Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween/Happy Reformation Day/Happy All Hallows Eve!

I know there are mixed reviews about what today represents and I have done some research and fall somewhere in the middle.  I tend to agree with Martin Luther when he says, 

"Perhaps instead of fleeing the darkness in fear, we should view Halloween as an opportunity to mock the enemy whose power over us has been broken."

You too can read here and here and develop your own opinion.

We do not agree with the ghosts/goblins etc.  but the innocence of children in costumes doesn't offend our conscience.  Although we aren't "against" trick or treating, we chose not to this year.  But we did something really fun and rewarding!!!

But first, this morning Everett's momma made and brought these DELICIOUS goodies to me as a happy.  If only you could taste these Oreo bon-bons...oh. my. word!

Karis even tried one before school and has requested one in her lunch everyday since, except they may or may not be already gone!

I had two come in costumes today but Ax wanted his off before I ever got a picture.  But didn't little Everett look adorable in his horsey costume?!  He is the cutest little horsey I've ever seen! :)

Ok so back to Halloween night, we got together with our friends Paige and Brian (and Nathan and Mari-Morgan), and John and Monica (and McKenzie, Madison and Morgan) and reached out to their neighborhood.  Instead of trick or treating, we grilled out 80 hot dogs and made gobs of hot chocolate and passed it out to the trick or treaters that came by. We also handed out candy and fliers for our church.  It was a HUGE hit and we were bombarded almost all night!  People couldn't believe we were just giving it all away and not selling it. It was neat to serve our community in that way.  Hopefully we will see some of them at our church on Sunday!

It didn't seem to bother the kids one bit that we weren't trick or treating and had a blast helping us.  And they were with friends so that is all they cared about anyway!

How many men does it take to work a flashlight haha?!

It was a Halloween I will never forget....so fun and rewarding without all the cavities!

Riverbend Fall Festival

This year our church had our Fall Festival hosted by some church members at their home and a blast was had by all. 

It was a face painting...

Field playin', dirt throwin', and tree climbin'....

Picture takin'....(ok that was just me)

Chilly, chips and dip, and smores eatin'.....

Fire playin'....

Hot dog roastin'....

Pumpkin posin'....

Pumpkin pickin'....

And pumpkin paintin'....

 Some hay ridin'....

Fire Warmin'....

Lucy lovin'...

....kind of fun!

Jay stayed home sick and as we were walking to the car, noticed our tire was FLAT!  Thanks to the 7 men that came to our rescue to change our flat tire in less than 5 minutes and another one followed us home to make sure we got home safe on our spare.  Thanks guys!

PTO Dress up party and a friend's birthday

Karis' school had a special PTO meeting where the kids could all wear costumes and then they got to take their baskets around to all the classrooms and their teachers would give them candy!  Karis really wanted to go but I am NOT big on the whole dressing up thing.  I don't make costumes and I certainly don't like to spend alot of money on them.  Mom has found several costumes over the years at yard sales and some have been gifts (cheerleading uniforms) and any others we have used are just ones we had around the house.  Karis chose to be a cowgirl because her best friend Mari-Morgan said that is what she was going to dress up as (which was easy, we had everything here!), Lucy wanted to be "Tangled" (Rapunzel) and she already had this dress because Nonnie had given it to her for her birthday  last year, and we broke down and let Brayden pick something out this year at Walmart.  He really wanted Superman but we couldn't find it in his size.  So a Ninja it was and he is so proud of it!

We got to school and Karis had to show us her picture on the bulletin board.

And we found Woody there too (Axton).  He looked so cute!

Karis with her buddy Ellie

Brayden with his buds Ethan and Eli...they are all incognito!

Me and Ax

Axton with his parents Brandon and Destin

We took the kids around to the classrooms and they loved it.  Lucy got the hang of it really quick!

Lucy especially liked it when we got around to Mrs. Destin's room (Axton's mom...she LOVES her!).

And when Lucy saw Mrs. Burchet, she was pushing people away to get to her!  (This is Everett's mom.)  Then she was eyeing her hat haha!

Lucy was so sweet to share her candy too.  All the way home she was passing some up to me and Jay...so giving.

Afterwards, we went out to eat with my buddy Marybeth and her family because today is her birthday.  She is such a good friend to me and I am so thankful for her friendship! We went to a local Mexican restaurant and they surprised her with a serenade and then pie in the face.  It was priceless!

I caught the very end of it on video....