On Saturday we got invited to a pumpkin party at the Living Light church. I brought my mum along as I am not a fan of going to events where there will be alot of people who I don't know on my own. We were all a bit shy at first, but everyone was so friendly, and Acey soon got into making foam pumpkins and decorating them with beady eyes and glitter paint :) There was facepainting and orange hairspraying too, and also some games, which Acey didn't want to participate in (I was quite thankful that he didn't want his hair sprayed orange I'll admit)... but he did have enormous fun decorating little cupcakes with orange icing and faces made out of sweeties. After the consumption of such an amount of sugar, he was not so shy anymore, and was zooming around telling everyone about his speed battery (one of the many reasons why I don't encourage sweetie eating...more on that in a minute..). Overall it was a really nice little event for the children, and they all had a little tea afterwards.
Yesterday we ended up going for a wonderful countryside walk with our friends Chrissy and Nancy and their two dogs, and our friend David came along too. There is nothing more wonderful than seeing Acey running around free in nature, it is outdoors where he feels most confident and himself. He did get very carried away sploshing in the puddles though, and so was a bit of a sorry state with wellies filled with water and wet trousers on the way back!! We did a slight spot of whortleberry foraging too (they were delicious)!
One little fairy and one little pixie playing by the tree
The beautiful Somerset countryside where little ones can run wild and free with the sheep :)
When we got home from our walk we made some lovely warm pumpkin soup to eat with our friend David. And yes I do say 'eat' soup instead of 'drink' as we came to the conclusion that people who say that they 'drink' soup are the type of people who only drink those silly cuppa soups instead of the actual real wholesome stuff! ;)
And today it is Samhain, or 'halloween'.. I must admit that I am not a big fan of the occassion. As a child I never went 'trick or treating' and I don't really get it. It is times like this I sometimes do wonder why I have to question everything and why can't I just let my little one go out and enjoy the night, armed with an empty bag ready to fill with sweeties from strangers. Well, for one thing I really cannot stand the array of costumes and sticky facepaints and other gimmicky rubbish that lines the shelves in the stores. It is a waste of money! And WHY would I want to send my little one to eat all of those sweeties?!! Maybe I would feel differently if people instead handed out apples, or roasted chestnuts or something a bit seasonal and homely. Why does it have to involve all of the sugar and E-numbers? A sugar rush followed by a terrible slump (as I learnt on Saturday) are no treat for any of us! Are the children getting tricked into what is a 'treat?'
Mean mummy or Mindful mummy? You decide...
Our loveheart pumpkin <3
Time for Acey's bedtime massage by pumpkinlight now I think...
Love and Samhain blessings to all xx
The interesting thing about Halloween (and I say Halloween and not Samhain for a reason) is that what you see today is a Christianised version.
ReplyDeleteThe hag on the broom stick for example is a demonized version of the mother crone from the goddess aspect. The costumes, sweets and the like have almost nothing to do with the real tradition of Samhain save the pumpkin.
The version I celebrate is more family orientated, it's feasting and lighting candles for the recently deceased to find their way to the next realm; to their next life. It's bale fires and besoms by the door. It's really a rather beautiful tradition in it's traditional form.