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It’s that time of year again to get out the tools to carve your own pumpkin or do you buy one of those jackolanterns at the store instead?
Are you ready for the trick-or-treaters at your house?
We use a special jackolantern at our house and place it near the front door for the kids to see, as for the candy treats ~ bought them last week while they had a special sale price on them. Our trouble (as always) don’t know how many kids will be stopping by this year.
We use both ~ real pumpkins AND store-bought fakes. But I don't always carve the real pumpkins (thought I might this year). One year I carved one of the fakes and thought it was a pain in the butt.
I do own a small chiminea-type burner with a jack-o-lantern face carved into it, which will have a fake-candle inside. It's cool. Haven't bought candy yet (afraid we'd eat it).
We get very few kids. However, a few years ago we started to really dress up the front yard, anyway, and have noticed a few more trick-or-treaters every year since. Therefore, I never know how to much to buy, either.
When the kids were little, we carved pumpkins and of course they had their own to carve! Now, I do not go to much trouble as we only get a couple of trick or treaters per year. There are huge festivals at churches and larger towns that have drawn the little ones away from us....
Used to, it was neat seeing all the wee ones in their costumes, now it is like another day.
I use both real and fake to decorate with, and I love to carve pumpkins. I have many tools, but we buy a kit every year. Some of the patterns with the kits are awesome, but the best designs are those from our own imagination. The kids come up with some pretty cool ideas.
Do you think that the public schools should have Halloween parties instead of door to door tick & treaters?
There had been some talk around here, but I don't believe there's enough time at school for these types of things, they need to use the time for study instead. However after school parties there wouldn't be a bad idea.
We carve our own. We take the kid trick or treating.
Someone my hubby works with can't believe our 13, 14 and 16 yr old still go. I was like...Uhmmmm I trick or treated until I was 17...but I love chocolate! hehe
We use both real and fake pumpkins. (I have a few of the outdoor jack-o-lanterns that light up from Target. ) I've never been into carving pumpkins, but my DH wants to carve some this year with my 3 year old daughter...whatever makes them happy!
As for trick-o-treaters, we get 100+ kids. I spoil them. I make up goody bags and give away full size chocolate bars, skittles, M&Ms and this year I added Fun-Dip to the mix. I also bought a large cauldron to keep all the goody bags in at the front door. I'm debating whether I should do glowsticks this year. I have in the past, but over the past few years, it looks like another neighbor caught on to my idea, so I had stopped putting them in the goody bags.
When I was 6 or 7 I remember my dad carving a real pumpkin. Once we moved to Alaska that was the end of that. Out in rural Alaska the only way to get them there was by air freight. That made them way to costly for us to buy.
We haven't carved a real pumpkin at our house since our son was a kid. We like the fake ones that use a Christmas type light bulb...lol
We usually get somewhere between 25-50 trick or treaters at our house. Instead of giving out candy, we buy popcorn balls and bags of Doritos or pretzels.
I was highly surprised to find out awhile back that my grade school in Central CALIFORNIA still takes time off during school ~ I assume about 30 minutes ~ for the Halloween Parade through town. They probably aren't allowed to wear the outfits to school anymore (as we were), but for such a liberal state to still have a school that doesn't give diddly-squat about "political incorrectness" is just totally unexpected. Makes me very proud.
Of course, as I often do, I kinda' derailed the topic, didn't I? So I'll get back on topic. . .
I still remember the very first little pumpkin I carved and was in first grade. It was a small one, of course, but I kept it in my room until the dang thing turned half-green with mold.
Also, like the last poster, the max trick-or-treaters we've had was about 25 (last year). But because of it I do the opposite ~ I buy FULL-sized bars, which always surprises them. (Always keep bags of the snack-sized ones, though, in case of a stampede.)
With stores and malls replacing door-to-door Trick-or-Treating, it makes me sad to know that children for the past 25 years or so just don't know how much FUN that WE oldsters had on Halloween night. Didn't have to worry about tainted candies, and some of the treats were soooo cool. Some of us used pillows to fill the bags, and for some us, the candy bars were full-sized then.
What HAS improved over time is the quality of the outfits.
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Now, I do not go to much trouble as we only get a couple of trick or treaters per year. There are huge festivals at churches and larger towns that have drawn the little ones away from us....
) I've never been into carving pumpkins, but my DH wants to carve some this year with my 3 year old daughter...whatever makes them happy! 
I make up goody bags and give away full size chocolate bars, skittles, M&Ms and this year I added Fun-Dip to the mix. 
I also bought a large cauldron to keep all the goody bags in at the front door. I'm debating whether I should do glowsticks this year. I have in the past, but over the past few years, it looks like another neighbor caught on to my idea, so I had stopped putting them in the goody bags. 
