Happy Halloween...

...from our house to yours.

'twas the Night Before Halloween

John and John-Heath carving Mr. Jack-O-Lantern!

Welcome Back, October!

Riding down the road on a rainy October night, their coats flying out behind them in the wind, come two horsemen.  As a car approaches, the riders signal for it to stop.

“Which way to Charlottesburg?”, shouts one of them and the driver of the car begins to give directions, but before the words have left his lips the two men ride off into the night.  Who are they and where do they come from?  Why do they ask everyone they meet the same question?

Motorists who have seen their faces have hurried on for they say the faces are too horrifying to describe and are the faces of men long dead.  Year after year this dreadful pair comes riding, riding out of the past, out of the world of the dead.  They come with a message to deliver.

Listen to their story and when you meet them some rainy October night you will know why they still ride.

Ahhh...October.  How I have missed your stories!

Image via

Halloween Recap – Part 3 Assessing the Holiday: Things I Applaud and Things I Boo.

Okay. This will be my last Halloween post. I promise...I think.

Because I can be, well, somewhat opinionated I thought I would make a little list of things about Halloween that I truly enjoy and things that get under my skin, and because I am a blogger, well, that makes my opinions worth reading. Right? Are you still there, reader?

Things I Adore About Halloween

Children in Costumes
Tell me. Are there many things sweeter than children dressed up as ballerinas and ladybugs, pirates and cowboys? I think not. And, by the way, my favorites are always the handmade and/or crafty ones. $4, a trip to the local Goodwill, and some hair paint and you’ve got yourself a Beetlejuice! Seriously, a friend’s son dressed as this and it was amazing! It was like I was looking at pictures of Michael Keaton.

Schools that Allow Children to Dress in Costume
Thankfully, my son’s school is tolerant of children being children and allows them to wear their costumes to school on Halloween.

Decorations
Mums, shocks of corn, pumpkins, and fall leaves. Is it a coincidence that these wonderful creations in nature are each at their best at the same time of the year? Again, I think not. There is no better designer/decorator than God.

Traditions
Old and new ones, Trick-or-Treating, Trunk-or-Treating, a plastic orange pumpkin ready to be filled with candy, porch lights that are on, real carved pumpkins, making treat bags for the school party, visiting with friends, supper with family, and, yes, even toilet paper hanging from my trees and my kids on a sugar high for a day or two.

Things About Halloween That Are Like Nails Down a Chalk Board to Me

No Costume, No Candy
There is no welfare system in Halloween. If you want some candy, you need to work for it. Dress the part. Put forth some effort. Teens and young adults of the world (and even old adults), I will gladly honor Halloween and give you candy when you knock on my door, but only if you honor it by dressing up as something other than a “teenager”. Pretending you're Bella Swan won’t cut it either unless you have a pale, sparkly Edward on your arm.

Tacky Costumes
Yes, I am speaking to you, unwed teen mother who showed up at the CHURCH-SPONSORED trunk-or-treat a few years ago with a midriff shirt on and had your large, about-to-pop belly painted as a pumpkin! Same goes for people attending this same event dressed as THE DEVIL! Enough said.

Schools that Won’t Allow Costumes on Halloween
Come on now, really? As a teacher, I'm all for learning. However, must we be so test-crazy that we refuse to let kids be kids just a few times during the year or so scared of a lawsuit from the parents of the one kid in school who finds it offensive? Relax a little. Take a break from the rigidity of paced lessons or, better yet, study about the holiday. What a novel idea! And for those of you with perpetually jerking knees, buck up and grow a backbone! The other 99.9% of children have rights, too, you know.

Decorations
For the love of all that is good and decent, pleeeeaaaasssseeee take down your Halloween -themed yard decorations in a timely manner. If you are going Christmas shopping for early bird specials the day after Thanksgiving and you walk by the twenty-foot high inflatable ghost in your yard on the way to your car, there are some priorities MIA. This is true of all holidays, though. Christmas lights hanging above Easter eggs are also just as wrong. On the other hand, pumpkins, unless they have facial features, corn and mums are permissible throughout November, so says me.

