More Fall Goodness

 

I'm not here to tell you that you should or should not celebrate in some way on the day the world calls Halloween. I won't argue against the idea (perhaps fact) that it is a pagan or even demonic holiday. I just have a few questions....

1. What do you accomplish by turning off your lights and refusing to give a small piece of candy to your cute little neighbor kid?

2. Many of the children knocking on our doors come from broken homes and live sad lives. Would a smile and a kind word from you really be a sin?

3. I could tell you some really terrible things about the origins of a very pagan Christmas--are you going to turn out the lights and cover your head on that day as well?

4. If you do choose not to participate, do you need to judge others regarding their choice? If so, may I come judge you on some things you do that grieve me?

5. If you believe that Christmas is a christian holiday, does having a Christmas tree make you a christian? Then why does having a pumpkin make you a devil worshipper? How far are you going to take this....is pumpkin pie next on the list?

6. It's the one day a year that we open our doors to strangers--that we "let our light shine" so to speak why not use it as a chance to let Jesus shine out of your home? Many times, we will print little cards with our church information to include with the candy we hand out.

 My God is one who specializes in taking the things the world has made gross and ugly into a beautiful thing--it's called redemption....it's what my God is all about.

All of that being said, here is what we did this year. We told the kids we were fine with them dressing up, but they needed to write a paper on the person/subject they chose. I was very pleased/proud of their work and wanted to share with blogland.

 

Obviously Kade was too little to choose (or he probably would have chosen a comfy pair of pj's and mom's arms) so we chose for him. He loves to see his pappa do what we call the indian chant, so we thought he'd make a cute little injun'. It totally fits right now because he is often on the warpath, bent on destruction. His rampages leave wreck and ruin all over my house, but mostly, he's a friendly little brave and we all love him!

 

 I made his little outfit from some burlap that I already had, adding some dollar feathers and a bit of trim. His drum is an oatmeal box and some scraps of fabric.

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Kaite chose to be a veterinarian. She used toys we had on hand as props and I picked up a little scrub top at the Second Hand Store. I told her she did not have to write a paper, but she insisted on my helping her do it anyway.

 "I am a veterinarian. I chose to be a veterinarian because I feel so good helping animals. Veterinarians are animal doctors. They make about $46,000 each year."

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Kammy is the Indian princess named Edahow. Her outfit was made the same way as Kade's. I did a lot of research with/for her, but she wrote the paper.

"I am a native American Indian from Idaho. My name is Princess Edahow. I am from the Shoshone tribe who lived in Idaho during the late 1800's. I represent beautiful colors. I like nature, aspen trees, glittering snow, clear creeks, jade green and torquoise blue. I like starry skies and wild roses. I lived off the land by hunting, fishing and trading. I chose to be an Indian because I like Indian history and the fact that they rode horses."

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Kalli chose to be a baker or a pastry chef. All the things for her attire were things on hand except for the hat which we borrowed from a friend. She collected candy in her mixing bowl.

"I am a baker from Boise, Idaho. A baker will make between 50 and 60 thousand dollars a year. To be a baker, you should go to culinary school which costs anywhere from 20 to 100 thousand dollars. Buddy Valestro's father, Carlo, came to America from Italy to open Carlo's Bakery located an 95 Washington St in Hoboken NJ. It was opened in 1919. Buddy is the current boss at Carlo's Bakery. When he was 11, his father paid him $5.00 to work in the bakery. In my bakery I will make everything from custards and cupcakes to beautiful wedding cakes. Why do I want to be a baker? Well, I love the art of making cakes gorgeous, and would love to see my cakes make people happy.

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Kayla was Betsy Ross. Her dress cost us a few dollars at Goodwill. She carried a sewing basket so she could work on making the 1st American flag while trick-or-treating.

" I am Betsy Ross. I chose to be her because I like history and because of what she stands for. Betsy Ross was born Elizabeth Griscorn, in January 1752 in Philadelphia, PA. Her parents were Rebecca James and Samuel Griscorn. Betsy was a fourth generation American, and a great-granddaughter of a carpenter who arrived in New Jersey in 1680 from England. She was the eighth child of seventeen. Betsy attended a Quaker school, since her family was Quaker. Besides her usual studies, she learned to sew there. When she was 17, she met John Ross, who was an Anglican. They fell in love, but Betsy was a Quaker, and the act of marrying outside of one's religion wasn't allowed. To the shock and horror of her family, she married him anyway at the age of 21, in 1772. She was expelled from her family and the Friend's Meeting House in PA. So, she and her husband attended Christ Church instead. George Washington often attended the very same church! Betsy and John started their own upholstry business. They probably made about 50 cents a day. When the Revolutionary War started, John joined the Pennsylvania militia. While guarding an ammunition cache in mid-January of 1776, John Ross was mortally wounded in an explosion. Even though Betsy tried to nurse him back to health, he died and was buried in the Christ Church cemetery. The story of the visit of George Washington, Robert Morris, and her husband's uncle, George Ross, to ask her to make the flag was told by her grandson William Cranby in 1870, nearly 50 years after her passing. They asked her to make the flag, and she did in late May or June of 76! The flag had 13 stars arranged in a circle and of course the stripes. Betsy is most well-known for making the first flag of the United States of America. In June of 1777, she married sea captain Joseph Ashburn at the Old Swedes Church in Philadelphia. Betsy and Joseph had two daughters, Zilla, who died in her youth, and Elizabeth. On a trip to the West Indies to get war supplies for the Revolutionary cause, Captain Ashburn was captured by the British and sent to the Old Mill Prison in England where he died in March 1782. Betsy learned of her husband's death from her old friend, John Claypoole, another sailor imprisoned at Old Mill. In May, 1783, Betsy married a third time. She married her old friend John Claypoole. Betsy convinced him to quit sailing and find landlubbimg employment. Claypoole mostly worked at her upolstry business; then at the U.S. Customs House. Betsy and John had five daughters; Clarissa, Susan, Rachel, Jane, and Harriet, who died at 9 months. John Claypoole passed on in 1817, after years of ill health; she never re-married. She worked until 1827. After she retired she went to live with one of her daughters in Albington, PA. Betsy Ross died of natural causes in her sleep, at the age of 84 on January 30, 1836. She died at her home. Betsy Ross will always be remembered for her courage, diligence, and of course her construction of the first U.S. flag."

 

The girls also chose to paint their pumpkins this year-- I loved the themes they chose and I didn't miss the mess of carving one little bit.

 =)