Happy Halloween

The spooky holiday has come and gone again. Strangely enough, it was sort of a ho-hum year. It used to be that we would plan well in advance and gather supplies to transform our living room into a bone chilling chamber, complete with fog and blacklight. Trick or treaters were invited to come inside (if they dared). It was the highilght of Autumn for me.

But, the holiday has slowly dwindled to practically nothing. The girls were scrambling for costumes as late as Wednesday for our neighborhood party. I told them that if Disney can re-release movies and everyone loves it, then certainly they can wear their costumes from a couple years ago as well -- besides, this is probably the last year they will be together to go trick or treating, so it was the last year I could dress them all alike anyway.

Presenting -- in honor of the re-release of Sleeping Beauty to DVD -- the three Fairies: Flora, Fauna and Merriweather!

These costumes were made by my pal, Lammy, who is a wonder with the sewing machine. I added a bit of artistic ability by making the hats, but all that involved was some spraypaint and cleverly tied tulle. Aren't they adorable??

When it came to carving pumkins, even that was done half-heartedly. There was a time when we'd all gather around the kitchen table, sketching ideas out on paper, laughing (and some gagging) as we scooped out the pumpkin guts, and enjoying the product of our creations emerge from the orange fruits. This year, the pumpkins were attacked and hollowed out in the afternoon and kids came in and haphazardly drew faces on their pumpkin and Da Man carved them out just before dusk to put them out. Sigh.

Halloween night, the two younger girls were out the door by 6, but Skins refused to go with them, and would NOT dress like them. She went instead as a vampire. It sort of doused the effect of the Three Fairies being only two, but at least I got my photo.

I fear that family togetherness is going to become more and more elusive as the teenage years encroach upon us. Everyone has more important places to be, and things that used to be looked forward to and enjoyed have become blasé. It's inevitable.

And, so it goes.