The Great Pumpkin Strikes Again

Fall is my favorite time of the year. The falling leaves, college football games, and crisp air all indicate that the year is drawing to a close. I love it! I get out my corduroy pants, the sweaters, the jackets, the rake, and live it up!

Lori and I have encountered a puzzling conundrum (I know; I said it twice) in raising our children. We come from different backgrounds when it comes to the celebration of Halloween. She was taught that it was the devil's holiday and that you shouldn't do anything to glorify the devil, while I was brought up to innocently believe that it was a great way to get a bunch of free candy.

Now, while I think that people go overboard on the whole evil component of Halloween and try to interpret the trick-or-treating thing as devilish and sinful, I also realize that more and more culture has used the holiday as a time to glorify hellishness and malice. So, as a result, what do we do for our kids? Various wholesome alternatives to Halloween have sprung up, giving families a chance to celebrate the gifts and joys God has provided in fall and that's all well and good. But, I gotta admit, there's a lot of fun involved in dressing up like a Mexican vaquero (which I did one year) with panty hose stuck over my face which contributed to my not being able to see very well and running pell-mell into a guide line for a telephone pole, causing a bruise which did not leave until I was well into my 20s. I want my kids to enjoy that part of it (not the bruise; the dress-up thing).

Well, when Lori and I ever encounter an issue that we might possibly disagree abput, we talk it through, discuss the implications, our convictions, and of course view the issue through the lens of the Bible. However, if after it is all said and done, one of us still holds a strong conviction, we don't push it. This is what we've done with Halloween. We have decided not to allow Trey to go trick-or-treating, but we do allow him to have a party for dress-up (this year was his birthday party, which I will be putting up shortly). So, it has turned out good for all involved.

I don't know why I went into all of that but anyway, this year, we were in the Queen City for Halloween, and Lori decided to take Trey, Kassady, Alicia, and Christy to a local farm to pick out some pumpkins for carving. We had early on agreed that this was something that our kids could do. Before we moved to Idaho, pumpkin-carving was an October ritual for the Frederick kids and us.

We had a blast this year! The whole family got involved. First the kids picked out the pumpkins (as you can see Trey got a little bored with this part), and then we spent the evening carving. It was great fun as you can see from the pics below.