From One Extreme to Another

Mark and I have been together for 19 halloweens. In those 19 years we've never celebrated or participated in halloween events. We've never dressed up, we've never given out candy nor have we gone to any halloween parties. We have however participated in our church's alternative to fright night events. Those events are fantastic, they are super fun filled with tons of candy, lots of games and many many laughs.

My favorite memory was Hallelujah Night of 1998. I was pregnant with the boys, Mark was deployed and it was very chilly outside. I wore my orange fleece jacket. My Pastor called me the "Great Pumpkin". I didn't speak to him for a few days, he was seriously in the dog house!

The following year, the boys were about 8 months old. Again it was chilly outside, and many of the seasoned parents at church scolded me for not having shoes on my boys. They had two pairs of socks, but apparently that wasn't enough. The next day I found myself at Wal-Mart buying their first pair of shoes. Who knew that a kids needed shoes before they walked!

Last halloween the five us took shelter in the house with all the lights off watching a movie hiding from all the trick or treaters. In Okinawa there is no alternative. They even open up the bases to allow the local nationals to come on in for beggar's night. This year is a whole other story. About a month ago the kids approached Mark and I, Seth was the spokesman for the coup. He explained how they understood the meaning of halloween and that for one year they'd like to experience trick or treating. I asked why. The response was an overwhelming need to beg for candy! We agreed to allow them to trick or treat. I thought that was all we had given permission for...

A week later we found out that scouts were putting on a haunted house as a fund-raiser. Of course the boys needed to participate. (I supposed I could have pushed back with a religious justification as to why they couldn't, but I didn't.) I allowed the boys to make the call and determine their level of involvement. Below are photos of my sweet innocent 'religious' boys the night of the haunted house. As you can tell they went in to it with a "no hold's barred" attitude.

This picture is the "I can't tell you anything Mom!" photo.

Seth performed beautifully as the dead man in the graveyard.

He's so psycho... Caleb was the poor sap being executed in the electric chair!

You can't tell by the photo, but Caleb was screaming and moaning as if he's being shocked with 100,000 volts of electricity (actually they are Christmas bulbs!)

The tomb of the creepy kid... Seth's rather scary don'tcha think!

I don't think they have lost their faith. We've actually had some pretty fantastic conversations about this season and what it means to Christ, our faith and honoring Him. They will beg for candy tomorrow night, and I will inspect every piece before they eat any. No worries on gruesome costumes... Caleb is going as a Marine, Seth as a Greek god, and Katie as Morticia (from the Addam's Family).