Trunk-or-Treating
What? Wasn’t this on the good list? Yes. Yes, it was. Here’s the thing, though. I have no problem with Trunk-or-Treat. In fact, I love it, think it serves a great purpose as a community event, and have taken my children to the one in our town for a few years now. It provides a good alternative for people who are new to town, live outside of town or in unsafe neighborhoods, etc. It can also be a type of ministry when done by churches. My problem with it is this...I do not like it when it is in lieu of real trick-or-treating. I miss neighborhoods with porch lights aglow and the sound of crunching leaves and acorn tops under the feet of children walking through yards. Now, especially when your town declares that the night of the community Trunk-or-Treat will be the night of official celebration, most lights are off because most people are lined up in town. I just think it’s kinda sad. And since I am a nostalgic person I say, “Town of Tyla, make the Saturday before Halloween the Official Trunk-or-Treat Event and celebrate Halloween on Oct. 31!” Remember, I’m a blogger so what I say counts for something. Doesn’t it? Are you still there? Hello?

Halloween Recap - Part 2

Finally, it was time for the big night! After running his coat through the washer to remove the grass stains and chocolate milk that hitched a ride home from school, it was time to get all dressed up again. He agonized over letting me touch up his moustache. Someone had laughed at him at school. “Because it’s funny", I said. I don’t think he was buying the “they were laughing with you not at you” explanation, though.

We made most of our normal rounds before heading to my sister’s for our family’s annual Halloween dinner and marshmallow roast. Some of our friends, however, did not have their porch light on when we passed so I am assuming they celebrated earlier. The night before. On October 30.

After stopping by to see John’s sister and mother we went to Ms. Susie’s and Mr. Joey’s (formerly aka “Halloween Man” to John-Heath because Halloween was the only time he was ever around him). Ms. Susie’s parents live next door and were outside when we arrived so he was able to trick-or-treat there, too.

This little trip to the Turner Station community is one of our most favorite stops. It’s also one of our longest, as we go in and visit for a while. Susie and I catch up on gossip, Joey and John discuss an assortment of different topics, and John-Heath just prowls. I’m just surprised he hasn’t asked to use their restroom yet to see what’s in their medicine cabinet.

Susie’s home is always so warmly decorated for the holidays it needs to be in an edition of Country Living. I really do love going there – even if she does have the cleanest, slickest floors known to man and I have come close to having my backside meet the hardwood many a time sliding across a braided rug. Of course, it doesn't help that I am the clumsiest person known to man.

During this year’s visit John-Heath slipped out the front door and was gone for a few minutes. When he returned it didn’t take long to realize where he had been when he tried to speak with a mouthful of candy. He had paid a return visit to Susie’s mom and dad seeking more candy.

Then as we loaded up in the car to leave, he hinted to Joey that Ren (who had sat in the car the whole time because she is sixteen and sixteen-year-olds are grumpy and whiny and too old for such nonsense) would like some candy. Joey, easily one of the most obliging men you could ever meet, went to get some, only to hear John-Heath say when he returned to our car with the candy, “She doesn’t need it so I guess I’ll just keep it.” Have I ever told you what a big sweet tooth my son has? It’s a good thing he regularly practices oral hygiene.

At this point it was roughly six o’clock. We were expected at my sister’s at 5:30. Sounds about right. However, we had one more stop to make – Ye Old Tyme Fudge Shoppe. Actually, it was my friend Jean’s house. She always treats her visiting spooks (and their parents) to her homemade fudge. We have gone since Ren was in Jean’s first grade class. Mmmmm! Chocolate fudge, peanut butter fudge, which is my personal favorite, and orange creamsicle fudge, which tastes a lot like an orange push-up. I’m not sure what we’re going to do when John-Heath gets too old for trick-or-treating. Maybe Jean will take pity on us and allow us to still stop by. I’d gladly don a costume for it.

