Halloween 2025

I am so late posting this, but things have been a bit crazy around here. Hannah decided that we were going to have a Halloween party because in our town there is little for late teen to 21 year olds to do on this holiday. She and Jackson were just going to invite a few of their friends to keep it small. We decorated the backyard so they could hang out around the fire pit, play corn hole and roast hotdogs and make s’mores.

I found this vintage door cover at an estate sale.

Hannah and I carved pumpkins the night before.

Since the party started at 5:30 there was plenty of light to play Cornhole.

They loved the fire pit so much that we had to go get more wood.

They decided to load up in the back of Gavin’s pickup and go trick or treating around the neighborhood. I know some people think they may be too old, but I had seen a post on All Things Longview that was asking if any adults could go trick or treating. The yes response was overwhelming. This is mainly because most kids go to the really big neighborhoods where they block off the streets and are known for their trick or treating. Our little neighborhood has homes that decorate but no one comes.

Hannah was Gumball and her Olivia was Darwin (a fish. she had a fin but you can’t see it from the front) from the Adventures of Gumball.

Gavin and Hannah

The kids ended up with a lot of candy. One house had hotdogs and hot chocolate. After the trick or treating they decided to play some board games.

The festivities ended around midnight and everyone had a great time. I think we’ll have to do this again. I hope everyone else had a happy Halloween.

Day #98 – Dollar Tree Lady

Yesterday Donny and I pulled the Halloween crates out of the shed. I was looking through the bins and realized that I only had 2 tombstones because the third one had blown away last year. We decided to go to Dollar Tree to see if they had any. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money because we just do it for fun and if it looks a little janky that’s okay with us.

When we walked in we headed over to the Halloween area. There was a woman redoing the area and we asked if they had any tombstones. She said that she didn’t think so. We looked around, didn’t see any, but did find a few things to add to the outside decor.

When we went to check out we got in her lane and she turned the light off indicating that she was closed. We went to the next register, that was empty and some person stepped in front of us with a cart full. The original lady motioned us over and said she’d check us out. We put all of our items on the belt and she proceeds to tell me that she is glad she never buys any of this stuff because it’s a waste of money and it’s a pagan holiday that she would NEVER celebrate.

I told her that I’m a Christian and that my church even celebrates Halloween. She tsked at me and by that time Donny had joined the conversation. He told her that we weren’t wanting to worship demons but just wanting to check out. She continued her diatribe about what a pagan holiday it was. Then she said to me, I love your necklace.

I told her oh, it’s St. Michael. She then says, Oh, the archangel. I said, yes and he protects me from demons on Halloween. We gathered our bags and Donny wished her a happy Halloween.

I get that some people don’t like or celebrate Halloween. It has always been one of my favorite holidays. I just can’t imagine working in a retail environment and telling a customer that they are pagan when they have no idea what my beliefs are. Dollar Tree do better with your employees.

Anyway, this is what us pagans purchased.

And these cute solar lights.

I was putting up the Brita filters and decided to see what they would actually cost instead of the six dollars and change (25% off the price) we paid at the estate sale.

They are $67 dollars at Walmart!!!! Donny is the one that always buys the filter so I had no idea. No wonder he jumped on them.

Day #78 – Shakespeare Garden

I’m on day 3 of feeling unwell. Yesterday I had to go pick Jackson up from school and ended up getting there a bit early. He had told me about the Shakespeare Garden that was right by the art building. I decided to take a look while I was waiting.

You pick up a sheet that’s on the gate and just follow the path.

It’s so pretty and serene. There are benches placed throughout the pathways.

I loved the butterfly house.

Because it is later in the season there is not a lot blooming right now.

I just love that they have this on campus.

Today was Donny’s day off (yes, he did have to go in for a few hours due to some unforeseen issues) but before that we decided to stop by an estate sale that he had seen online. It had a clown painting that he thought I’d like. Oh, and I did. Too bad it was $140. We always go to this company’s estate sales that they put on, but lately the prices have gotten outrageous. We ended up leaving empty handed. However, as we were walking to the car I saw the first Halloween decorations of the season.

I love Halloween, but Fall doesn’t begin until September 22nd. I just cannot get myself to put up Halloween decorations when it’s still technically summer. It just feels so wrong to me. These were really cool though.

Since my pumpkin vine is getting longer we decided I needed some pollinators. We went to Home Depot and picked up some mums and marigolds. My marigolds are still growing and not yet near the bloom phase. I need so insects to have something sooner so maybe when the pumpkin vine flowers it will get pollinated.

I had to get yellow since it’s my favorite color. Fingers crossed I’ll feel well enough to get this planted tomorrow.