Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Halloween 2017

This year we didn't do the Countdown to Halloween like we have in past years - like in 20162015, 2014, 2013 (a big year with lots of activities and recipes we tried), and 2012 (another year with daily themes).

Even in 2011, 2010, 2009, and 2008 I posted about the girls' costumes, some Halloween recipes we made, activities we did with pumpkins, and the importance of keeping family traditions alive. 

During October 2017, we were doing the Whole30 program, so we weren't eating sugar, dairy products, grain, beans, corn, and some other items. It affected what we could eat leading up to Halloween. Making some of our favorite recipes from Halloween wasn't something we would be doing this year...perhaps in 2018 we will instead.

The focus this year was on costumes and trick-or-treating. Olivia dressed as a glow-in-the-dark stick figure. We took glow sticks and taped them with clear duct tape onto her jacket and pants. People who she visited thought the outfit was really clever and fun. She was happy she did it.


Sophia found a cape and raven mask this year to wear. This nice thing about this costume (as with Olivia's costume) is that the girls could wear warm clothes or coats as part of their costumes to keep warm.


The feather mask was beautiful. Sophia even did her make-up to complement the mask.


This is what the girls looked like together before they headed out to visit neighbors and friends.


There was some challenge with getting in and out of the car. Olivia's glow sticks didn't bend much, so she had to be careful as she moved about in the car.


The first visit was to our neighbors to the west. They are farmers and live in an old farm house like we do. They are such a nice couple, and we are fortunate to have them as neighbors.


One of the last stops we made was to visit Dan who had helped Olivia with the barn quilt trail project she did in 2015-16. He helped install every single barn quilt on the trail. Without him, the barn quilts would not be up for the community and  visitors to enjoy.


When the girls came home, they sorted their candy. Olivia grouped it by type on her bed.


Sophia grouped her candy (even though she couldn't eat it until November 1st) on the floor in Olivia's room. She had three dog-helpers with her - Danny, Aspen, and Scooby.


Even Cooper wanted to get in on the Halloween action. There's Danny in the background next to Sophia wearing his coat.


He's the first dog that we've had that needs warm clothing to wear in the house and outdoors. Even though the house is heated at 68 degrees year round, he needs sweaters when he's indoors and a coat when he goes outdoors in the Fall, Winter, and Spring. He now has a bathrobe that he wears which he seems to like. It's fleece - so it's warm and fuzzy for him.

Anyway...we had a great Halloween, and are continuing to make each year special in its own way.

1 comment:

Rita said...

Pretty mask and clever stickman costumes. Looks like it was a pretty good haul for the girls. How patient of them to wait till November 1st to eat any of it.

There's an Unprocessed October or something like that online, too. I heard about it through Bob's Red Mill website. Signed the pledge a couple of years, but didn't this last October. Forgot, actually, when I ordered my groceries for the month--LOL! :)