Halloween 2015

Picking out pumpkins

Our Kids' Halloween Costumes

Fone:  Spartan

Mario:  Ranger

Melody:  Elsa

Ariel:  Anna

Mario:  Robin Hood

Pookey:  King

Rose:  Servant Girl

Yoda:  Yoda  ;)

Halloween Hustle

with some of their cousins

4 sisters Halloween picture!!!  Love these girls!!  

Visiting the Cemetery 

(This year was my first time and my kid's first time not being able to trick-or-treat to a great-grandparent.  My last living grandparent passed away this summer.  So a visit out to the cemetery was a must!  And, a cemetery visit would not be complete without visiting my brothers - Tony and Matthew.  Monday is the day we celebrate All Souls, so we made our trip out the cemetery a little early.)  

Carving and Painting Pumpkins 

 

Was totally NOT expecting the bruised and sore arm the next day!!  But I guess all the scraping with the six pumpkins that we carved was a little too much stress on my forearm.  Youch!  Has anyone else had this happen before??  

Trick-or-Treating

Didn't take a picture of it, but we ended our evening eating the traditional Goblin Stew that I grew up eating as a kid every Halloween.  I made up two big pans and we took them out to my parents to eat and celebrate together.  So glad I went back to Grandma many times to ask her about and to perfect her recipe, when Neil and I were first married.  It had to be "just so" or it doesn't taste right.  She put up with all my questions and helped pass on her special recipe to me, and I am so grateful for that.  Hopefully, this yummy dish will be a tradition that I can continue every Halloween!!  Love and miss her SO much!!

++Thank you, God, for Halloween fun, 

my sweet 8 pumpkins, traditions passed on, 

and for memories made!!++

Happy Halloween, Happy All Saints & Happy All Souls - 2011

A blessed trilogy to all of you!  The last three days have been days of fun and feasting in our house.  For Halloween, the kids were able to trick-or-treat at my grandparents' nursing home (on the Thursday before).  They also attended a Halloween Hustle where they trick-or-treated to the businesses where I grew up, marching in a parade around town with many other kids.  And, of course, they trick-or-treated at both of their grandparents house in the evening. It was a night of fun and the kids received WAY too much candy.  Here's a group picture of the kids....

 from left to right...

Pookey - frog

Max - blue dragon

Ariel - Granny (from Little Red Riding Hood)

Melody - Little Red Riding Hood

Fone - Indiana Jones

Mario - Captain America

Here's some more pictures of the night they trick-or-treated at my grandparents' nursing home....

Mario and his cousin were both Captain America!

All of the cousins on my side of the family (minus my big sister - we missed you, Carie!) 

the cutest, sweetest frog ever!

my wonderful grandparents

We celebrated All Saints Day day by dressing up as saints and having two families over for lunch, play and games.  Everyone had such a good time. I love how with the three families, it ended up being 18 kids (and the oldest child of one families wasn't able to make it because she had to stay home and work on school).  Then, we attended the All Saint's Day Mass at our church - it was a beautiful way to end the day.  Here's some pictures from our All Saint's Day Celebration....

 Our Saintly Breakfast

 Saints Candy Walk (to the tune of "When the Saints Go Marching In"

 I couldn't resist sharing this picture of all the shoes...  Too funny! 

Our Saintly Lunch

And, here's the whole crew (minus the picture-taker).  Our kids' saint line-up for this year is as follows....  St Padre Pio (Fone), St John the Baptist (Mario),  St Gianna Beretta Molla (Melody), St Lucy (Ariel), St Francisco (Max), and St Isadore (Pookey).  Also in attendance was:  St Maximilian Kolbe (2 of them), another St Padre Pio, St Catherine of Alexandria, St Juan Diego, St Joan of Arc, and others.  It was such a great time!!  :)

Wednesday was a bit rainy in the afternoon, so we didn't make it to the cemetery for All Souls.  However, we have the whole month of November, so there's still plenty of time to make it. 

I just recently read a wonderful article that shared how these three days fit perfectly with each other.  It was a great reminder on why we celebrate these days in our own domestic church.  Thanks, Danielle!