Halloween

My kids and I love Halloween. Our Halloween is more fun than scary and spooky. We always pick fun costumes. This year the kids have decided on Smurfette and a leopard (that is what they have decided so far there is still lots of time to change their minds)

The beauty of the costumes they have picked this year is that they hark en back to my childhood. When I was a little girl one Halloween my mom made me a Smurfette costume. A white felt hat with blonde braids and a white felt dress just like Smurfettes. I wore a blue shirt and pants and I was transformed into Smurfette. I was just a little bit older than my youngest daughter. My oldest daughter is going to be a leopard. The leopard costume is very special. It was made by my mother about 45 years ago...maybe even longer. She made the costume for herself and a matching one for my dad one year for a neighbourhood Halloween party.

Halloween is a special day that we share with our entire family. It is fun to have costumes that are home made, made with love from my mother. The special touch that my mother puts on costumes every year makes every Halloween memorable for my children and for me. I have very special memories of  Halloween when I was a little girl, trick or treating with my brother and sister and all our friends. We would take our pillow cases and trick or treat until they were full. We went for blocks and blocks and blocks. I remember when my Dad would be at the door and make kids do tricks for their candy. He would make them sing or dance or tell a joke before he would hand over the candy. I think Halloween was as much fun for him as it was for all of us. That is what I hope that my husband and I are giving to our children. They are kids for such a short amount of time and there is nothing better than loading them up with as many special childhood memories as we can, we try to load them up with the memories that will last them a lifetime.

Of course, what would Halloween be without the pumpkin. We like to do this one as a family. We like to get our pumpkins from one of the local farms, like Springridge Farm, and then we plan and create our Jack-o-lantern as a family. The kids work with their very artistic Dad and craft a scary face. Once they have their design sorted out the kids get to do what they think is the best part: digging out the pumpkin guts. They love to stick their hands inside the belly of the pumpkin and pull out the guts, the seeds and the gunk. They do it with glee. We always roast the pumpkin seeds more out of tradition than anything else because even with a generous helping of salt the kids still don't like to eat roasted pumpkin seeds. Now to the cutting, it is done with great precision and finally the Jack-o-lantern is complete and takes it spot on the porch.

And then there is the matter of the candy. There can be a lot of debate about what to hand out. This year we are gladly handing out a great assortment of candy from Allan Candy.

Some tasty facts about Allan Candy Company:

-       Allan Candy Company is a Canadian company and all of their Halloween Candy is proudly made in Canada
-       Allan Candy Company is now celebrating its 77th year and their iconic Big Foot brand has been around for more than 25 years.
-       Peanut Free and the tasty Halloween line-up includes: Allan Intense Jubes & Jellies, Allan Chewy Rascalz and Allan Fruit Buddies.  You’ll find these selections at key retailers, including Wal-Mart and Loblaws.

I admit when I got the candy I dipped into the supply. I had to. Someone need to taste test to make sure that it was all as sweet as it looked!




Disclosure – I am participating in the Allan Candy Company program by Mom Central Canada.  I received compensation for my participation in this campaign.  The opinions on this blog are my own.