Fall/Halloween/All Saints

Because I am the sort to procrastinate (and because the attic ladder was broken until just a few days ago), we did not put up any decorations until Thursday, the day before Halloween. As it turns out, we had good bit of rain, so I am thankful that we had not set up any outside decorations ahead of time. But I do enjoy adding a few touches of fall/Halloween to our shelves.

Inspired by All Saints food tags from Lacy at Catholic Icing, we set a table with snacks to represent several saints. I keep thinking that I want to create a generic saints tag (cause the tags just make everything festive) and have each guest bring a treat to represent their favorite saint. 

We do have the most festive family! These are most of my wonderful children and grandchildren (one family is missing from the photo line up as they came later), some nieces and nephews, and a few dear friends. 

Oh, and Paul was missing above. We caught him with Jack Sparrow and Maleficent (who hand made her entire costume by the way!), and also carrying a tired trick-or-treater on his shoulders. 

Next Friday is our annual homeschool All Saints party, so there is more fun in store! 

I've linked these before, but here are a few articles for the season:

http://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/catholic-contributions/all-hallow-s-eve.html 

This above link was going to the site and not the article- if that happens, just type "Halloween" in the search bar and then click on this article :

 All Hallow's Eve

One of the nicest surprises of living around the year with the Church is to find that Halloween is part of it.

http://www.domestic-church.com/CONTENT.DCC/20000901/ARTICLES/all_souls.htm

Halloween And All Saints Food and Fun

This is really "All Hallow's Eve" as we don't have everyone over again on 

All Saint's Day (maybe we should!). 

We put out our saints themed food using the printable cards from Catholic Icing- 

Aren't these fun?! :) 

http://catholicicing.com/easy-party-food-ideas-for-all-saints/

A young friend of ours contributed some saint themed food with her own cards and drawings.

I love it!!! 

As usual, I procrastinated, but managed to put up a few fun fall/halloween decorations. 

Along with our saints line up (not sure why I only took a picture when half were up...). 

 James created these fun ghosts that we found via Pinterest.

http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/2010/09/todays-project-spirit-jugs.html

We used those bracelet glow sticks to light them- green works best (by far). 

Other Fun: 

My adult kids just crack me up! Frank and I are going to have to get on board and dress up next year. 

Things to note- 

I announced a few years ago that Dorothy married the Scarecrow. Now they have a new addition to the family! I guess in OZ Scarecrow and Dorothy could have a baby lion! :) 

I don't have a picture of my daughter's whole family (top right), as they arrived later in the evening, but I love love love her costume. Notice the two little ones in there? Yup. That's some news! 

And Erin (bottom left), is Princess Peach to her boyfriend Nick's Mario (isn't he a good sport!). 

Last but not least the adorable Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head! Toy story themed all the way with the dinosaur and Woody. And, hiding under that pink nose on Mrs. Potato Head... a little girl!! :) 

Just a few random pics: 

Lord of the rings was a big theme around here this year too! And notice the fire fighter handing out candy- he also let the kids sit in the truck. That was a serious treat. Mark made good use of his Civil War attire for Halloween. 

Erin did some adorable pumpkins- you know those cute ones that are all around Pinterest that have patterns on them using a drill? She did that and then used them to hold flowers. Super duper cute but no pictures! If I can find some, I'll come back in add. 

In the meantime... I can show you these. 

Articles about Halloween and All Saints Day- 

http://catholicism.about.com/od/thecatholicfamily/p/Halloween.htm

http://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/catholic-contributions/all-hallow-s-eve.html

Our All Saint's Food And A Few Halloween Snapshots

Just so you know, we did have other foods- it was not all sweets and treats! Thank you to Lacy @ Catholic Icing for sharing your ideas and talent! :)

so people don't eat the pretty piano!

I never got a picture of the onion rings! Oh, well. 

And a few snapshots of the rest of the evening:

Erin was on duty as head make-up and hair designer. And she did a great job!

 The tooth fairy and her boyfriend, who a lost tooth.

My daughter, Dorothy, and her hubby (betcha didn't know Dorothy married the scarecrow!).

Two cuties watching the big kids play.

Grrrrr... I should have moved that trash can- the make-up looks pretty though.

Ready for some treats!

My niece made an uncanny Jack Sparrow.

The little chimney sweep after he was all done.

The big event of the evening- candy trading.

All Hallow's Eve article by Mary Reed Newland.

Happy All Hallow's Eve!!

I have been in denial that fall is here and All Hallow's Eve is upon us. Yesterday, I decided to jump in full on! So, I thought I'd share what we have so far.

Lining up the Saints:

Makin' some treats:

Using fabulous ideas from Catholic Icing:

Dressing up for the occasion (saints costumes will be worn at our upcoming All Saint's Party):

tooth fairy 

Mr. Gibbs

Carving a pumpkin (yes, purchased and carved today):

Cat Burglar and Captain Rex (thank you auntie Jen for the Clone Trooper costume)

And, my favorite:

Off to have some fun!! :)

For a Good Explanation of All Saint's Day...

from the Domestic Church website-

http://www.domestic-church.com/CONTENT.DCC/20000901/ARTICLES/all_souls.htm

There are so many saints and martyrs that it's impossible to give each of them a feast day.

The Church has set aside November 1 as a feast commemorating all the saints. On All Saints Day, we venerate all the saints in heaven, the Church Triumphant who intercede and pray for us and for the souls still in purgatory.

These saints are tangible reminders of hope. They are the pilgrims who have reached their destination - heaven. Not only are these holy men and women our examples, they are also our intercessors, doing all they can to bring us to our heavenly home.

In Preparation for All Saint's Day

Saints!? Somehow I missed these wonderful people while growing up in the Catholic Church (obviously I was not a very attentive child!) Now I love the saints!! Saints are the best examples to share with children on how to live our faith . Their struggle was human and often heroic and can inspire our children if we make the saints real to them. It took me a long time to be able to talk naturally with my kids about the saints- it felt forced or awkward at first. Keep at it- you'll find yourself having fun and making friends with the saints!

The New Saint Joseph Baltimore Catechism No. 1 explains that the saints are God's friends. Just like us they knew joy, sorrow, and suffering, yet they did not forget God. They loved Him and always worked to do His will. While they struggled, just as we do, they knew the road to heaven and stayed on it.

I love to have pictures (just little prayer cards) and statues (we don't have many, but I would like to) to help remind us of the saints. Saints become much more present to our kids when they "see" them- just like keeping pictures of far away friends and relatives around make them more present to our children.

We have been learning about a few favorite saints this month. I asked my little group today what we learned from Saint Therese and got the answer --- "little things matter"! Good job Christian! 

We have discussing St. Therese's big mission to save souls by doing little things. That she did not have to go out and do great big heroic things to change the world (although I would certainly consider her heroic). She did things right where she was- sacrificing the little every day inconveniences and hardships. 

Whether she was praying for her "first soul" or for priests, she did it in her little way - by offering to God only "very little things". 

What a great saint for our kids!!

http://www.littleflower.org/learn/about/life.asp

It took just a minute to catch on to making St. Therese sacrifice beads. They are actually pretty simple.

http://thelittleways.com/how-to-make-sacrifice-beads/

I did not know if the boys would want to make beads with a St. Therese medal- somehow I thought that they might get hung up on her being a girl, so I bought a few Sacred Heart of Jesus medals just in case- they all decided for St. Therese and are very happy with their beads.

They turned out super cute!! Julia and Paul even made some for Paul's godmommy, Shauna (who is also Julia's cousin). Mark made some for Shauna's husband, Peter. Mark was worried that Peter would feel left out.