Trick or Treat!

I was thinking that Halloween season has come earlier than usual this year (not that I'm complaining!) when I started noticing Dollar Tree and Big Lots putting out their Halloween items the first week of August. I honestly don't ever remember them putting them out so early...

But now I KNOW Halloween season is here ahead of schedule, lol. Yesterday, our mayor posted this graphic after an apparent barrage of questions concerning what day trick-or-treat will fall on this year. (I guess I'm not the only one already planning for this year's festivities.)

Anyway, you MIGHT think that question would be silly...but here in Putnam County, West Virginia, we're not too far removed from the Bible Belt. Per local custom, trick-or-treat is never held on Sunday or Wednesday since those are church days. Also, trick-or-treat is never held on Friday or Saturday for reasons I've yet to figure out. I guess they don't want us having too much fun, lol. So, that leaves trick-or-treat narrowed down to a Monday, Tuesday, or Thursday evening. 

Needless to say, trick-or-treat isn't always held on Halloween night. As an adult, I've come to terms with that, and in some cases, not having trick-or-treat ON the 31st works out to an advantage---it really stretches out the celebration! Still, there's something magical, especially to a child, about trick-or-treating on Halloween night, so I'm happy with the schedule.  Just, uh...don't get me started on the stupid time restraints! 

Animal Kingdom Trick-or-Treat

I love Halloween and I love sloths...so a little sloth dressed in a devil costume with a ghostly candy bag warms my heart. And yes, little anteater....raisins do NOT make good Halloween treats, lol. 

Luke's First Trick-or-Treat

Today my sister tagged me in this Facebook Memory that popped up on her feed, and I just had to share it with you all! This is my son, Luke, all dressed up for his very first trick-or-treat during Halloween 2010!

This wasn't Luke's first Halloween, however. When I was pregnant with Luke, the doctors gave us the estimated due date of October 31, 2009. I was thrilled at the possibility of having a Halloween baby. As things would turn out, that wasn't even close to what happened. I went into early labor with Luke at 28 weeks. My doctors managed to stop him from being born in August....but after a month-long stay in the hospital, I still ended up having Luke early. He was born on September 21, 2009, around 5 weeks before his projected Halloween birthday.

Due to an infection and some other complications from his premature birth, Luke spent some time in the NICU. When we were finally able to take him home, he was, for the most part, a fairly strong and healthy lil' guy. However, being born at the start of cold and flu season and having a compromised immune system, we were advised to keep in away from people as much as possible. So, when Halloween rolled around, I had to make the decision to NOT take him trick-or-treating. As much as I love Halloween, it was an easy decision to make, lol. Obviously, I wanted to keep my baby healthy, but since he was only a month old, he couldn't eat any of the candy, anyway. I resisted the urge to dress him up, and just put a cute pumpkin outfit on him. Since the start of trick-or-treat was fairly warm, I brought him outside for a few minutes to meet some neighbors he hadn't met yet, and then took him inside.

Therefore, it wouldn't be until Halloween 2010 that he'd finally be old enough to go out. We took him to Toys R Us where I paid way too much for a pirate costume, but it was adorable. We held up several choices of costume for him to pick from and he reached for the pirate. Unfortunately, that year was a little cold, so most of his outfit was covered with a blanket. Still, he got lots of lollipops that year, which he was allowed to have under strict supervision, and mommy got lots of other candy that he wasn't allowed to have, lol. He seemed to really enjoy the trick-or-treat process, and even managed to eke out some mumbled syllables that sounded enough like 'trick-or-treat' to elicit plenty of 'awws!' from people. It was, and always will be, one of my favorite Halloweens. 

Luke's 2015 Halloween Costume

It's August! The true countdown to Halloween has begun. In addition to starting our party planning, the family and I have begun tossing around costume ideas. Last year, Luke wanted to be a vampire. I found this surprisingly  complete and fair quality classic ensemble at Walmart for around $15. All we added was a little hair gel and some plastic fangs! We tried some white face makeup, but that was a fail. My son is just too hairy and it ended up looking weird. Fortunately for his costume, he's also pretty darn pale anyway, so it worked out.

This photo is of Luke getting ready to go to a party at our local YMCA. He had been taking swim lessons there for a couple of months, so I decided to take him while Aaron was working late on his radio show. We had an awesome time---tons of games, candy, a dance party, and seeing one of his swim instructors all decked out made for a fun evening. He wore the same costume to his school Halloween party, for trick-or-treat, and for my boyfriend's brother's party. And, almost a year later, I still think this costume is completely adorable. In a weird twist of fate, one of his best friends from the neighborhood decided SHE was going to be a vampire too. Her vampire dress complemented his suit so well it looked like they planned the whole thing. It really was the cutest thing EVER. I'm not sure he can top that this year, but I look forward to seeing what he comes up with.

Trick-or-Treat With the Grim Reaper

Trick-or-treat! Even Death can't resist the lure of chocolate! Check out these hilarious cartoons featuring everyone's favorite reaper of souls enjoying a Halloween night out on the town. 

Pirate's Cove Halloween

Catherine Holman is probably my favorite artist in the world. Her beautiful, yet sweet, Halloween paintings are exactly what I WANT small-town Halloween to look like: full of whimsy, full of nostalgia, and beautiful colors that SCREAM autumn. Over the course of this blog, I'll be posting many, many more works by Catherine Holman, but to get things started, I chose this one, entitled Pirate's Cove Halloween.

Here is what Catherine has to say about this image:

In Pirate's Cove as soon as the moon rises high in the sky, tiny goblins run from house to house giggling and gathering treats of caramel apples, popcorn balls, candy corn and various sweets and surprises. Adults and scared pets warm themselves by an inviting fire as they supervise their surroundings. Pirates anchor their ship in the cove curiously spying on these shenanigans as a ghost slips over the bridge chasing a very tiny witch and her suspicious black cat. This scary evening includes tiny tots and their bewildered dog dressed in strange uncomfortable attire being pulling by the wagon load through a small cemetery. Bugs and various creepy crawlers, pirates, mummies, and a superhero swarm the streets. A sweet princess being escorted by a mouse standing on two feet is about to magically fill her treat bag when she taps on the door, demurely smiles, and chants "trick or treat!"

If you'd like to own a Catherine Holman artwork, she sells originals through her website/Etsy Store...and Fine Art America offers prints in a variety of sizes and prices!