“Mommy, why didn’t the skeleton walk across the road?”
Kenzy asked me in the car on the way to dance lessons.
“Hmm. Because he was dead?” I asked with a laugh.
(I mean, I thought that was a pretty solid answer.)
“Nope. He couldn’t walk across the road because he didn’t have any guts!”
She giggled as she told me. That was a good one!
Kenzy and I love Halloween. It’s kinda our thing together. When she was teeny tiny, I remember the first time she saw Christmas lights on a home out the car window. Her eyes lit up! The following year we started to see Halloween lights in October.
“Miss Miss lights! Miss Miss lights!” she would yell.
She was trying to say Christmas. We told her they weren’t Christmas lights, that some decorate for Halloween, but Christmas lights were soon to come. That year she lit up at every house she saw in October.
Back then, my husband used to work third shift driving around Williamsport for the WMWA, so he came across all kinds of houses. He came home one day and said he found some really cool Halloween houses he wanted to show the kids and me. We had so much fun that year driving around that the next year we did it again, but we went to more towns to see what we could find. We also went out for dinner and played Halloween music in the car. Some of the houses we find are so cool!
Skeletons climbing up a home in Williamsport. Fairytale skeleton stories at my cousin Danielle Perry’s home in Newberry. A huge spider web, with a spider off the side of a house and another house with a full cemetery, all in Montoursville. Witches in windows and bats hanging from one home all decked out in Jersey Shore. Another with a full pirate ship theme, the Grim Reaper on a full-size skeleton horse, and a very angry wolf in a doghouse with a big sign that says “DON’T FEED FLUFFY!” This house is also in Jersey Shore, and there is so much to see that we parked the car and walked around! It’s awesome! (Go check it out! It’s right on Main Street above Santino’s.)
Here we are six years later, and we still do this yearly. We are excited to go out this week and go to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. It is a nice staple between Williamsport, Southside, and Montoursville for light hunting!
We have certain Halloween songs that are our favorites and listen to them regularly in October. I enjoy making my kids jack-o-lantern pizzas, and we love to watch spooky things like “Hocus Pocus,” “Unwrapped” & “The Nightmare Before Christmas!” (I am not a horror movie person at all. I like my sleep. Haha!)
I love Halloween so much that I have had a pumpkin party since Tyler has been little. Same thing; fun spooky foods, Halloween music, and pumpkin carving! My momma takes all the grandkids to the pumpkin patch to pick their pumpkins; then, we have the party. Halloween donuts from Dunkin always make their appearance too. Another thing Grammy loves to get for her kiddos.
This year, my sister-in-law, Loren Perry, came walking into the house with bags of stuff. She had surprised us and gotten stuff to make a spooky drink for us while carving pumpkins. It was so sweet of her and sounded like they would be awesome! (And they were! Recipe below.) My brother then walked in after Loren and had a bright orange shirt on with his big smile. Once I really looked at the shirt, I knew why he had that smile. Here, he had found one of our momma’s VERY old Halloween shirts and decided to make an appearance to the party in it. He really did look dear in it. There on the orange turtleneck shirt sat a haunted house with ghosts coming out of the windows. A black cat sat on a nearby fence, and bats were flying into the moon. It truly said Halloween. I told him he has to wear it every year now. I was jealous that I didn’t find it first, but since I don’t like turtlenecks, I didn’t tackle him for this gem of a shirt! I’ll just look forward to seeing that bad boy on my brother every year now. That gives me more joy than wearing it myself. *Insert cheesy smile here*
As I tucked Kenzy in after our pumpkin party, the jack-o-lantern she had just carved was sitting on her desk, lit until I was ready to go up to bed. She just laid there watching it glow while sucking her thumb. I kneeled down next to her and kissed her forehead. I whispered in her ear, “Can you promise mommy something?”
She didn’t want to pull her thumb out but nodded yes.
I whispered, “Promise me that you will never get too old to come to look at Halloween lights with your momma. That you will come with us every year and be just as excited as you always are when we find houses all lit up?”
“I will, Momma,” she said as the thumb came out.
“I’ll do it every year because I love you and love Halloween.”
To anyone who puts a pumpkin in the window, orange lights around your doors, or just goes all out, thank you. You make not only kids’ day but make fun memories for families. I am out in the country and love lighting our home up for Halloween. I started doing it for my kids a long time ago, and now that they are old enough, I’ve learned it’s not just for my kids but for others as well. Lights truly make the world a happier place. It’s the little things.
Happy Halloween!!
Loren’s Spooky Sherbet Drink
Ingredients:
– Sprite
– Hawaiian Punch
– Rainbow Sherbet
– Fun Halloween Trinket for Garnish
Place sherbet in the bottom of a clear cup. Fill up the cup about 2/3 full with sprite. Then finish it with a Hawaiian Punch. Leave room for Halloween garnish. Serve with a straw. Enjoy.
