A World without walls
everyday life while homeschooling overseas
Hands down, this was the BEST Halloween ever! Another LDS FS family sent me a message late on Friday evening asking if we were still in Vancouver and wanted to meet up to do some FOR REAL trick or treating! Um, YES! These kids were over the moon! They've never done house to house trick or treating in their lives before. Such a sad thing to miss! They all love dressing up so much, and have always loved Halloween. Not because of the ghosts and witches, but just because they like to dress up and get a lot of candy! Ha! We met up with this wonderful family of instant friends, and wandered around a neighborhood in North Vancouver. There were some pretty stellar house decorations, and there were groups of other kids wandering down the streets in costumes, too. It did my heart SO MUCH GOOD to see my kids wearing costumes and trick or treating together! They squealed and ran from house to house and got SO much candy!! As a matter of fact, Peter's bag got overfull and he had to use Devin's pockets and even his shoulder guards to hold the rest of it. We wandered down the streets and watched the kids yell 'Trick or Treat' at doors and at tables that were set up in driveways. We chuckled at the times where they all yelled 'Merry Christmas' instead of 'Happy Halloween'. The parents yelled 'Thank you' to the people giving out candy. I felt like a normal person. It was glorious. Apparently, another Vancouver tradition is to shoot off fireworks for Halloween! So here we are, wandering slowly down the streets and picking up candy from strangers, with amazing fireworks going off all around us. It literally brought tears to my eyes. I think it was a healing night for all of us. My kids got to do something they've never been able to do before--something that I think is taken for granted. We also were outside in the middle of fireworks displays and as we reminded ourselves that it was HAPPY fireworks, and not the MAS trying to hurt people, I think it helped us work through a little of our trauma. The kids came home, and immediately ran to their rooms so they could dump out their candy haul--then they started the sorting and trading, which is part of every Halloween Trick or Treating ritual. I've decided this is a naturally in-born human instinct, because I didn't tell my kids that it would be cool to go sort out their candy and maybe trade with each other (or give me all the candy they didn't want), they just did it naturally. My psychological mind enjoyed observing them and wondering about it. :) It was a most spectacular evening. We loved the creativity of the people giving out candy. There were some houses where candy was simply left in a container outside with a note telling them to take one or two. Some people handed it out with tongs. We especially loved the houses that had set up decorated PVC pipes as chutes and just sent the candy sailing down the pipe into their bags. Our favorite, though, was a house where they had set up a Hot Wheels track from the second floor window down to the front porch!! We laughed so much as the candy started to get stuck halfway down...and then the lady gave up using the track and decided just to throw the candy down at the kids! Hilarious and completely unforgettable!!!!
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Who Am I?
As a Stay At Home Mom of 4 wonderful children, I have the amazing opportunity not only to home school them, but to do so in many different places! I am married to the most amazingly wonderful (and handsome) man in the whole world! Together, we seek out, every day, that Joy in the Journey that makes life exciting! Archives
November 2020
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Emily's books
by Dan Brown
I like that the plot twists and turns a lot...and it makes you think. However, I don't appreciate Dan Brown's endings in his books. I find the endings incongruent with the rest of his stories--why make it a romance for the last chapter...
by Shannon Hale
I loved this book. I'm a sucker for fairy tales/fantasy. This was so well written! I can't wait to read all the rest of her books!
by Shannon Hale
I'm reading this one again. I liked it the first time I read it. I'm still liking it for the second time around. I like all of Shannon Hales' books.
**Still lots of fun the second time around! I do like this book for a comfortable...
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