In January, I’m not too terribly interested in reminiscing about Halloween. For me, January is a time for cleaning house, slimming down, and getting an handle on all those things that fell through the cracks during our busy Christmas season.
Well, my first order of business was to bring my blog posts up to date. And that’s when I realized that I didn’t write a post about Halloween. So there weren’t any pictures of Andrew and Sylvia in costume. For heaven’s sakes, that just won’t stand. So here at dotzourfamily.com, the standard mode of operating has shifted. I used to walk around composing blog posts in my head. Something would happen, and I would feel all twitchy until I wrote it down. It was an “as it happens” kinda blog. I also spent time writing blog posts that were less about what was happening and was more about what I was thinking. Personally, I’m more interested in reading blogs that fall into the latter camp.
However, in the recent past, my blog posts provide framework to photos. They’re written to record the passing of events in our lives and to share stories about our days with our far-flung family and friends. But…perhaps because my mind and energy is so heavily invested in my photography business…my blogging is much less about keeping me sane by sharing rich stories and reflections. I do like to write, so maybe one day the wheel will turn and I’ll go back to that mode of blogging.
In this current photo-oriented mode of blogging, I edit and upload pictures to Flickr as the events happen. Then when I feel motivated and have a chunk of time, I write a post about each event. The time is now. From October 31 – January 1, lots has happened. Many photos have been taken. And they will now be shared on this blog. Stay tuned day by day!
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For our first post (note the new, larger photos!), you can see Sylvia-the-princess trick-or-treating at Donna’s on Halloween.
This little girl’s dress and viel were made by Granny. So cute!
Aunt Melanie had helped us make our pumpkins.
Here’s our trick-or-treating crew, Sylvia (pink princess), Rayna (witch), Alivia (scary bride), and Andrew (Darth Vader).
It’s always fun to visit our neighbors on Halloween! There’s Cindy.
And here’s Jenny…
Andrew and Alivia have the trick-or-treating etiquette down pat.
Here’s our sweet neighbor Mary.
This year for the first time, we ventured a bit beyond the confines of our dead-end street. We went around the corner! We have about nine neighbors that we see every year. And Andrew, Alivia, Rayna, and Sylvia are the only kids who generally trick-or-treat on our street, so they get special treatment. But this year, we trick-or treated from some unknown neighbors. The kids are getting bigger!
Our tactic with Halloween candy is to let the kids eat as much of the stuff as they want on Halloween. Post-trick-or-treating, there’s a bit of a gorge. The kids combined all their candy and munched away on their favorites.
Then after they went to bed, I put about 80% of the candy in a bag for Bryan to take to work. The remaining candy went into a bowl in a hidden, high spot. The kids got to take a piece out after each meal (including breakfast!) for the next few days, and then, remarkably, it disappeared without a whisper.
Such cute kids! It’s fun to have Halloween traditions that we all anticipate and enjoy together.