{halloween firsts}

i hate halloween.

as a kid i never tricked nor did i really treat.  i was terrified of the scary costumes, scared of going down the dark streets, and i hated asking strangers to give me something for nothing.

yes, i think i was a freak of a child.

but my church did AMAZING fall festivals.  old school.  hay rides, bonfires, barn parties, bobbing for apples, sing-alongs.....i loved it.

this year we had some halloween firsts.  {it's late.  i'm tired.  i'll blog more on costumes, etc. later, but this is what you get today.  *grin*}

our Halloween firsts:

* i read about martin luther this morning, hoping to focus more on the importance of his mark on this day rather than on candy.  and consuming it.

* we went door-to-door in our neighborhood.  ok, 3 houses.  that's 2 more than previous years.

* we had a theme for our costumes.  i bet you'd never guess.....

* a trick or treater at our door was collecting candy for his sister b/c "she's on house arrest.  and puking."

* i made doh doh's costume. 

* i'm homeroom mom for bubba's class.  we had a busy, chaotic, and exhausting weekend.  my man & i were stuffing goody bags at 10:30 last night. 

* i am disgusted by the over-indulgence of our country.  THAT'S NOT A FIRST.  so much was given for his class bags that i saved half of it for our christmas party.  oh yes, i did.  and if i had made the bags ahead of time i would've called one of the lesser privileged schools and asked if we could "gift" goody bags to 3 classes.  yes, THREE.  {maybe next year}

* we dumped all school and church fall festival candy into buckets and handed it out instead of opening the candy i had bought.  we still have 2 buckets.

* we had more trick-or-treaters this year than we've ever had.  fun for my kids b/c they prefer to hand it out rather than going themselves.  (after we hit the grandparents' houses, of course.)  i love this about my kids.  it's better to give than to receive.

* i've made plans for next year.  it's ok to giggle.  i'm not much of a planner....ok, i'm not a planner.  but i think next year we'll hit the grandparents' houses even earlier...then snag a pizza & hang out while giving.  instead of receiving.  we just had way too much fun as a family.

* i just realized i served the exact same meal tonight as i did last year.  stouffer's "mac-a-pony" cheese & strawberries.  wow.

so, what did you do for halloween?