Halloween used to cause me some discomfort.  All the "devil's holiday" and "all saint's eve" stuff freaked me out - I didn't want to celebrate the devil!  As I've matured spiritually and Dan & I have taken the time to sort out what we really believe our walk with the Lord should look like, we have decided that Halloween is a perfect time to get out in the community...not to hide away with other believers.  We've decided that Halloween for us will be about dressing Lana up in fun costumes, letting her enjoy a fun night with her friends and some candy, and getting out into our community, meeting people we normally would not.

This is Lana's third Halloween, and this time she got it!  She loved the idea of dressing up, and could hardly wait to be "Little Quack!" (She loves a book she has about a duck named Little Quack, and so her duck costume was PERFECT.)  

When she woke up from her nap this afternoon, we told her that after dinner, she got to be Little Quack and go get some candy.  We even practiced saying trick or treat by letting her knock on the front door...I was waiting on the other side with some candy.  She was so excited.  Then we expected her to sit down and eat dinner....yeah, right!  We managed to coerce her into eating a few bites of a delicious pot pie before suiting her up as Little Quack and meeting some friends in downtown Wake Forest.  

Our friends Kelly & Bradley came with Julianna (a ladybug), and Dustin & April brought Hollis (a mouse).  The kiddos were so cute!  It only took Lana a house or two to "get" it, and as soon as we walked away from one house, she was showing us the next one, saying, "I gonna get some more candy!"  By the end, she was so brave, asking to go get the candy by herself.  (Her mama was too paranoid for that...I had to have a hand on her at all times.)  

My favorite part of the whole night was when we were about halfway done,  Lana looked up at me with her big blue eyes and said, "Mommy, they being such good sharers!  They share everything that God give them!"  She was just amazed at everyone giving their candy away...precious.

The route that we go on Main Street is perfect!  It's just the right distance...by the time we get to the end, it's time to go home.  We trick or treated from 6:30 to 7:30, and then headed back home.  Once we got back to our little house, we let Lana dump out all her candy and eat some.  I made hot chocolate with marshmallows for us to drink - I think we'll make this a tradition.  She didn't get in bed until 8:30, and didn't fall asleep until 9:00, but it was worth it!