I like Halloween. Dressing up, playing pretend, seeing friends, trick or treating, eating my kid's candy when they aren't looking (mom tax)... It's so fun! I look forward to it every year.
Believe it or not, this is a controversial opinion in some of the circles I run in. I'm a Christian and in Christian culture Halloween is a hotly debated subject. I have friends who believe that Halloween is Satan's holiday. A celebration of evil and darkness. They usually just keep the porch light off, stay home and do not celebrate the holiday in any way. Other friends of mine have churches that hold Harvest Festivals or have a bible character costume night. Caleb's preschool is Christian and they do a Harvest Festival. The kids made little acorn and corn costumes and paraded around in them. They sang songs as well...while my child removed his costume and rolled around on the floor. I apparently have "that kid". It was adorable. Then I have friends who celebrate Halloween but don't do the evil, scary stuff. I'm in this group. We don't dress up as a devil or a demon but we have a great time. We give out candy, trick or treat, go to parties and have a ball. Then I have friends who gore it up and love it. They love the scary stuff and do it all. They are the ones who sit on the porch and scare the kids as they get their candy. Here is the kicker... All of these are ok. I don't feel the need to tell anyone what to believe. In the end, you have to respect what God is telling you to do and that's it. So Christians, how about we check our judgement today? If you abhor Halloween, enjoy your family time, but don't hate on the trick or treaters who don't realize that a dark porch means don't come here. If you love Halloween, don't pity the kids who are not trick or treating because their families don't agree with it. The kids probably don't want to do scary things anyways. I am going to enjoy what really has become costume and candy night. I'm going to watch my little Lighting McQueen trick or treat with glee. I'm going to see friends. I'm going to have fun. You do what you want... And let everyone else do the same :) Happy Halloween!!
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I haven't been online much in the past week and a half because my mom was visiting from California. She met the baby, we hung out and did normal daily stuff. We visited my sister in New Hampshire. We had lots of fun and many adventures. She even got to see the baby roll over for the first time! I decided to just mostly unplug and just enjoy our time with her.
I have a really interesting family. We are all over the place. I was born in Southern California, then moved to Central California as a baby. I grew up there. After graduation I moved to New Hampshire to live with my mom for a bit (parents divorced when I was 6). I met DJ at a festival in Pennsylvania and he lived in New Jersey. Within the year I had moved to NJ to be with DJ. I was 19 and clearly insane. Many family members of mine have similar stories...this happened, that happened and they ended up moving away. We just don't stay where we are raised for the most part. I've got an aunt in Kansas, my dad is in Washington State, my mom is back in California, my cousin in in Las Vegas, another Aunt in Colorado.... we just don't stay where we started. We are very independent people who go after what we want. Despite the distance my family is very close. We would do anything for each other. I haven't seen my cousin Jennifer in years and I could show up at her front door. She would be shocked and probably faint... but after she picked herself off the floor she would usher me inside and feed me. Most of the time living far from everyone doesn't bother me too much. I'm just used to it. I go about my daily life and if I miss someone, I call them. Facebook has been great to keep up with everyone's lives and help me feel connected. There are times though, where it's very lonely and I miss my family intensely. Usually it's at a milestone: the birth of a baby, a baby shower, housewarming party for our new house, a birthday. It's those moments when I look at all my beautiful friend's faces knowing my family isn't there. I have some of the best friends you can imagine, but to have my aunts at a baby dedication? That would be amazing. Having a ton of family smooshed into my house for Thanksgiving dinner? I would love it. Knowing that my cousin Larl could drop by any time to play in the sandbox with Caleb? Priceless. To have my grandparents be part of my kids lives? I would love it. I do not have "ready made babysitters". Trinity doesn't get to have "cousin time" because me and my sister are having dinner together again. Trinity doesn't get to take off with Grandpa on his motorcycle for a nice long ride. I did not have my mother around to help take care of me after the