Halloween and Fall
30
Oct
Last night I went to an all girls’ night for a friend who left but came back for a visit. Â It was good to see her doing so well in her new country. These were the table decorations in the restaurant. I liked them !
Now it is Sunday morning and we are busy trying on Halloween costumes for the kids to wear to school tomorrow.
I wish my living room looked like this right now.
Calm, soothing yet cozy fall colours… neat and tidy.  The beautiful antique rug you can find here.
Bliss.
Instead – my living room is a mess. Kids are pulling out masks, props and at this point… no happy faces yet.
Halloween and Fall are 2 things I did not grow up with….
Halloween was simply not celebrated in my home country (nowadays it is) and obviously fall existed – but we really didn’t notice it that much as kids, as the season changes are very subtle in South Africa.
Thirteen years ago however, I moved into a universe where both Halloween and Fall are two happenings that are impossible not to take note of.
Driving around this week with the leaves falling everywhere, made me stop for a moment along the road to grab my camera and just take it all in ! Looking at the photo at home later, made it last  a little longer…because the leaves are leaving as fast as they arrived…. winter is approaching much more aggressive this year. Aren’t the trees just breathtaking?
This reminded me of  one year in which I did actually notice “Autumn” as we called it  in South Africa ..fall leaves and leaves falling. It  was a time when me and my husband first started dating. He knocked on the door one morning and told me to get in the car. We drove up and down the streets just to watch the leaves in all the colours falling down everywhere around us. It was fun. And romantic.
Another fall that I vividly remember was this one…
…my silly guy – like any other firstborn…. who has to pose for a million photos the parents take because he is their one and only subject matter!
The Robin Hood pose was his idea !
But he was not the only child for much longer after this photo…as this next photo might show you that this was just four days before his little sister arrived. That was a time full of hope and promise of a new life (of which we did not know the gender at this point the photo was taken).
…and this week as she will celebrate her 11th birthday, I am so grateful to say that she has fulfilled every promise and dream and expectation we had of our little girl back then. She is a sweetheart and an absolute delight!
Back to Halloween and the obligation of creative expectations that gets placed on every mom having to prepare treats for class parties and the other…
Some people are experts in Halloween creations… like my post last Halloween which was admirable. You can find it here.
Not for me so easy though. Having arrived a couple of years back, in Russia…the month before Halloween…not knowing 2 Russian words and struggling to find something for dinner…. the quest for class treats was a bit challenging to say the least.
In the end however, this is what I came up with. Bought a box of caramel-filled chocolates  (like the ones Forest Gump eats !) , played a bit with icing sugar and jelly candies on top and some food coloring to complete the job….
I have to admit though, that it did take one brave soul to try the first one before other children would dig in…mmmm…do I recall bribing my son to be the first to try so others could follow??
Easy treat next time you get stuck on Halloween candies. Caramel filled is great for kids..but liquor ones might just do the trick for grown-ups !
I did not go to any dress-up party this year, but  the family day last weekend at the office was off cause none other than a Halloween theme.
And when my son asked just now if we could please, please, please go buy a pumpkin to carve… telling from the urgency and excitement, I had a suspicion he saw something really, really great… and yes, indeed… it is, so I share..
But, that is a bit ambitious for us to do right now..so, I think better we stick to finding a suitable outfit for tomorrow first.
Back to my messy living room right now…. checking in on the kids…
Nobody’s happy yet!!
In the meantime..while I went off blogging… my son – yes, the little silly, cute one with the pumpkin on the head in the leaves…yes, that one…well, he grew up since that photo and he has become a bit more industrious..
And now his homework desk looks like this…some district 9 character in the making…with liquid latex… my pink rubber kitchen gloves, his sister’s fairy wand’s lights inside the dishwashing soap bottle…with McDonalds cups… and spraypaint all over the place…..
..the MESS has migrated to another room !!!
Ooooooohhh…this is going to be a looooooong day…… with lots of cleanup to do afterwards !!
Happy Halloween, Everybody!!
Did I say trick or treat?!
Ilze
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Dis vreemd want vanjaar val die herfsbome my baie op. Kan nie glo hoe klein en cute Evian op die foto’s was nie. Onthou dit omtrent soos gister! Ook nie seker of ek een van die candies sou probeer nie 😉