Finally, we arrived at my sister’s. I always like to get a picture of John-Heath and “the boys” in costume together. “The boys” are my great-nephews and are always referred to as “the boys” by John-Heath. “The boys” weren’t in costume. They were in costume on Sunday night. October 30. The night before Halloween. Because my town officially celebrated on Oct. 30.


My sister had made Taco Soup, which was delish, and we had hotdogs and chips, an orange Halloween cake, and smores, and I got all domesticated and made EVIL EYE CUPCAKES (and a few that turned out looking somewhat like turkeys).







Ren and I did too many imitations of Damon Wayans’ Major Payne character for my nephew and his wife, who said they would pray for us. Really, though, aside from a little, I will admit, salty language, parts of this movie crack us up.

PAYNE: What's the matter, boy? Are you deaf or just plain stupid?
RED-HEADED KID (trying to be helpful): Actually, sir, he is deaf.
PAYNE (to red-headed kid): Oh, I'm sorry. NOW DROP down AND GIVE ME 25 MORE FOR SPEAKIN’ OUTTA LINE!

All in all, this Halloween was great - both nights of it...but we're not nearly as wild and out of control as the above picture suggests.

Halloween Recap 2011 - Part 1

Dr. John-Heath waiting for Trunk-or-Treat to begin.

Welp, it’s November 1 and you know what that means, another October 31 has come and gone. Have I told you how much I enjoy Halloween? I do. Bunches.

With some buddies,...

So, here’s my recap - and let me go ahead and apologize for its length (I will probably have to do it in two, maybe even three posts). It’s mainly a diary entry for my kids to one day read, but if you are a glutton for punishment, enjoy watching other people’s vacation footage and looking at their pictures (like the author of this here blog), or are stalking me go ahead and feel free to take a peek.

...his cousin Makayla

This year, because of what I thought at the time was a really dumb decision on the part of my town to - and I quote - “officially celebrate Halloween on Sunday, October 30 from 5:00 – 8:00 p.m.”, the holiday became a two-day celebration for my family and many of my friends.

In all fairness to those in charge of the local update to the calendar, I somewhat understand what they were thinking…since our chamber and one of our churches were sponsoring Trunk or Treat on Sunday evening, it would just make sense to go ahead and let our citizenry get all Halloween related frivolity out of its system.

...and a stylin' dude.

As I said, I understand what they were thinking, I just don’t agree with it. There was no way my family (excluding my husband who is not known for his celebratory nature anyway) was going to go without reveling in a good dose of Halloween fun on the actual day of Halloween! I can’t complain too much though. The change enabled us to get more “wear and tear” from John-Heath’s costume. In all, he wore it for three events.

Ren helping out at Trunk-or-Treat.

There was the Sunday evening Trunk or Treat. And boy, let me tell ya, offer free candy and people come out of the woodwork! I think the population of my small town more than doubled that night. I don’t know if we’ll go back next year, though. I am highly sensitive to smoke and, as luck would have it, the family in front of me decided they would pass the time waiting for the event to begin by smoking. A lot. Into my face. So, until an ordinance gets passed that keeps people from lighting up in the park, I may have to sit that one out.

You never know who'll turn up at TT. John-Heath with his principal (l) and teacher (r).

And while I am on the subject of a smoke-related topic, let me just say that our civil defense is awesome!!! Not only do they stand ready to help out in many a true crisis, whether it be a fire, automobile accident, or plane crash, they were more than willing to help me with a fashion emergency. As a doctor, John-Heath needed a pair of gloves (he was down to one blue one). John stopped at school and borrowed a pair from the nurse’s office. No good. They were clear and wouldn’t show up. That’s when I said we needed to find an ambulance or fire engine. Voila! The civil defense! Bless their hearts they even tried to find a smaller pair to better fit him (their idea, not mine…I know not to look a gift horse in the mouth).

After a tasty meal at our Mexican restaurant, where Ren acted embarrassed to be seen in her Minnie Mouse costume after only being seen by 4,000 people earlier at the park, it was time to head home.

