All Hallows Eve

Last night we joined the throng of other brave trick-or-treaters who were determined to collect their weight in sweet treats, pouring rain or not! Seriously, I was amazed at the number of kids and adults alike who dressed up in their Halloween-best to roam the neighborhoods alight with glowing jack-o-lanterns and sizzling fireworks, despite the very poor forecast. We joined a few friends of ours with some of their young boys to head out and participate in Trick or Eat, a fundraiser organized by a friend of mine, Danielle. It's actually done around North America, but this year Danielle brought it together for the Mission community. What happens is on Halloween night volunteers will go door to door collecting donations and/or non-perishable food items for the local food bank. Danielle did an amazing job of rounding up, organizing, and encouraging volunteers for this project, and it was a big success!

492 items for St.Joseph's food bank were collected! Picture snitched from Danielle's facebook.

So Ty, myself, and our little snowman headed out along with them to help collect along the way AND introduce Hudson to the fun Halloween tradition of trick-or-treating (ok, so we went last year, but as if he remembers)! He did really well knocking on doors, saying trick-or-treat, and all his pleases, thankyous, and see yas, but at one point found the whole thing a little too "gary" (scary). This particular neighborhood was definitely very pro-Halloween, and it seemed like every other house had a graveyard in front, or a man with a zombie mask rocking in a creaky chair. For the most part, he was ok, but if Hudson felt it was all a little much, he would ask me to knock on the door for him.
"No knock. Too gary. Mommy knock."
So cute!

So here is the result of me looking for a Buzz Lightyear costume for Hudson, discovering most costumes cost $25-50, deciding there must be a cheaper alternative, finding a yard and a half of white flannel at home that I had no intention of using, sewing up said flannel into toddler pants and a hoodie, attaching some styrofoam balls painted black to the front, snipping up a piece of thrift store red fabric for a scarf, and last of all slapping some white face paint on the poor kid as we ran out the door! Pretty cute, hey? (And thrifty too - less than five dollars for the whole ensemble!).
I also wanted to dress up as a - get this - nurse!! I had my white nursing dress that I graduated in all washed, bleached, and ready to go, but wimped out when I saw the forecast, and had no desire to be gandering about in the pouring rain in white tights. So that idea got canned. Next year though!

And now it's November 1st, and again we're thinking positive for this next month. I had a good reminder on Sunday about something that I tend struggle with - anxiety and worry.
Here is the verse that was read:
Matthew 6
²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."