A Saintly Celebration

This was our 8th annual All Saints Celebration, and each year I am more and more convinced that this way of celebrating is TONS more fun than the secular way our culture celebrates Halloween...but I'll admit I'm a bit biased! :)  This year was extra fun for our family because for the first time ever we didn't have to host the event (which takes a load of stress off of this anxiety-prone momma!)  :)  We were so blessed to spend Halloween night with 2 of our favorite and most saintly families we know.  Between our three Catholic families, there were 18 saintly kids running around and having a splendid time (except for one of my sons who ate too much candy at school and felt sick most of the night...natural consequences are a bummer, but at least he learned a valuable lesson) :}  But aside from one tummy ache, the night was filled with saint games, heavenly food, a pumpkin pinata, a plethora of candy, edifying saint reports, a litany of the saints prayer, and hours of holy fun and fellowship.

This year in particular, I felt like our culture went overboard on decorations and costumes that seemed to celebrate evil and gore.  Many of our neighbors spent hundreds of dollars on creepy blow-up yard toys, and it was disturbing to me how many people seemed to decorate there homes more for Halloween than they do for Christmas.  I try not to be judgmental because I know that many people are just having innocent fun, and I grew up trick-or-treating like all the rest.   But now that I'm an adult with children whose hearts I am trying to point towards heaven, I tend to see the secular holiday in a different light.  Quite frankly, the holiday seems absent of light and glory for God, which is why we try to celebrate it in a totally different way, a way that I hope made Jesus and the saints smile from up above on us crazy Catholics down below! :)

Here's some evidence of our crazy Catholic fun:

Our "saintly" boys:

Dominic as St. Martin of Tours

Michael as St. Juan Diego

Nathanael as St. Michael the Archangel

Isaiah as St. George

Joseph as St. Thomas Aquinas

Our boys with their saintly friends...

(there were 6 more kiddos that arrived later and missed the photo opp) :(

Max, the fiercely adorable dragon, with St. George, the dragon-slayer, in the background!

Dominic playing the St. Christopher game!

Joseph, Eric, and Josh competing to see who can keep 3 balloons suspended in the air the longest...

after all, saints require persistence in this crazy world, right!?

Joseph and Eric cramming right before giving their saint reports :)

Happy All Saint's Day!

P.S. Don't forget to ask for the saints' intercession this month,

and also to pray for the holy souls in purgatory!!!