The next day was party day at John-Heath's school! It was the most calm, disciplined school party I have ever attended. God bless my son’s teacher. I love her. I really do. Not only for how much my son loves her and for how much he is learning, but for the control she exhibits and commands. With the tapping of her fingers children sit. I, on the other hand, sometimes feel I launch into an Estelle Costanza routine when trying to get someone (mainly, in my house) to listen to me. GEORGE LIKES THE BANANAS!

This is the only pic I was able to get of him at school...passing out his chips and treat bags. He would dutifully ask, in a hushed whisper, each classmate to indicate what kind they wanted and they would point to the picture on the back of the bag. Then he would search for the desired chips. My boy and the rest of the kiddos did this with near perfect precision. It was as if I was watching one of those silent drill Marine platoons.

To be continued...

PS I Haaaaatttteeee BLOGGER! Please forgive the ridiculously spaced pictures and text!

Happy Hauntings!

From our home to yours, "Happy Halloween!"
And as my son the one-glove doctor would say,

(and he's been practicing for days)

Trick or treat.

Smell my feet.

Give me something good to eat.

If you don't, I don't care.

I'll pull down your underwear!

Ghosts of Halloweens Past

Tell me, where does the time go?

Ren

Clown - (1 month old)

Elephant - (1 yr.)

Winnie the Pooh - (2)

Big Bird - (3)

Lady Bug - (4)

Raggedy Ann - (5)

Wicked Witch of the West - (6)

Egyptian Princess - (7)

Flapper Girl - (8)

I believe this was after we had watched Chicago, another one of my less than prudent moments as a mother.

50's Girl - (9)

Gypsy - (10)

Cat Woman - (11)

This was meant to fit tightly, and boy did it ever! You can tell where the pleather started ripping.

Pricess Leia - (12)

She still has yet to forgive me for making her wear this. I wanted her to match her brother, Yoda.

Mardi Gras Mask - (13)

A Bronco's Fan - (14)

Last year, she was sick and didn't dress up.

John-Heath

Lamb (5 months)

Ghost (1)

Yoda (2)

Cowboy (3)

Pirate (4)

Monster (5)

The Aftermath of Halloween Gluttony.

I just shamelessly ripped off this picture from a friend's Facebook album. She had posted it last year and I remembered how funny I thought it was. This year, I have seen TONS of these non-traditional jack-o-lanterns (jack-o-lanterns giving birth, jack-o-lanterns eating smaller jack-o-lanterns, and the list goes on). You name it, someone's carved it. But Wendy's was the first (at least the first I had ever seen).

I know it's way too lofty a wish, but I hope this is not John-Heath come Tuesday morning.

Trunk or Treat?

The ghooostly trunk in its current place in our media room.

As I was saying last night, Ren, my daughter with a healthy appetite for all things commercially spooky, will not step foot around a certain item in our house unless she’s with someone. While she revels in mass-produced fear, she does not like anything with even the tiniest ingredient of reality.

Years ago, when we were first married and long before Ren was even on our horizon, John and I lived in his family’s...well, I would say ancestral home, but that brings to mind images of castles and large iron gates and I’m only talking about an old farm house...anyway, we lived in the home that had been built by his great-grandfather and, at one time or another, had housed many family members (Great-grandpa John Franklin had 18 children). Once the last of the 18 had grown up and moved away and Granny C had died, the house was occupied by tenant farmers who worked for the family in exchange for a place to stay, etc., until John and I married and decided to restore the house to use as our own residence.

Once we moved in, my husband’s grandmother would often ask if we ever heard or saw anything - indicating she remembered some occurrences during her tenure in the house, but we usually just politely shook our heads in disbelief (although I have to be honest and profess that I have always believed in the possibility of ghosts).

Our little farmhouse consisted of three bedrooms, one bath, a den, kitchen, study (the former parlor), the traditional central hallway common in that style home, and two attic spaces. Directly above our room, which was on the back of the house, was one of the attics which housed a lot of old family stuff, as we were too newly married to have stuff of our own to store .

