An IPhone Halloween

I'm not going to explain anymore why I'm only posting pics from my phone.

Because-- I'm too lazy to find my camera cord.  Ok?!!!  

(I secretly love blurry phone pictures... Don't you?)

Halloween.

Usually I LOVE holidays.

This year I dreaded the thought of dress-up and... effort.

We have always done a family theme and I just knew I didn't have it in me to sew costumes like I have in years past.

When Heavenly Angels whispered "Nerds" into my ears I rejoiced!

Because this year I had just enough effort for Nerds.  

It was perfect.

I felt myself come back to life as the holiday approached.

I was forced to decorate a pumpkin with Lily for her Kindergarten class.  (Actually, we ended up using a butternut squash.)  I did not want to do it-- but being creative felt so good.  I was stretching muscles I haven't used in a long time.

(We made a CAT-- she told them it was a BAT.)

Just having a pumpkin on my table made me smile.

We bought cider, we went to an apple orchard and a barn dance.

I didn't WANT to do any of these things, but (like riding a bike) as I did them I felt familiar.

Little by little the joy of the season seeped through my dread of mess and effort.

Halloween through the eyes of children is fun and magical!

We did it!  The whole shebang.

And, it was HARD.

There were meltdowns and messes and I had to use every ounce of motherly magic to calm the waves and herd the nerds... But, it was a great day.

Unlike my children, I do NOT like carving pumpkins.  Messy and wasteful- I like to keep my pumps to decorate for Thanksgiving.

I never would have made pumpkin rolls if my sister in law didn't push me a bit, saying how cute they were.  AND, they were easy and darling.

Piping ghosts into our stew took 2 minutes.  Two.  And, I smiled through dinner.  

I know the Professor was not happy to take a family picture before we went Trick or Treating (in the rain, with a tired baby).  But, he did it. He parted his hair and smiled big.  And later, he was glad.

{My girls have Leprosy.  This rash-like stuff on the insides of their legs.  I can't figure out if it's dry skin (it's crazy dry here) or yeast or a virus?  Anyway-- that was a crazy part of getting everyone dressed amidst the tears. Yes- crazy but fun.}

Todd explained that he "Just didn't get as much intrinsic enjoyment out of trick or treating as I did."  And, I laughed.

Just so you know-- just so he knows--

I don't get intrinsic enjoyment out of Halloween. I PRETEND I like it for the sake of my kids.  And, somewhere AS I'm pretending, I find myself really happy. That usually happens in the middle.  Because, the beginning and the end are hard.

Just sayin.

I do find intrinsic pleasure in a mashed potato ghost piped in my stew, however.

With pea eyes.  Ghostly stew increases my, um, endorphins.  I have intrinsic pea-eye endorphins that my husband doesn't have.

I also have silly-smile endorphins. Eve's silly smile while wearing nerd glasses makes me tingly happy.

And, I really do love Thanksgiving.

Naturally.

So, In the spirit of Thanksgiving, let me start by saying how thankful I am that Halloween is a year away!

(And, when I threatened to eat all of Leah's candy if she didn't hurry and put her shoes on, she told me that it was all gone.  Ha!  Before school even started!  Perfect.)

Life is good- this first day of November!