Keeping Halloween Happy

Despite the plasticising and commercializing of it I still love Halloween. Running in the conservative Christian circle that I do I put up with the tight lipped frown of disapproval from those that don't participate in the holiday. Dressing up and getting candy does not make my children pagans anymore than swimming in the ocean makes them dolphins.
Walking around on a chilly night gathering candy in complete and giddy anonymity is such an ingrained childhood memory I can't imagine not passing it down to the next generation.
Scratchy plastic masks and cheaply made big box retailer costumes is the easy way to go but with more imagination and less money the night can be made even more interesting. My triangular foam pizza costume has lasted for years. Cardboard boxes can be spray painted or covered in poster board to transform little ones into cars, dominoes, TVs, cell phones, robots,
computers to an infinite list of easily recognizable costumes with a bit of time and a fraction of
the cost.
Singed vegetables is not one of my favorite aromas and trying to keep stringy pumpkin guts on spread out newspaper is an impossibility so we have taken to decorating our pumpkins without carving them. Using paint and permanent markers is a great alternative to bludgeoning an innocent orange orb for the sake of a lopsided face and a top that invariably caves in. Keeping the pumpkin whole is safer, less messy and keeps it fresh longer.
The way to go in my book!