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. 

Fancy Halloween Cookies

This are some darn fancy Halloween cookies! These would be great to serve at an upscale, yet spooky, dinner party....but who could have the heart to actually EAT them?! They're more art than food! Anyway, this example is from the Cookie Connection website, said to be inspired by the work of Arty McGoo and Sweet Ambs.

Marshall the Marshmallow Boy

Meet Marshall, the little marshmallow boy! In this acrylic painting on wood paneling entitled 'Marshall Meets Jack' (2011), the cute lil' puffy kid encounters a rather creepy jack-o-lantern. This work of art is from 64 Colors. Check out the Flickr page HERE!

Scareview Grave School

Friday, October 14th marked National Haunted House Day, a day dedicated to supporting all those spooky, gruesome, and just plain FUN haunted house attractions out there! Due to prior commitments, we had to hold off the celebration until the next day when we visited Scareview Grave School!

Touted as WV's premier haunted house, Scareview Grave School definitely lives up to its reputation! I've been to a LOT of haunted houses over the years, and I'm always thrilled with what Scareview has to offer. Located in St. Albans, WV in the old Fairfield Grade School, this haunted house attraction is hosted by the West Side Volunteer Fire Department.

The fact that this event is hosted by the fire department is probably one of the reasons I love it so much. It really is a community event with proceeds going to a great cause. The admission price is extremely reasonable as well---it costs $10 per person, or $8 if you bring a donation of a non-perishable food item. Those food items are then donated to local food pantries. And for that price, you really get a great bang for your buck.

Like I said, I've been to many haunted houses, many with a much more expensive admission price, and they don't really measure up to what Scareview has to offer. The 20 minute walk takes you through a labyrinth of spooky scenes, covering two floors of the old schoolhouse. I don't want to give away any of the surprises, but many things that you find at more expensive for-profit haunts, you'll find here at Scareview. For an attraction that is put on by volunteers, every scene and every transition is well thought out, well staged, and well staffed---there are NO shortages of actors ready to pop out at every corner at you, which brings me to another really cool aspect that I love:

The scare actors seem to absolutely love and take pride in their work. The costumes are excellent, they stay in character, and they know how to entertain the crowd as you're waiting to enter the attraction. Back to the community aspect, many of the scare actors are students who are earning their school's community service requirement through work on the haunted house! How cool is that?

Pretty cool, if you ask me, lol. In fact, its all pretty cool. I don't really have any negative things to say about this attraction or how its ran. Everyone we encountered was super nice, there were excellent concessions available for fair prices, the house was fun and entertaining, and it was a great community event close to home. The wait time was a little longer than I'd like, but if you go early in the season or early in the evening, the wait time is usually no more than an hour. Oh, and did I mention that the building may actually be....haunted? But that's for another blog!

Until then, go check it out! It's open every Friday and Saturday through October 29th!

Halloween Obsession

I think I'm actually becoming MORE obsessed with Halloween as I get older! What about you?

Happy National Haunted House Day!

The second Friday in October is National Haunted House Day! Well...a group of dedicated haunters are at least trying to MAKE it an official holiday. If you're a fan of haunted house attractions, please consider supporting this initiative. The National Haunted House Day website has a list of ways you can show your support. I'll be showing MY support this Halloween season by patronizing some of the tri-state's best haunted house attractions---look for my reviews throughout the season, and stop over at Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State's Facebook page to let me know what YOUR favorite haunted house attraction is!

How Will You Die This Halloween?

Dude, this isn't even funny. According to this chart, I will die by being run over by a lawn mower by my own mom. If I would ever die by a lawn mower related accident, there's a 99% chance that it will be at the hands of my own mother. Recently, her riding lawn mower has been experiencing some steering problems. That combined with her already poor mower-driving skills is going to result in disaster. Just a few weeks ago, she almost killed HERSELF when she hit the light pole in her yard and flipped the mower over, jumping off just before being crushed.