Halloween has always been my favorite time of year. The nights are cool, the air smells crisp, wind blows through what leaves are left on the trees. I have many good memories of Hanging with friends, sometimes up to no good, more often just eating and drinking together while always talking and laughing.

The more family oriented Holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner. The night comes faster with the wonderful invention of daylight saving time. ( don't get me started ...) Carving Pumpkins, especially those picked yourself at a pumpkin patch is fun to do. But you see more and more people wasting a lot of money on costumes. We had a Halloween (they called it Fall Festival to avoid all ties with Pagan Holidays...how thoughful) Party at our church and I noticed many things. Most of the children wearing homemade costumed looked like they were having more fun than those in store bought outfits. This could becasue because while that girl over there in a fancy expensive Disney Princess getup is scratching at the seems where all of the fancy cheap plastic beading was attached, the other girl in the homemade princess dress was laughing and bouncing in one of those giant inflatable bouncing thingies.

Another boy had on a store bought hulk outfit, he had fun sure, but his parents paid a lot of money for that outfit and do you think he had more fun than the girl wearing her communion dress with a tiara or the boy in a jedi outfit. His jedi shirt was custom made to fit for HIM and not one sizes fits all...I was partial to his costume, not because his Father is the Pastor and I want a free ticket to God's graces, but because he was carrying the same lightsaber that I was!

I am not saying that store bought costumes are bad, I am just saying that they can be found r made cheaper. THey have a Pirates of the Caribean Captain Jack getup that is like $30...my Mom found a cheaper pirate dealie for around $15...half price...did my son have half as much fun as if he were struggling to keep the Captain Jack pants on his thin waist, while his broad shoulders were uncomfortable in the shirt that went with it? I doubt it. The older kids all had costumes that they made themselves...by older i mean high schoolish aged, so they had more fun building their costume than they would have at Party City standing in line to pay for one.

Happy Halloween...