birth of my kids. It's really hard sometimes... and today is one of those days. I dropped my mom off at the airport yesterday morning to go back home. I saw my sister and niece and nephew this past weekend for a long weekend. They are gone, and I'm sad about it. Having them present with me for a short time makes it all the more noticeable when they are gone. So this post is for my family. ALL of you. Dad, mom, step dad, cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, grandmas, grandpas, second cousins and anyone else I share blood with or married into my family. I LOVE YOU ALL. I miss all of you. I wish we could share life together in person. And to the family I chose... you know who you are. Our friends who have become family. Thank you. Thank you for filling the gap and being amazing. Thank you for watching my kids. Thank you for meals after my babies were born. Thank you for cookies. Thank you for housekeeping help. Thank you for being you. I love you guys too. Caleb finally got his first haircut! The first one is just so hard. They go from looking like babies to looking like kids when you cut their hair. I tend to put it off as long as possible. Finally it felt like it was finally time to take the plunge. So off we went to Supercuts! We all get to Supercuts because everyone is getting a haircut except the baby. She chills out while Trinity and I are getting our hair done. A before picture of the star of the show. He's got a natural mullet. It's amusing. He sits in my lap and is pretty chill so far. I have been prepping him all day for what the stylist would be doing. Right now we are selecting the lock we want to save. There goes the first lock of hair. Ahhhhh my momma heart! Hes done! It turned out so cute! He is deciding how he feels about it. After a quick blow dry to get the loose hair off, Caleb is done! I don't have a very good after picture, he kind of went wiggly after sitting still for so long. Either way, it's super cute and we all love it!
DJ has been wanting to brew beer himself for years. Last Saturday he knocked one thing off his bucket list when he went to Love 2 Brew http://www.love2brew.com/ and brewed a beer called Juice Box Rye IPA.
Unfortunately, due to babies, I was not able to go. I really wanted to take pictures but it was a 3 -4 hour process and I did not relish the thought of wearing the baby for that length of time while trying to take pictures. Our friend Liz volunteered to join DJ and document the process while keeping him company. DJ likes having a buddy around when he does stuff and we haven't gotten to spend much time with Liz lately. So it was a perfect choice to have her go with him. DJ made 15 gallons of beer. Yes, 15 gallons. What does one do with 15 gallons of beer? I'm not sure but I will let you know! It will be ready in 3 weeks. I suppose we will drink it till its gone, however long that takes. A tough task, but we are up for the challenge. So with that introduction I will turn this post over to DJ! I am not Italian. Not even a little bit. Near as I can tell my ethnicity is German, Irish, Scottish, English... My family has been here for hundreds of years so I don't even know. I guess I could be considered Italian by association though. My step mom Vickie was super Italian. It took her three days to make spaghetti sauce. It would simmer on the stove and the anticipation would kill you. She would holler every few hours for someone to go and stir the sauce and it was torture knowing you had to keep waiting as you gazed at the pot of deliciousness. Once it was done I would revel in tender meatballs, sausage links, pasta and garlic bread.
Unfortunately she guarded her recipes with a fierceness that made her 4 foot 11 inch body actually seem intimidating. I will never taste her sauce again, as she passed away years ago without teaching anyone how to make it to completion. This brings me to my point: I suck at making meatballs. I have tried and tried and they were just never right. I guess they were edible...But when you have had perfection, nothing else is ever quite as good. So I gave up. We would buy the giant bag of meatballs at Costco or BJ's and call it a day. Simmer in a jar of sauce and BOOM. Dinner. There was that part of me that hated buying the premade meatballs. I am a good cook, why cant I get that right? Why am I buying meatballs with dubious ingredients? My sister makes a bunch of meatballs and then freezes them so dangit.. I am going to do it! So here we go!! Recipe: 3lb ground beef (go big or go home right?) 3 eggs 3/4 cup milk 1 1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs 1 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 teaspoon oregano 3 tablespoon fresh parsley 1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1/4 cup parmesan cheese |
AuthorI'm so tired. The children are so not tired. |