Halloween 2017...

How was every one's Halloween this year? Ours was wonderful. Low key and just absolutely perfect for us and our family. Saturday October 28th, Noah and his classmates went "Trick or Treating" in our housing community. Trick or Treating in Japan hasn't really caught on, "for real" yet. I know in Inzai because of my foreign/American papa friend living there... that they do a huge mass trick or treating all grades and stuff. And that sounds like fun. I also have lots of friends in Japan where they live that... do no trick or treating at all. As for our housing community where we live... they always trick or treat on a Saturday afternoon regardless if it's actually October 31st or October 28th. To me...that's really weird. In America we "trick or treat" only on October 31st regardless which day it falls on. So that to me is unusual. Also another interesting weird thing about how my area trick or treats. Noah's grade kids only trick or treat at their particular grades houses and no other grades. And the grade younger than Noah...the current 5th graders also trick or treat. But they will not stop at 6th grade houses and won't give candy to 6th grade kids. It's so weird. I will gladly give candy out to *any* kid who knocks on my door. Also..you know how in the US...we trick or treat at night and whoever has their porch light on... is whose house you stop at? Nope...not here. They trick or treat in broad daylight and no lights on houses at all. So...it is...what it is.  A few years ago...I tried...explaining how we can...maybe join all kids from our school, so not to leave any one out. And how we should stick to only trick or treating on the 31st. But nope...they are unchanging and unwavering. Regardless the fact that they are wrong. I mean...would they celebrate Obon on a  different date? Or Golden Week in March instead of the month it's actually celebrated? No. Yet...they think they can switch the date of Halloween to a Saturday, because it's more convenient. This just boggles my mind. But, it is what it is. And regardless if I am right. Yes I am. Our housing community will always celebrate Halloween on a Saturday and in broad daylight. LOL. So Noah went trick or treating on Saturday....morning nonetheless. Around 9:30am. Noah was in his Mario costume from last year. And I had treat bags for Noah's grade kids ready. And so when they knocked at our door right after breakfast....we passed out treats and Noah left with them to knock on their classmates doors. Slightly super weird for me...but the important thing is... They loved it. They had a ton of fun. Seeing their happiness made me smile. And I am just glad they had fun. : )Sunday Bran and Noah and I carved our family pumpkin and made him into a proper Jack o lantern!!! We also roasted pumpkin seeds and they came out so delicious, Sunday. So when you live in a foreign country...you just make the best of it. And you celebrate your holidays the best ya can. With an open mind and an accepting heart. : ) As for us, at our house...we watch Halloween movies all month long for October. And we make Halloween night a little family party for us here at home. The day before.. we were in the city and we bought a dozen donuts for Halloween. The kids enjoyed some donuts for Halloween breakfast along with milk and yogurts. 

Glazed donuts...super simple, but delicious.

I put the Halloween candy in the pumpkin heads. Halloween day. So that by the time the kids got home from school, their Halloween candy was waiting. I also made a huge amount of homemade from scratch pizza dough. Enough for 3 pizzas.  

Noboru was off work, yay. He didn't take the day off, he was just off work...his regular day off. That week. And this is a pic of the kids pizza. It's a homemade from scratch pepperoni pizza. You can see how crisp that crust is. The size of this pizza is the same size of a Costco pizza...only tons better. We had pizzas and salads for our fun laid back Halloween dinner.

This was my pizza. I had pepperoni, mushrooms and jalapenos and onions. Noboru had the same as mine, except minus the onions. With a nice salad and some sodas. Halloween dinner was super yum. The kids showered and came downstairs. They noshed on their candy. And we watched half of Hocus Pocus. One channel was having a Hocus Pocus marathon for Halloween, it just played again and again for like 24 hours. Also another channel was having a Chucky/Child's Play marathon too. We watched half of Hocus Pocus and then we changed it to real Ghost Stories on another channel having some Ghostober marathon. That was interesting and a little scarier than Hocus Pocus. LOL.

All in all. Did Noah trick or treat this year? Yep. He had a blast doing it. A bit unorthodox way of trick or treating yes..but he still enjoyed it. Did we carve our Jack o lantern and also roast some pumpkin seeds...double yes!!!! Did we have a delicious special Halloween dinner here at home? Yassss!!! And did the kids get the best part of Halloween? Meaning get a ton of Halloween candy? Most definitely. So all in all...I would call Halloween 2017 a lot of fun and a total success. When you know you and your family will be moving back to the states permanently. You really don't focus on...the small crap that doesn't matter...like .."they're trick or treating wrong or weirdly" you suddenly stop caring or worrying about that completely. You just start focusing on...wanting your child to enjoy this childhood memory he is creating with his friends that he won't be seeing in a years time. So the focus goes back on the TRUE important stuff. Noah trick or treating with his friends. Us as a family carving out our pumpkin. Us as a family having our Halloween dinner and enjoying some Halloween specials on TV. The important things really are...about friends...family. Good food. Making wonderful memories. And just getting to live in the now...and enjoy it.