Halloween Love

I'll admit it, I love Halloween. It's one of my favorite holidays! What's not to love?

Dress-up? Check. Chocolate? Check. Parties? Check. Excited kids? Check.

This year, we had a knight, hot dog, Mario, and Wonder Woman, all posing with my Papaw. 

So I was surprised to see a Facebook thread yesterday, with women pouring out of the woodwork about their disdain for the holiday. Really? It never occurred to me that it would be so unloved.
Now, I understand that many people simply don't celebrate Halloween...and that's not at all what I'm talking about here. Not something I care to get into.
The complaints were about costumes (expense and preparation,) time constraints, junk food.
Okay, I get that. BUT don't the pros far outweigh those cons?
Costumes? We buy at after-Halloween sales, and always have fully stocked Dress-Up Tubs. Sometimes they get costume items for Christmas. Makes their day.
I'm not one to drop $60 on the cutest-ever-last-minute-pick Halloween costume at the flashiest store, so my kid can get candy. No, we give it thought and get creative, but never spend more than a few bucks on each costume.
We also pick up costumes at yard sales throughout the summer. All of our Star Wars costumes have come from the beloved summer sales, and none have set us back more than $3.

Then there are crafts! And who doesn't love crafts?? C'mon, black cats and spiders, gross-looking foods, hanging webs....that stuff is just FUN, y'all.

Today we worked on spider web boards (nails driven into square boards, with embroidery thread-- think: natural geo board.) What does this accomplish? Besides the obvious FUN, you're looking at fine-motor development, color combinations, creativity, patience, and design.
There is a place for play. It's important. Creating is important.

I also tried my hand at "ghost eggs." Can you see?

Please tell me you can see it.

I really ought to have used a larger pan...but it was in the sink...and I'd rather cook than wash dishes, so there ya have it. The kids enjoyed it, at any rate.

We did the crayon molds, which I talked about briefly before. Easy peasy craft, but I got plenty of BOOM for my buck on it. Crayons on sale at Wal-Mart for 50 cents a pack + a little boy who needs something to do in order to listen to stories= fantastic crayon crafts, right and left. The kids were thrilled. Especially the crayon-peeling kid.

Have I mentioned that Halloween means chocolate?

Lots of wonderful chocolate.

I consider this a binding contract.

As if that's not enough, I got to dress up again and again and again.

I do so like to dress up.

Oh... and the weather! Isn't this time of year fabulous?

It was about 70 degrees and sunny today, in my neck of the woods.

Perfect hiking, biking, running, dressing-up-and-grabbing-for-candy kinda weather!

Let's show Halloween a little lovin', folks.

The little bit of work can cause a whole lot of fun and happiness!

Not to mention memories. :D