Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet, Give Me Something Good to Eat!

Halloween...what an interesting holiday!  While trick or treating with my family recently, my brother-in-law Dave brought up that Halloween is such a weird holiday if you really think about it.  My sister-in-law Danielle added (and I'm paraphrasing) that it's the opposite of everything parents want for their kids:  tons of candy, emphasis on gory stuff, being out late at night, knocking on strangers' doors, etc.  This is so true, it made me laugh!  I think as parents we try to focus on the cute, fun side of Halloween, but no doubt, many of us do ponder how strange it is that we celebrate a "horror" holiday!  So, I decided to refresh my memory on what Halloween is really all about.  I say refresh my memory, because deep in the recesses of my brain I have a vague recollection of being told or reading about the history of Halloween when I was a child.  So, here's a very summed up version of why we celebrate this intriguing holiday.

Also known as All Hallow's Eve, Halloween is celebrated in a number of countries on October 31st, the eve of the Christian feast All Hallow's Day.  It's the commencement of the triduum of Hallowmas (three day religious observance of All Saints), dedicated to remembering the dead, especially saints (hallows), martyrs and all of the faithful departed. Halloween was originally a pagan festival, oriented around fire, the dead and the powers of darkness. This pagan festival was transformed into one that honors deceased saints. Here's some of the symbolism:  Jack 'O Lanterns scare off evil spirits; dressing up in costumes pokes fun at the Christian figure Satan; skulls, skeletons, and the dead are a reminder that death is inevitable.

Halloween has most definitely made its way back to being a pagan celebration, at least in my part of the world.  However, I'm glad I read up on its history and origin, and as a Christian, I'll enjoy the symbolism next year on October 31st.

If nothing else, it's certainly a blast to watch my children have an amazing time with family and friends, all dressed up and cute as can be!

One of the few times I could get this little candy obsessed dragon to look up at me!

I think Addy had a sucker in her mouth the entire time we were out trick or treating.

almost lost little miss Blueberry Muffin, she was so hard to keep up with!

Izzy's ready to move to the next house and wanting mom to stop taking pictures

We got the greatest comments on Rory's Mad Hatter costume

Look at those eye lashes!

Things my kids have said in the last 6 months that I want to remember!

Of course, since RORY is much more verbally advanced than Isabella, she's covered the most in this post. She says the funniest things. I wish I had written them all down. I always think that there's no way I'm going to forget some of the things that come out of her mouth, but I guess I just have too much to remember all the time. Here's some things that I actually did write down right after she said them:

One night we were having family home evening and we were talking about dressing modestly. I asked Rory what kind of clothes she thought were appropriate or modest.
Rory: "This dress (pointing to herself) is modest cuz it's not all boobs and stuff." (pointing to chest).

Rory and Seth were playing the copycat game. Rory was supposed to have copied what Seth said.
Seth: "Why didn't you copycat me?"
Rory: "I don't want to exturb you!" (meaning to say "disturb")

Rory and cousin Rosie hadn't seen eachother in a while. Upon meeting up with one another Rosie exclaimed: "Rory! Rory! I'm here! I'm here!
Rory: (arms outstretched) "Rosie! Come here! Come here!...you wonderful girl!!!!
They ran to each other and hugged as though they were long lost sisters.

ISABELLA: Last night, Glen was trying to get some loves from Izzy and she said: "No! No! Don mess wif Izzyboo!" (something we frequently call her) And if you don't read baby script, she was saying (don't mess with...)

I'm just kicking myself for not writing everything down right when they say it, because we all know that extraordinary things come OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES!

Princess Aurora

I made this cake on Halloween night after trick-or-treating had come to a close. Yes, right after I had finished with the Halloween Wedding cake. It was an out-of-this-world crazy week! The skirt part is the cake, for those of you who may not have ever seen a cake like this. This was for a little girl, Emma, in our ward who was having a princess birthday/tea party. Emma requested a sleeping beauty cake. Rory was invited and dressed up as Sleeping Beauty, which is very fitting for her since she is also Aurora (Princess Aurora Ashlyn Leavitt).

Trick-or Treat!

Here's some pictures of Halloween night. Glen and I had a lot of fun dressing up with the girls. Glen was Hercules. His costume was definitely the winner! I was a witch--cackle, cackle, hee hee hee hee hee. Rory was bat-girl. She saved our lives several times that night. Isabella was a ladybug. She's always my little buggy. We did the trunk-or-treat thing this year. Rory trunk-or-treated her heart out, but Isabella stayed with me while I handed candy out. She wouldn't leave my side, even though I was a scary witch! :)

Halloween Wedding

Last week I made a wedding cake for a Halloween wedding held on Halloween night-something I never thought I would do.  The wedding guests had to go through a haunted house to enter the haunted wedding.  There were corpses, skulls, cobwebs (you get the picture) everywhere!  It was pretty morbid.  They had all kinds of drinks on ice in a coffin which I thought was pretty clever.  Rory came with me and Glen to drop the cake off and she was scared.  The funny thing about Rory is that she likes being scared.  She went through the haunted house twice and was really upset to find out we weren't actually staying for the wedding.  The bride and groom provided the lovely "love never dies" wedding topper.  

I'm glad there are people out there that will do crazy things to give us all a good laugh, cuz I know I would never do something like this!  But it was without question a lot of fun making the cake for such an occasion.

Rory's 5 Years Old!

Rory's 5th birthday has come and gone. I can't believe she's already 5. Time flies and your babies grow up. I know 5 is still so little, but it was just yesterday when I held her angelic and bold little spirit in my arms for the first time. She has been such a blessing and joy in my life. We have our moments, but each day she has brought new and wonderful things. She puts a smile on my face at least 20 times a day. There's never a dull moment with her, and she consistently says very profound things for such a little person. It's been so fun for Rory to be in Boulder City near all of her cousins, especially on her birthday. She misses Walnut Creek and her friends there, but she has a lot of advantages being so close to grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles and cousins. I love my Rorykins!

My New Love Affair: Yum!

Ok, I've found a new love in life, and you'll never guess what it is. Water. Yep, you heard me right. I said water. But this is not just any water. It's Chocolatemint Water from Metromint. Metromint first made (and still does) all kinds of mint waters like Peppermint, Spearmint, Lemonmint, Orangemint, and Cherrymint by using reverse-osmosis water, pesticide-free mint, and different essences (orange essence, lemon essence, cherry essence, etc.) which are basically essential oils. And now they've "turned water into chocolate". It basically tastes like the water version of Andes chocolate mints, if you can try and imagine that. It's not like eating chocolate, of course, but it's good-not to mention zero calories! However, it is pricey, so I don't get it all the time. But after a long hard day of chasing kids around, it's great to sit down, kick up my feet and quench my thirst with a nice refreshing bottle of chocolatemint water. Mmmm! What will they come up with next.