I can’t believe it’s the end of October already. Where does the time go? Before you know it, we will be decking those halls with boughs of holly!

Of course, we can’t forget Thanksgiving. It’s one of my favorite holidays, but I’ll save that for November.

This week is Halloween and my third favorite holiday. I love taking my kids trick-or-treating and seeing the joy through their eyes. It takes me back to when I was little and would go door to door with my dad on Roosevelt Ave. and all the surrounding streets. Mom would be home handing out candy to all the neighbor kids at home.

I don’t get to do that out here where we live. I’ve lived here 15 years and never had a trick-or-treater, but I have had the joy of walking with my kids around my old neighborhood, and my husband’s old neighbor saying “Trick or Treat” or “Happy Halloween” while my kids stand at the door. My husband and I have enjoyed this tradition together.

Now, there never seems to be enough time to eat dinner on Halloween night. We do something quick, but always get together with my Liddick family after trick-or-treating and have so many snacks that you don’t want to eat a big dinner anyway. Plus, by the time we get costumes on, light our jack-o’-lanterns, and get our traditional Halloween photo, it doesn’t give us much time for a sit-down dinner when we have to leave by 5:45 p.m.

Since they were born, I have pictures of my kids in their Halloween costumes next to their pumpkins they carved that year. That will be fun to use at their graduation party! (Momma thinks ahead.)

Now, I love to make a Halloween dinner. Not on Halloween night, but typically the night before or the week of Halloween. Something fun for the kids to enjoy. A jack-o’-lantern pizza, mummy hot dogs, or pumpkin-shaped quesadillas. I know I am doing dirt cups this year for dessert. I think it’s so much fun. Not only can you make a fun Halloween dinner, but packing a “spooky” Halloween lunch is a tradition as well. (I know, I have a lot of traditions.)

My kids would honestly be devastated if they went to school, opened their lunch, and it wasn’t Halloween themed. It is fun being the cool mom. All the kids go crazy for it. Even the teachers will say, “Oh, you’re the mom who packs the fun lunches!” Guys, it’s so easy! Let me give you some fun ideas! Here are a few different things I have done in the past few years.

Cut out bread with Halloween cookie cutters. Make cat, bat, ghost, or pumpkin-shaped sandwiches. Use Halloween muffin cups to lay the sandwich on.

String cheese, you can take a permanent marker and draw a ghost face on the plastic part.

Make Jello jigglers out of Halloween cookie cutters.

Get pre-packaged mandarin oranges, and draw a jack-o’-lantern face with a permanent marker on the lid.

Halloween treat bags are perfect for goldfish, Cheez-Its, or cheesies! (see the orange theme here?)

I love putting in fun Halloween candy, like gummy worms, gummy eyeballs, candy corn, and foil-wrapped pumpkin chocolates.

Peel a mandarin orange and stick a tiny piece of celery in the top for the stem.

Cut cheese and tortilla shells out of Halloween cookie cutters!

Take bread and cut out a circle from a sugar cookie cutter. Place eight pretzel sticks in the sandwich to make spider legs. I then used two chocolate chips for the eyes.

Just have fun with it. Get creative, and remember, this is something your kids or grandkids will never ever forget. Halloween is on a Saturday, and full moon this year. It’s gonna be one of a kind! So have fun, be safe, and Happy Halloween!