Halloween

As I have said before, I have never been a huge fan of holidays.  This is the first holiday season my daughters are old enough to enjoy.  Nicole really enjoys holiday lights but gets a little nervous around all the "scary" decorations.  Nadia is bomb proof and thinks the decorations are great fun.

Last night they had their first adventure in Trick or Treating.  We first visited a friend early in the afternoon to ease them into ringing doorbells for candy. At first they both were hesitant but got the hang of it when candy made its appearance.  We visited our friend for awhile then headed to my Mom's neighborhood.

They may have learned a bad lesson when they rang Grandma's doorbell and she gave them candy.  I hope they don't think this will happen every time we visit Grandma.  We spend time visiting with Grandma and a few of her neighbors.

Nadia dressed as a parrot, her costume took a little getting used to as she dislikes things on her head.  Once she discovered everyone thought she was super cute she consented to the hat.

Nicole originally was going to be a cow but she decided that her costume was not ok.  She was then made into a kitty which she approved of.  Nicole LOVES cats and starts every day with hugging at least one of her kitties.

Both girls had a lot of fun, but were worn out afterwards.  I am glad we did the trick or treating early though as it got crowded in our neighborhood as the night wore on.  I was surprised how many older (teenage) kids were trick or treating.  I saw many high school age kids asking for candy, one even asked for money.

Block Party

There seems to be a trend of neighbors distancing themselves from their neighbors.  I have lived in my house for a year and have met my neighbor once when our sprinkler system was malfunctioning.  At our prior residence we spoke to our neighbor once in three years when we accidentally received her mail. This seems to be the norm in most of the places I have lived.

My Mother moved to a house two years ago and her new neighbors, all of them on her block, are different than any I have ever lived near.  They are all on very friendly terms, speak at least every week, and have their dogs play in large groups together.  They gather to watch fights and tv shows and think nothing of helping each other with things.  As they live on a dead end street, it is a perfect place to have block parties, which they frequently do.

Nicole (left) and Nadia (right) with Grandma Judy

Saturday they had their annual Halloween block party.  It started early for the youngsters, but continued well into the morning.  There was marshmallow roasting over a raised fire pit, hot chocolate bar for the kiddies, slow roast pork sandwiches to die for, and drinks for the above 21 crowd.  I was amazed when a 6 year old boy offered to roast marshmallows for my daughters.            

Nadia and neighbor Liz

 Maybe it is just Las Vegas, however, it seems our society has lost its neighborly ways.  You rarely see neighborhood parties or barbeques.  Many neighbors don't know who their neighbors are or even how many people live next to them.  The block party was such a wonderful experience for my girls and I, I think I will try to become friends with my neighbors also. 

Holidays

I have never been one for holidays.  I never enjoyed looking at Christmas lights, I detested Halloween (my birthday is right before) and Thanksgiving seemed to be a reason to eat a lot.  I would celebrate with my family and friends, but I was never really in the spirit.

Nadia and Nicole changed all that for me.  Last year was their first holiday season.  They were 7 months old for Halloween and didn't think very much of the adorable costumes I forced them to sit still in. 

Nadia the tiger, Nicole the monkey

Thanksgiving passed very much the same way.  Their Great Uncle and Aunt visited from China, we had the traditional dinner, and Nadia and Nicole didn't care.


All that changed with Christmas.  I decorated a small tree and hung some garland on one of our fish tanks.  The girls loved the lights and really loved ripping open packages.

Now that the holiday season is here again and my girls are a year older, I find myself excited about decorating for them.  I have hung a small amount of spider webbing and placed some glow in the dark rats and spiders around.  My fish tank has been decorated for the season.

I cannot wait to finish Halloween decorating and decorating for the other holidays.  I hope my girls find wonder and joy in the holidays.