Halloween, Reformation Day, whatever you name it, as a child what you really want is the CANDY, right?
Personally, I am SO not into “trick or treating”. There is the whole spiritual aspect of it. . .how can I promote the beautiful and yet submerge my children into an ugly (of varying degrees) atmosphere on the streets downtown? Yes, this is highly debatable, and I realize it’s not as bad during the daylight hours, but we wouldn’t be able to go unless Rich was with us and he gets home after dark, which is mainly the time when all the creepier costumed ones appear. Have you noticed any of those masks? Weird. Not for my young children’s eyes thank you very much.
Granted, there are innocent ways of dressing up and celebrating with others, but there are no options (that I know of) for my family outside what we come up with ourselves in our own home.
Then, there is also the why- would- any -pregnant -mother-want -to- buy- or- make -costumes- for -five- children -and -then- walk- around -all -over- the- place- ringing- doorbells -with- them- and-saying -trick-or-treat -and -ending -up -with-five-huge- bags-of- candy- that- she- has -no -intention- of- letting- them- eat reason. Honestly. I just do not have the energy (or desire) for it.
Anyway, all that to say that my children DO know what they are missing, and this year I compromised with them by letting them each pick out one small bag of candy from the store. To make a fun activity for them and for me, we came home and they played with their candy so I could take pictures of it. I passed around vintage fiesta plates for them to create their candy designs on. Fiestaware and photography=fun for me. Playing with and eating lots of candy=fun for the children.
I think it’s important that when my children have a sense of missing out on something that “everyone else is doing”, that I fill them up with something just as good, if not better. It keeps their hearts happy, and shows them that I care. I want to show my children that our family life is not drudgery, it’s full and FUN!
(David’s masterpiece, on vintage yellow)
(Jacob’s skittles on turquoise)
(Ethan’s caramel candy corn, on vintage red)
(Grace’s Jolly Rancher Rainbow, on vintage Rose)
(Caleb’s tower of chocolate, on light green)
How many of you are craving candy now?
Have a wonderful Friday!
Love ~Shanda~
Good to be Home 
Happy Friday!! Happy Halloween!!
Very good idea. Ainsley’s school has a Harvest Party that we will be going to later on. I think that is a wonderful compromise and, of course, no ghoulish costumes are allowed. :)We did not trick or treat when we were kids either. But my parents knew that we were sad about missing out on the fun, too. They would get face paint and paint our faces and let us hand out candy for a little while before the really creepy costumes came out. We liked being the ones handing out the candy to the kids.
Mmmm…melty chocolate on little hands. Scrumptious!
Great idea! We don’t do the whole Halloween thing. Good thing I have m & m’s in the house today! =]
I’ll wrestle Caleb for those chocolates.! Happy Reformation Day to you as well. We made caramel apples to make the kids feel like they weren’t missing anything. Then we added St. Patrick’s Day to the max (since Patrick was a missionary and because my DH is half Irish). My daugther dresses her kids up as reformers and their church celebrates Reformation Day with a party. Now that is fun. Have a blessed day.
Yum, chocolate! For eating that is what I prefer….but for art the color is so pretty. You are always so creative! David and I have been reading about the Reformation of late. We are going to a youth game night as an alternative….yes, with snacks!
We don’t do the trick or treat thing either….the kid’s don’t really ask for it anymore as we always have a different activity planned for them….tonight it is pizza and make-your-own salad night at my sister’s house and then some games followed by making candied apples.
That is so fun! What a creative idea/alternative. We don’t participate in Halloween either, but I’ve yet to come up with a fun plan for this evening (or a kind way of keeping the doorbell from ringing all night)….I better get on it!
Our family did not “do” Halloween. We would have them explain that it was just not our tradition.We did what you have done…brought in the favorite candy for each. That is really all they wanted anyway.I will spare you and your readers my Halloween rant.I understand that people do have to evaluate this for themselves.Yummy candy photos!!!!I’m wishing I could reach into the screen and snag some of that chocolate goodness!Happy weekend!
I’m also one who cannot participate in a Holiday that is anything less then holy and think it’s important to teach our kids how this day really came about. I pray a special protection over my kids today and am always relieved when the day is over. There are certainly better ways of glorifying God and I liked some of your ideas. Thanks.
Yum that candy looks delicious!!!
Halloween used to be fun years and years ago ~ now it is just really scary. We leave our porch lights OFF! But I do think I will go get a piece of dark chocolate from my hoard ~
I agree 🙂 — and if I were in any other state of mind today besides morning sick, the candy would look wonderful 🙂 no, we don’t feel we are missing out on Halloween. There are plenty of other things to celebrate today instead of death, evil spirits, fear, and freakiness. Like life, and the harvest, and today is Reformation day in church history too… and so many other things worth celebrating like “no fear” because of Jesus Christ ! 🙂 but, hey nothing wrong with enjoying candy no matter what day it is ;)blessings to you – lys
Brilliant, just brilliant!!!And I’m thinking that Jacob’s plate would make a very frame-able piece of art. Very clever, with one “odd” piece in every set! That would totally sell on Etsy! lol!!!Alesha
Love this idea and love the last paragraph you wrote!
I am loving this idea. Also, I am NOT into trick-or-treating AT ALL. Like I mentioned, our church is having a party, so we’re planning to go. The kids will have fun, and it will be a nice distraction for me!
