A couple of years ago, rather than hide in a dark house to avoid any kids coming to the door (Bah, Humbug!), I decided we needed a ritual that we could enjoy without the excessive candy element. So now we celebrate Samhain, the pagan festival that Halloween is, after all, based upon. It is a time to remember our ancestors, celebrate the harvest and make predictions for the coming year.
Today we carved jack o'lanterns and roasted the pumpkin seeds with oil, sugar and spices.
I finished making cloaks for the two younger boys. And tomorrow we're going to have a mini-pumpkin hunt in the garden....though the mini-pumpkins are actually satsuma oranges on which we have drawn jack o'lantern type faces. Not only is it cheaper to buy satsumas but we can actually eat them afterwards!
Some of our pumpkins are reversible with designs on both sides....here they are...
4 comments:
Everyone wanted to know if we were dressing up the baby this year, but I just don't see a point. He doesn't really know what's going on, trick or treating is right around his dinner and bedtime, and no one wants to put a 1 year old off his schedule! Besides, we are not vegan, but I strictly monitor his refined sugar, and a bag full of candy just wouldn't work for any of us.
I heard that a lot of kids get sick after Halloween - probably all that sugar causing a dip in the immune system. And it's not good for their teeth either!
Oh, I always regret letting my kids gorge the day after Halloween. But I still do it. Then I ply them with probiotics and chlorophyll and lots of water to flush their system, just in case. Luckily they always forget about their candy, so I can chuck it without tears or arguments or regret in a month.
Happy Spooky Autumn times, Nicola!
Nice jack-o-lanterns! We gave out candy to the few trick-or-treaters that we get. I must say that I like chocolate, the expensive stuff. If people would just give out the good stuff on Halloween I would dress up and go out begging!
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