I had intended to post my first Christmas blog of the season yesterday, but every time I went to push “publish” it didn’t feel right, and I think it’s because I didn’t give Halloween its due. I love the spooky craziness of Halloween and we always have a fun time dressing up, trick-or-treating around our neighborhood, and gorging ourselves on chocolate. But if I’m being honest, as much as I love Halloween, I’m usually anxious to move past it—without much hoopla and fanfare—and envelope myself in my beloved “holiday season” (November and December). That was before The Year That Must Not Be Named, though.
It’s been quite a long haul since March, and I think everyone is beyond ready for the peace and joy that only this time of year can offer. I know I am. So, once October hit, I jump-started my plans for making this the best season ever for my family, jotting down all sorts of ideas for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, even my children’s birthdays, which happen to fall in December and January (sadly, we won’t be hosting big birthday bashes this year). My kids have been so amazing and resilient throughout this crap year, even after they knew everyone else was finding their way back to normal (if you’ve been following along, my family has pretty much maintained “lock-down” status, although we have ventured out in some ways). It’s been hard as hell and we’ve had our share of struggles along the way, but overall, my kids have handled their business far better than I could have hoped, and they’re only 6 and 4! Which means I’m determined to give them the holliest and jolliest of holidays in whatever ways I can! And if Halloween is any indication, this could be one of the best Thanksgivings and Christmases we’ve had in a while.
What I find most interesting about Halloween this year is that I didn’t plan anything extraordinary and yet it was … an All Hallows Eve to write home about! My husband and I hemmed and hawed for weeks about trick-or-treating (for obvious reasons); yes, we are scaredy cats. I knew it would be a last-minute decision so in the interim I put together an outdoor Halloween scavenger hunt and printed out some colorful spiders for a homemade “pin the spider on the spiderweb” game (my husband drew the coolest-looking spiderweb!) I also whipped up some ghastly goodies: ghoulish chili, mummy dogs, witch fingers dipped in “blood,” spiderweb fries (also dipped in “blood”), and ghost cupcakes—all while listening to some creepy Halloween tunes on Pandora, including the awesome “Thriller,” “Ghostbusters,” “Monster Mash,” and “The Adams Family.” And we made up goody bags stuffed with candy for our trick-or-treat table in the driveway.
We started our afternoon around 3 p.m. with the scavenger hunt. Now, if you remember back in March I had put together an indoor hunt for my kids to give them something fun to do while stuck in the house all day every day and it totally bombed. LOL! (Hey, at least I tried, right?!) I wasn’t sure what to expect this time around, but I needn’t have worried; my kids LOVED it! They ran all over the backyard—in full costume, of course—in search of a tombstone, a witch’s broom, a rat skeleton, a pumpkin, a candy bar, a cobweb, a whole list of frightful finds! And at the end, naturally, they rewarded themselves with some chocolate (a Twix!). My husband and I rewarded ourselves, too, with a luscious IPA as we sat back and watched! 🤣 (Seriously, though, if you like IPA, give Founders Brewing’s Centennial IPA a shot. It’s divine!)
Next up, we all played “pin the spider on the spiderweb”—so much fun!! My husband taped the web to the back of our house, blindfolded our daughter (she always volunteers to go first), and we were off! Everyone handled their business except momma, who was terrible and kept heading off in the opposite direction of the web, LMAO! It’s a good thing our deck has a high railing because otherwise I would have ended up flat on my face in the dirt below. We each took two turns around the web, and my daughter came out the winner. 😊 There was a lot of stumbling (on my part!), teasing, and laughter; honestly, it was my favorite part of the day, believe it or not. I never expected this game to be such a hit, but even my husband commented on how much fun he had playing with the kids.
By the time our game was over, it was 4:15 p.m. so we spiffed up our costumes and headed out for some trick-or-treating. My husband and I decided we just couldn’t deny our kids the joy of parading around our neighborhood in their Incredible Hulk and Wonder Woman costumes. Our compromise was that we would stay within our immediate neighborhood, visit only a few houses, wear masks and use hand sanitizer, and wait until we got home before eating any goodies. It worked out perfectly, too, because it wasn’t long before my son started asking if we could go home, haha! Happens every year … they want to go trick-or-treating so bad but then after only a few houses: “my feet hurt,” “it’s cold out,” “I’m tired,” “can we go home now?” Ya gotta love kids!!
Anyways, back at home, we gobbled up our morbid morsels (those witch fingers dunked in “blood” were delectable; credit goes to my husband because he made them), watched It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, and readied to join our Halloween Zoom call for a mummy-wrapping contest with my sister- and brother-in-law and the kids’ cousins (this was my sister-in-law’s idea, I can’t take any credit). It took approximately five minutes for our partners to cover us from head to toe in toilet paper (my son and daughter were one team, my husband and I the other) and then we all had to try walking while bundled up like a mummy. It was a lot harder than you might think—the toilet paper kept ripping, no one could stand still, toilet paper was all over the floor in our family room—but we couldn’t stop laughing and the kids had a blast! In the end, no one really “won” the contest, but it didn’t matter. It was all about making a mess and just being together with family, even if it was across a computer screen.
We ended our night with the ghost cupcakes: a mini chocolate quinoa cupcake covered with a whipped cream “ghost” that had chocolate chips for eyes. I chose an easy recipe so my kids could decorate them on their own. I think they had more fun spraying the whipped cream than they did eating the cupcakes!
Throughout the whole day, the kids kept telling us how much fun they were having and how it was “the best day ever,” which made us feel like a million bucks because we really didn’t do anything other than give them our time. But that’s been the overarching theme for this whole godforsaken year, hasn’t it? Time. Simplicity. Slowing down. Being present. Seeking out those special moments. Making memories to last a lifetime.
For sure, this Halloween is going down in the books as one of my favorites. It truly was a special day for all of us. My husband and I were still talking about it last night and I think it’s because we needed this just as much as (if not more than) our children did. This opportunity to forget all our cares, responsibilities, and worries and just play. And if we can feel that happy and festive and fulfilled on Halloween, well, then, I can only imagine the magic that’s in store for our beloved Thanksgiving and Christmas. Because let me tell you, I’ve got sugarplums, baby, sugarplums dancing in my head for how we’re going to celebrate the holidays this year. And I absolutely, positively cannot wait to share them.
So, while our Super Spooktacular Halloween may be over, the holly jolly holiday season has only just begun. Stay tuned!