Halloween

Halloween isn't a big deal in our family. In fact, I had to explain to the
kids what it was. Since we've spent most of their growing up years so far
here in PNG, they've had very little exposure to anything dealing with
Halloween. I wouldn't say I'm completely against Halloween, but on the
other hand, IF we were back in the States, I don't know if I would ever let
my kids go Trick-or-Treating. Maybe to friend's houses. Maybe.

But all that to say that when I was trying to come up with fun events for
our village stay, I decided that this year, we would "Do Halloween". After
long, rainy, monotonous days, it's good to have fun moments for the kids
(and parents!) to look forward to and enjoy. But since our last night in
the village will be on October 31, it wouldn't work to do our activities on
that day. We'll be too busy packing and cleaning and getting ready for an
early morning. So, instead of the last day of October being Halloween, we
decided that the last day of September would be.

I brought out some costumes for the kids to pick from, and some face paint.
We ended up with a cat (Kaitlyn) and a mouse (Justin), a princess and a
pirate. Then, since our house is so tiny, and I didn't want it all to be
over in 5 minutes, I gave the kids a list of things they needed to come up
with beforehand. They needed to come up with a song they would all sing, a
very short skit, something funny, etc. Then when they knocked at the door
and said "Trick or treat", they would find out which activity they would
need to perform before getting their candy.

I think they had fun, and I know they've been enjoying their candy this
week, so it was a fun activity.

This is the best picture I could get of E:  he was grouchy and wouldn't hold still for a picture.  But he made a SUPER cute Cheetah, complete with ears and tail!