A belated All Saints post

Thank you all for your prayers. It means a lot to me and Patrick.

I promised to keep you updated on us, and so here I am.

I would like to do an Advent post soon, but I think that will have to wait until... um... closer to Advent when I actually dig out our decorations and have something to photograph!

So instead, I thought I would show you Noah in his All Saints costume, albeit intensely late.

Before that, though, I would like to say that I don't want to give the impression that I think Halloween or trick-or-treating is "evil." Heavens, no! I am concerned about how some families celebrate Halloween, either by allowing their kids to dress up in frightening costumes or decorate their homes in creepy ways, or both. But other than that, Halloween is so much fun.

I know many lovely families who celebrate Halloween, go trick-or-treating and so on, and I think that is great! In actual fact, I think trick-or-treating is delightful because it gets neighbours who might not ordinarily interact to do so, to admire the cute kids around, and be generous to appreciative children just because.

This is why I gave out candy, even in the midst of hosting an All Saints party. I loved seeing the kids! And spoiling them with copious chocolates. (Not so many to the teenagers though. My motto is, if you can hold a part-time job, you don't need ME buying you candy! *I* don't even have a part-time job!)

That being said, I still prefer for our family to celebrate All Saints Day, because it is one of the highest feasts of the Church, and our version of All Saints incorporates the fun of Halloween -- you know, costumes and lots of candy -- without the potential spookiness

Without further adieu, here is our little St. Thomas Aquinas:

Don't you love the 50kg bag of oats in the background?
I am not a blogger who stages her house before taking a picture!

I must say, his costume was a bit of a sewing disaster. I made the foolish lazy decision to not sew his "habit" but rather cut down a man's large t-shirt. I justified this due to all the puking, and because Patrick was away the weekend Noah would need to wear it (which in Craine time equals, the weekend I would actually sew it from beginning to end...). The problem with that was that the neck hole was so big that he could pop his arm out without trying.

Patrick affectionately told him, "You look like Socrates."

Our little Socrates.

Also, I never measured the scapular or shoulder-cape thing-y (Colin K., I expect you to correct me and tell me the proper name for this). So the head hole was so big that it flapped around wildly. It definitely should have been lined or at least thickened with some of that iron-on Wonder Under stuff.

But, the good news is, our little Angelic Doctor was so pleased with himself! He adored dressing up and I could tell he was so appreciative of my slapped together efforts.

Next year, I will probably either enlist my mother's help, or dress him up in something even simpler. St. John the Baptist works. :-)

Noah last year, as St. Francis of Assisi.
This beautiful photo is what happens when you combine my mother's sewing skills
with my cousin's photography skills
with adorable 6-month old cuteness.
Priceless.
You can see why I might ask my mom to pitch in again next year?