But, I am crazy. Yes, I halfway handmade their costumes (at least the skirt for Maryn and the vest for Sam) and I am SO VERY pregnant. To top that off, this morning I went to the fabric store. Big no-no. I MUST be getting ready to have Lucy b/c I ended up buying a bunch of fabric to make her a blanket out of. I’m crazy. CRAZY. I had this adrenaline rush–almost like a caffeine buzz–and it must be the energy spurt I’ve heard so much about but never experienced with my other two pregnancies. I truly feel crazy. She must be coming, right??? 🙂
um not candy but the CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!!! You’re SO mean!! No I need chocolate. But do I really need it?? NOPE…UGH:):):)
I know what you mean abou the Halloween thing. Same here. We are going to our church’s harvest party tonight instead! It’s complete with the annual pumpkin carving contest!! Much more fun and wholesome in my opinion!
i agree completely! i am not taking Anabelle (my daughter) out to see those horrid maked monsters! haha. instead we are attending a fall festival at the local church. it will be full of games and candy (which is all she cares about). i love what you and your children do together! just know you are an insperation to me 🙂 i am just getting back into xanga but def. subscribed!
God Bless!
-Kimberly
I totally agree with what you said. Our church in Seward has a Fall Party every year on this night. Since we aren’t there anymore, we will come up with our own family fun at home! And yes, I bought candy for the kids. Making caramel apples sounds like a yummy idea too! Cute idea with the candy and fiestaware. Love your creativity and your kids’ creativity! Great pics!
Well, since Halloween is also my birthday, I’ve always enjoyed trick-or-treating…but I understand what you’re saying, too. I’m personally a big fan of it, but we also have the no-scary rule. 🙂 I love the candy decorated plates, very creative and cute. I hope you have a marvelous weekend.
When I was in 4th grade, my family decided that we would not be going trick-or-treating…Our tradition became ordering in pizza and watching the new Disney movie on video…and it really became a family night for us…we still got to dress up for school though, which was fun..
I LOVE those plates with the candy on them; beautiful!!! Tonight our youth pastor and his wife are having a party at their house; lots of fun foods and games and pumpkin carving. We are opposed to the evil ghoulish things but from time to time have allowed our kids to go trick or treating. They do get into dressing up and use whatever we have in the house; it’s never scary. Just fun. Tomorrow I will be excited because thanksgiving and Christmas with all the beauty and meaning will be just around the corner! Have a wonderful weekend! love, Gail
I know I am! I have been thinking about Reeses Peanut Butter cups all day! LOL! What a great idea for creative play! My girls never went door to door, either. Our church always had an alternative to Halloween so they could dress up, play games and eat some junk. I totally agree that what you do for “instead” should be fun and satisfying.
Those are some of the most creative pictures I have ever seen. ! When I get my dream camera some day I’ll have to buy Fiestawear just for picture purposes!
What a great way to celebrate. I understand and agree with you on trick or treating. I do not let them get scary costumes and actually my first son has had the same costume for three years. Spending money on something they wear for a couple of hours seems ridiculous to me. However I will take them to some of the neighbors homes, because they request to see them and give them candy. Love the fiesta plates!
Good Compromise. I went to the Family Fun Night at FBC of Afton and saw the Ashworth girls costumes and got to chat with friends. Looks like it was beautiful day in CT too!
love your post! We never went trick or treating when I was growing up, but we always carved pumpkins together! It was so much fun. I never really felt like I was missing out on anything, we always got the leftover candy because we only had a handful of trickortreaters!!I can NOT imagine letting my kids play with candy. Wow, you know how to have some fun. I seriously need to chill out and let my kids truly enjoy life!!
Your a very wise mom but yet know how to have fun with your kids and that they are made to feel special. Not many celebrate Halloween here in Australia, so we don’t really think about it. I love the photos of the candy on different plates. Angela
i think that was such a great idea..i understand completely about the creepy costumes…we went to the pharmacy yesterday and i had the 2 little ones with me,we didn’t go inside but when we got to the drive up window,the 2 ladies that were in there,were all dressed creepy…i immediatly thought of the little ones and watched them to see their reaction….their eyes were big and they looked confused,i chose not to say anything and to leave it alone,hoping they don’t think about it when it time for bed!!..(when we had to go to walmart, i just avoided the ailes with people dressed creepy,i saw them before the kids did, it took a little longer to get through the store,and i got a bit more exercise then i’m used to..lol. (Eccl.9:5,6,10)
All very good candy choices. Impeccable taste.
I agree with you on the filling them up with something good and fun. You put into words what I’ve been trying to get at. Last night we made English Muffin Pizzas, popcorn balls, and ate in the living room; a very big treat! We watched the old black and white horror movies.
We don’t do Halloween here, either. Actually, after finding out the pagan roots of many of our holidays, we’ve quit celebrating most of them in the traditional ways. We don’t do Easter with eggs and bunnies, but I DO buy egg dye. Then, in the summer & fall, we dye eggs when no one else in town could buy egg dye if they had a million dollars. My girls call it “egg art” and that’s fine with me. I so agree with you about what my children’s eyes see!
What a great idea! If we decide not to trick-or-treat, I agree that we should do something special that night to make up for the “lack” of fun.
Love the candy “art”. Especially the skittles….they look great on the fiestaware!! It was refreshing to see how many people don’t endorse Halloween. Sometimes I feel like the loner.
This entry made me so hungry!
Very creative! Cute pictures and idea! 🙂
LOL…Claeb’s tower of chocolate is awesomeWe quite celebrating Halloween years ago…it has become so ugly and strange.Instead we attend our church’s harvest festival~ fun, oldfashioned games and silly costumes.
What a simple and creative way to let the kids enjoy some fun – another one from you that I will store away to use later. I always felt “rich” as a kid when I had my own little lot of candy like they each have in these pictures. This is another great memory you’ve made for your children.
I’m with you on the Halloween thing. . .always a bit of a struggle to me (the creepiness of it all), and I hate for my kids to have so much candy. . .makes them a little crazy. I wrote a post about it myself. . .
Me and there is none in the house!!