Happy Halloween - Boo!

Happy Halloween - Boo! First let me start with a clip/song from one of my favorite movies "Nightmare Before Christmas". I love this movie from both an artist's perspective, appreciation of the creative mind of Tim Burton and musical creativity of Danny Elfman, and that it celebrates both Halloween and Christmas.


Upon researching the holiday further I found that Halloween was brought to the US by Irish and Scottish imigrants (yeah McFarlane!). Early on it was called "All Hallows Even" because this is the day believed to be when the veil between the alive and the dead was the thinnest or even. This actually is kind of a cool idea, remember the scene in Harry Potter where he gets to see his parents. Maybe we could use this opportunity to say hi to our friends and family members who have passed through the veil. My Grandpa Verdus loved playing tricks, even when it wasn't Halloween. His sense of humor was awesome, I see traces of it in Dan (when he teases his kids), Angie (with her love of water balloon ambushes), ... play a trick on someone for him and for Halloween.

In celebrations past, I remember fondly trips through the neighborhood to the homes of friends, who would lovingly craft popcorn balls (Grandma Vinnie), candied apples (Lulu's house), hauted houses (boyscout troup and/or Kathy & Shauna Davis' house (lots of big brothers)). My mother spent months making cool handmade costumes (jaguar, dog, vampires...). One year I decided to be a clown. I donned the sparkle top hat from my dance recital, taped colorful paper polka dots to my jeans, put desitin (white cream) on my face, and then for the shoes... after some creative improvising I took my Dad's size 12 boots, put my whole sneaker inside, and wore them like that. It was great, I thought I looked awesome! My older brother Dan and his friend Jason decided to go drag (like they had seen on Saturday Night Live) and wore some of my Mom's old dresses and wigs - it was hilareous!

We love seeing what you have done with your kids every year! Robbie did a great job getting Paige, Grace, Whitney, and Crew dressed and ready for their early halloween party - still amazed at how good he is with the girls hair (I remember my Dad hopelessly trying to do two EVEN ponytails for me when Mom was at the hospital when Robbie was born, he finally gave up and made one in the back after several failed attempts). Speaking of hair - OMG Jen (my cousin) the things you do with Karen's hair is awesome! The costumes and face painting for Karen and Michael were really cute!

Gary and I are headed out to West Chester, PA in the next few minutes. He's playing a venue called Vincents. Should be fun, wonder how many people will dress up and come out to party?

Send me pictures about your fun tonight - I'm dying ;-) to see what you've scared up for a costume.