It wasn’t long until, thanks to Nannie’s tales and the creaks and pops common among old houses, I had scared my young self (I was only 20 at the time) into being afraid to be alone in the house at night, or even being the only one awake in the house at night. Of course, it didn’t help that, in its early years, more than one person had died in the home, another person mad at the family hung himself from a tree not far from the home, still yet another person was killed in an accident at a sawmill located on our land in what would one day become, basically, our front yard, and that the funeral for John’s great-grandfather had actually taken place right there in the home.

Late one night, John and I were simultaneously awakened by a huge crash onto the attic floor above us. After some initial, wide-eyed questioning including "what was that", we lay in bed listening to the sound of the object being dragged across the attic, which ran the length of the house. Whatever the item, it was large and heavy. The only thing in the attic at that time of any significant weight was an old trunk which had belonged to John’s great uncle Floyd who used it when he enrolled at Cumberland Law School upon returning from WWI. During its days of storage in our attic it was chock full of the law books used by Floyd (and all the other brothers who eventually graduated from the same law program). Needless to say, we decided against going up just then to take a peek and saved any further investigating until daylight.

The next morning, upon making our way up the stairs and slowly opening the attic door, we fully expected to find things in disarray. What we found, given what we heard during the night, was even more unsettling. Nothing had been moved. Everything was as it had always been.

A Pictorial Halloween Wrap-up

Don't say I didn't warn you. A few posts ago I promised you pictures - and pictures I have delivered! If you are a visitor from afar, like maybe Bangkok, please forgive. These, I suppose, are more for family and friends, though you are most certainly welcome to look too. Enjoy!

Wednesday, Oct. 27

John-Heath's Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

With some buddies on the hayride.

A perfect little pumpkin. That orange gourd-like squash was pretty nice too.

It's hard work finding just the right pumpkin. This boy was getting tired.

You know what cures tiredness? Watching a pumpkin get shot from a giant gun!!!

That was awesome!!!

Thursday, Oct. 28

The Night Before the Class Halloween Party

Time to make the goody bags.

John-Heath helped by sorting and counting.

After a name tag, spider and some ribbon we're all done!

Time to take the costume and make-up for a test run. I must say that after this, a party, another party, and Halloween night, we got our money's worth from the colored hairspray and face paint.

Friday, Oct. 29

John-Heath's Kindergarten Class Party

John-Heath and his cousin Jessie the Cowgirl.

A monster and a Ninja make good friends.

I feel sugar-induced wildness coming on.

Saturday, Oct. 30

A Halloween Get-together for Friends from Church

Look at what showed up. Three monsters...

a creepy bride and her grandson...

a Christmas tree and mouse...

A glass of milk and a chocolate chip cookie...

a cereal killer...

a cat...(Jessie, notice that this is NOT posted on Facebook :>). Hope you approve)

A beautiful fairy...

and, finally, some girl dressed as a teenager who didn't feel good and chose not to dress up.

A wagon full of spooks.

Sunday, Oct. 31

Halloween

John-Heath posing on the front porch with his little pumpkin - the only one he wanted us to carve.

The first stop of the night. We typically only hit a few houses and these include Mr. Scott's and Ms. Rachel's (shown above), Halloween Man and Mrs. Halloween Man (a.k.a. Mr. Joey and Ms. Susie), Ms. Jean (she gives out homemade fudge so we will always go there, even when our kids have grown up and moved away), and family. Sadly, this was the first year we weren't able to visit with Ms. Mabel, as she has moved to an assisted living facility out of town.

Pooh has left the 100 Acre Wood to visit our hometown Trunk or Treat event.

Mr. Myers is giving Haddonfield, Ill. the night off and he's brought along some friends to celebrate Trunk or Treat.

My camera worked beautifully all night long - except for this one shot. If you'll look closely, you'll see John-Heath (in the middle) and Ms. Sherry (to his left). A better picture of them is below. If you'll look to John-Heath's right you'll see some other person. We think this may be the reason behind the paranormal activity going on here. ;>)

John-Heath with Ms. Sherry and her trunk.

My front door wishing you a wonderful Halloween 2010.