Holidayaholic

I'm in a very Halloween mood this year. Actually, I'm in a very holiday mood in general this year. This is actually a relief, because last year I totally failed at it. We were ripping out floors, and working on other house projects, as well as life stuff, and when it all came down to it I was rather apathetic about the holidays. That is not who I am. I am a holidayaholic. 

When the winter holidays were almost upon us, I had the refrigerator in my hallway and no floor but plywood (we were installing new wood floors), and I barely got a tree up before the big day. Well, I'm making sure that does NOT happen this year. Oh, no, it will not!

The holidays, for me, kick off on October 1st. Now, I admit I didn't dive in and decorate with my family like I usually do. I was working hard in my studio and trying to get paintings and prints shipped out, and my site updated, and, and, andandand.... And my own mother had to come over to help my daughter go Halloween crazy.

It's helped having the decorations up. While I was into painting Halloween paintings, I was still missing something. But I can feel that spark starting to build!

Although, it might just be panic; I also agreed to a Halloween party for my kiddos. My daughter is too old to Trick-or-Treat. I'm one of those mean moms that said no once she was in 7th grade. I believe the treating is for the younger children, and the olders tend to get caught up in the tricks and forget the purpose. Not my daughter, but if I feel other's shouldn't let their teens out to be cruel to the little kids, then I should do the same by keeping mine off the sidewalks too. When my son was about six years old a group of teen boys jumped out from behind a bush, grabbed him, and screamed in his face. My son was terrified and crying, and it ruined the entire experience - and yes, if I could have gotten my hands on those kids, they might be missing limbs (I was more concerned with comforting him, but part of me wishes I had confronted them. A BIG part of me.) We tried taking him treating the next year, but he was miserable. They literally ruined Halloween treating for him, forever. 

So, we've done parties and such here and there since. I think it's been two years, but this year it's on. Green white chocolate fountain? Check. Eyeball cake? Check. Wormy treats? Check. Mom wondering if she's going to survive a houseful of kids 11-15 years old... ultra-uber-duber-massive-CHECK!

We're going to do Halloween right this year!

And on the blog front, I'm going to participate in my first blog-party-hop... thing! Here's the invite/announcement if you're interested: