little development does well. I enjoy being able to let the kids dress up in silly, harmless costumes (no gore or scare factor allowed in this house) and travel with them as we visit the neighbors.  T and I both enjoy walking with the kids, so we let a basket of candy on the porch!  After visiting a few houses, we load up the kids and head to the grands!

Riley did not trick or treat with us, but he would have been hurt had we not included him in the dress up! ;-) Actually, I put the antlers on him as a possible companion to Q's costume!

We try to be "A light in a dark world" and let our neighbors know we care about them. Tucked into the candy bags was a paper with a message "We thank God for our blessings every day, and today, we thanked Him for you." This year, we included John 3:16-18 from The Message at Q's request.  

Now, on to the costumes. E wanted to be a baker this year!  I'm so excited about her costume and what it means to me.  I already had the patterns for a chef's hat, apron and oven mitt and I just had to look online for felt cookie inspiration!

As I was sewing the chef's hat this past Friday, it dawned on me how special this costume was.  My daughter was next to me as I made it, just like she's beside me most times when I'm cooking.  My mom instilled in me a love for cooking and sewing.  And my mom inherited her love of sewing and cooking from her mom, my grandma, who we just laid to rest yesterday.  I related my feelings to E as I made the hat, "You know, E. Your great grandma was a very talented seamstress and a chef in a restaurant.  That makes your costume very, very special to me!"  And she couldn't have been more proud to carry her freshly baked "felt" cookies around the neighborhood!  I hope that she develops her love of cooking and sewing and that it will be something we can do together for many years.

C, my baby, is my wild card!  He choose an Indian costume, that Q wore a few years ago.  I'm not sure why he is making a fist like he wanted to punch me, but like I said...wild card! ;-D  He takes his 'job' quite seriously!

Q, my oldest, and truly the one that takes everything the most serious, wanted to follow in his daddy's footsteps and be an archery hunter (hence Riley with the antlers!)  He didn't want to smile for me either, he wanted the tough guy look, but I broke him!

And here they are, the Hunters & the Gatherers!  No, C isn't yawning, he's being an Indian!

How do you like that snow on the ground?  Pretty sure this is the first we've had snow when Trick Or Treating!