That's My Town!

I live in a very cool town, a suburb of Chicago.
For the last couple of years, we've had a local Pumpkin Fest.

Wait, I don't have to tell you about it, you can watch this clip from the new Rosie Show about my town:

It was quite fun to be a part of history.

Our experiences:

Does your town have any fun traditions?

I'm hoping that we don't stop doing the Pumpkin Fest just because we beat the record this year...

The BEST Kind of Leftovers

I have blogged before many times on my feelings about Halloween. I'm just not that into it.

But I do like candy. And I consider the candy "leftovers" to be quite a treat.

So this year we immediately (um, on Monday night) used up a good chunk of candy in these cookies which are totally misnamed.

Compost Cookies...which should be called Manna from Heaven.

They're a recipe from some famous place in New York City. Seriously, they are amazing. Every cookie should have potato chips and candy in it.

Plus, my oldest child (who got a haircut, by the way) has become a big fan of the baking experience.
Look how nicely he used that knife to cut up all the candy we used! This is a great recipe to make with kids because of the candy selection, unwrapping, and also the crushing of potato chips....

In case you're wondering about the other aspects of Halloween, yes, we did those too. You can't go wrong with this cute face:

If you like recipes and talking about food (which apparently, I do lately), check out this month's Kosher Cooking Carnival, a monthly round up of food posts in the Jewish world.

I'm participating in NaBloPoMo...are you?

Cute and Sugared Up!

This week's Haveil Havalim is up over there.

I have definitely made my feelings about Halloween clear.

But I know that my kids really want to be a part of what's going on in the world around them. And, as I repeat yearly, if I just don't make a big deal of it, it will eventually go away. (Thank heavens.)

The only thing I like about Halloween is being able to take cute pictures of my kids in costumes!

So here are my little ghosties and goblins. Okay, actually, a dragon, a Dora the Explorer (but wearing a big fluffy white coat, I kept trying to convince her to be a polar bear - it was cold), and a ninja. We went to a friend's party and the kids collected just a little candy. They had more fun eating ...pizza, cupcakes and, of course, chocolate!

(The ninja was busy running around with the big kids and didn't want to stop for too many pictures!)

This one is my favorite...she was so excited to eat the candy. I love this face that I captured:

Go see all the other great shots over at Tracey's Best Shot Monday.

Day 2 of NaBloPoMo and I haven't missed a day! Yay!

Putting my Money Where My Mouth Is...

As I've said before, I'm not a big fan of Halloween. It's overdone, it's overhyped, it's over-sugared, not to mention that it's not exactly based on my religion.

On the other hand, I'm a big fan of Purim. The two holidays are not equivalent in any way (let me be very clear about that) in their meaning or purpose, but they do have the costume thing in common. At the age of 6, which my oldest is, that is the thing that he notices the most. (I know he'll learn more about the holiday and learn to appreciate it for what it is, but for now, it's all about the costume.)

Here's how the Halloween thing went this past year in my house:
David: Mom, I want to be an Ice Ninja for Halloween.
Me: That costume costs $40.
Him: So will you buy it?
Me: Nope. You have to earn the money yourself!

And so he did. As well as a then-5-year-old could (extra chores, helping out, saving gifts, etc). So I bought him the costume once we had the money in hand (and I didn't make him pay for the shipping....aren't I a nice mom?)

Now, you might think that I would have my kid wear the same ($40) costume for Purim.
But not so.

David: Mom, I want to be Harry Potter for Purim.
Me: Hmm...

So I bought him a Harry Potter costume. For about $40. I even bought a light-up wand.
And I reminded him as I gave it to him that he earned the other costume but this one was a special Purim gift. And I think he got it.

What did I learn?
I have to put my money where my values are. I have to show my kids that when it's important to me, I'll buy. Purim is important to me and I want my kids to be excited about it, to wait for it eagerly, to love it! And you know what...he really loved wearing his Harry Potter costume for our Purim Carnival (and hopefully to the one my husband will be taking him to on Friday while I'm back in Israel)

This is what works for me.
I ♥ Purim!

