It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!

We LOVE Halloween at our place! Dressing up, running around the neighborhood, carving jack-o-lanterns, it is all part of the fun.

This year, Tate is protesting Halloween. No moral objection, just "too homesick for Omaha to dress up..." For the autism-initiated, any change is difficult for children with Autism. Tate has done a yeoman's job of adapting, but some things are just too much for him. We pick our battles (yes he goes to Church, no he doesn't have to go to trick-or-treating).

I tried to convince him that he should go out as a protester. I told him that I would make him a sign with an anti-Halloween message, he could wear a robe and sandles, maybe hold a megaphone or something. Then he could just stand back with me and let Dane go to the doors... unfortunately, no such luck.

Here are some action shots from this year's festivities...

Tate's favorite Halloween treat is Candy popcorn balls. He has little use for caramel popcorn (though the rest of us can live on it) so we tried a new recipe. Apparently there are nuances to being a protester!

We also made mini caramel and candy apples. Cyndie used a melon-baller to get small round apple pieces, then dipped them in caramel and liquid candy. Unfortunately, the skinless apples don't hold their cover too well. Bite-sized treats are good in any case!

The aforementioned boycott did apply to jack-o-lantern carving... this the first year in several that we haven't used pumpkins grown in our own garden. We sold our pumpkin patch with the house (ok, we really didn't have another plan, so buy a pumpkin patch for $200,000 and we'll make you such a deal on the house!) We were thrilled when Bompa's neighbor, Bryant "The Farmer" Miller dropped by a few gourd offerings for us to transform into major hauntings.

After watching a Food Network Halloween special with Tate (another area which transcends the boycott), we decided that we needed to try some "advanced" techniques in carving.

This one ended up somewhere between Zack Efron ("High School Musical") and Max ("Where the Wild Things Are"). Dane suggested that we should put a "cute little BunnyWabbit" on the side.

In the interest of protesting all things diabolical, here's our wholly holy offering: Bob and Larry from VeggieTales.

On the big night, Dane and I went through the neighborhood, saw friends and had a great time at a post trick-or-treat party (we tried to convince Tate that it wasn't Halloween related, but he's way too smart for that!).