See what Frume Sarah has to say today...our Purim Party is going strong!

P.S. I'll be in Israel again starting tomorrow, just until Tuesday. Please try not to post anything earth-shattering, okay, since I won't be reading blogs. You can, however, follow my trip here at my blog!

A Low Key Halloween Wrap-up (TT13)

Thirteen things we did for Halloween this year...

1. We went to the pumpkin farm.

2. We picked out pumpkins at the pumpkin farm.

3. We met a pig at the pumpkin farm.

4. We carved the pumpkins.

5. We roasted pumpkin seeds.

6. We wore costumes. Okay, not "we" -- just the kids. I stole somebody's idea and claimed to be a Wizard dressed as a Muggle. It got laughs all day.

7. We went trick-or-treating. For a little bit.

8. We sorted out the candy. A fun part for my 6 year old.

9. We kept 6 pieces, because David is 6 years old.

10. We gave the rest to the Candy Fairy.

11. I blogged about Halloween here and here and here.

12. I got a headache.

13. We breathed a sigh of relief that Halloween is over for another year!

See more Thursday Thirteen here...

Don't forget to check out my give-away!

Dealing with Halloween...Works for Me

The holiday of Halloween brings me a bit of stress each year. On the very basic level, I'm just not a fan of this holiday that has become so much bigger in the last 5 years. I remember a few weeks of build-up, some homemade costumes, a party in school, and maybe a party at someone's house...and maybe not. Pumpkin carving and candy apples....

But now Halloween is about decorations and lights, months of build-up, party after party...trick-or-treating in town, all other activities cancelled for the night...at first I thought it was something new here in Chicago, but I'm realizing that it's all over.

My first year here, I arrived at my son's daycare at about 4:30pm on Halloween. The daycare was open daily til 6pm, and my son was usually one of the first picked up at 4:30ish. On this day, he was one of the last 2 kids left...at 4:30pm. When I asked what was going on, the teachers told me that most of the parents took off work early to pick up their kids early to take them trick-or-treating. Just a few weeks earlier, on Erev Yom Kippur, the holiest Jewish holiday, when the center closed at 3pm, almost all the kids were still there at 3pm and the teachers told me that many were actually late on that day. ?????

So all this rant is leading to my issue....how to make Halloween as low-key as possible in our house. Not to mention my personal concerns about Halloween as a pagan holiday with values that don't necessarily coincide with my own, is also the need to not let something like this become overwhelming to my family.

Here's my recipe for a "low key" Halloween:

- No decorations. We spend a lot of time and energy on Sukkot (see here and here) and this is our fall decorating fun. Some years the two holidays coincide. Some not. Either way, I will continue to stand firm on this one!

- Pumpkin carving can be a fun fall activity, sometimes we try to do it for Sukkot or even after Halloween for Thanksgiving. This year I carved a flower! But I resist and resist. I try really hard to get out of it.

- I don't make a big deal about the costumes. We often recycle last winter's Purim costume or spend just a little bit of time talking or buying it. We have a little stash of dress-up stuff anyway, so we can pick and choose if we want...This year my son earned all the money himself for his costume since he wanted to spend far more than I wanted to spend.

- We eat a normal dinner, and trick-or-treat only on our own cul-de-sac. That's enough for me! (Plus it's cold and gets dark early, thankfully)

- We look over the candy, eat a piece or two, and then give all the rest to the kids at children's hospital.

- We're not giving out candy this year, ourselves, we're giving out bouncy balls.

- I think this is the year to introduce the UNICEF boxes to my son.

- When it's over, it's over! I can't wait.

Does anyone out there feel that Halloween has changed over the years and become more overwhelming?

See more Works for Me Wednesday at Rocks in My Dryer

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