I can't believe it's been 6 months since my last blogpost!
But here we are, and it's time to get caught up to date. I don't want to skip over special events from the past, since I might turn this blog into a scrapbook. So I'm going to try and tell you about all the major events that have passed us by. At least I can share with you some photos. It will take a lot of hours, but Alan's away in Arizona now so it'll keep me from being lonely.
Halloween, interestingly enough, has roots in Ireland. This article from http://www.ireland-information.com/articles/irishhalloweentraditions.htm talks about the details. Because I just wanted to expand on the traditions that Alan has told me about, I've edited the article to include only those traditions that Alan's shared from his childhood.
IRISH HALLOWEEN TRADITIONS
The Celts celebrated Halloween as Samhain, 'All Hallowtide' - the 'Feast of the Dead', when the dead revisited the mortal world. The celebration marked the end of Summer and the start of the Winter months.
During the eighth century the Catholic Church designated the first day of November as 'All Saints Day ('All Hallows') - a day of commemoration for those Saints that did not have a specific day of remembrance. The night before was known as 'All Hallows Eve' which, over time, became known as Halloween.
Here are the most notable Irish Halloween Traditions:
The Barnbrack Cake: The traditional Halloween cake in Ireland is the barnbrack which is a fruit bread. Each member of the family gets a slice. Great interest is taken in the outcome as there is a piece of rag, a coin and a ring in each cake. If you get the rag then your financial future is doubtful. If you get the coin then you can look forward to a prosperous year. Getting the ring is a sure sign of impending romance or continued happiness.
The Pumpkin: Carving Pumpkins dates back to the eighteenth century and to an Irish blacksmith named Jack who colluded with the Devil and was denied entry to Heaven. He was condemned to wander the earth but asked the Devil for some light. He was given a burning coal ember which he placed inside a turnip that he had gouged out.
The tradition of Jack O'Lanterns was born - the bearer being the wandering blacksmith - a damned soul. Villagers in Ireland hoped that the lantern in their window would keep the wanderer away. When the Irish emigrated in millions to America there was not a great supply of turnips so pumpkins were used instead.
Halloween Costumes: On Halloween night children would dress up in scary costumes and go house to house. 'Help the Halloween Party' and 'Trick or Treat' were the cries to be heard at each door. This tradition of wearing costumes also dates back to Celtic times. On the special night when the living and the dead were at their closest the Celtic Druids would dress up in elaborate costumes to disguise themselves as spirits and devils in case they encountered other devils and spirits during the night. By disguising they hoped that they would be able to avoid being carried away at the end of the night. This explains why witches, goblins and ghosts remain the most popular choices for the costumes.
The Bonfire: The Halloween bonfire is a tradition to encourage dreams of who your future husband or wife is going to be. The idea was to drop a cutting of your hair into the burning embers and then dream of you future loved one. Halloween was one of the Celt 'fire' celebrations.
Irish Halloween Traditions - An article provided by The Information about Ireland Site.
Back when Alan was a kid, the children would go around from house to house shouting, “Help the Halloween party!” and they would receive gifts of apples and oranges.
Nowadays, the bonfires are banned (but you could see a few circles burned into the grass the day or two afterwards) and it looks more like the American version of Halloween. Children dress up in costumes, have candy bags, and say, “Trick or Treat.” Ireland being the land of chocolate (there's chocolate everywhere!!!) the kids get lots of treats. Some neighbors make up little treat bags full of different candies and crisps (chips). Halloween home decorations are becoming more and more prevalent. We saw some houses lit up and decorated, but nothing really compares with the amount of decoration with American suburban homes.
Our street has mostly seniors, or OAPs (Old Age Pensioners), so we decided to go over to Sean Healy's house, one of Connor's school mates and closest friends. Sean's mom Veronica and I have become good friends, too, so I was delighted to spend the evening with her and her family.
Connor dressed up as a ninja this year. I think it was actually a ruse to get a new samurai sword, but I didn't mind. Connor's warrior side comes out every Halloween. The last few years, he's been a warrior in one form or another. When he was three, he was a pirate. At age four, he was a knight. And now a ninja. He got to dress up for school, putting his costume on over his uniform. Apparently, they do a little fashion show. Then they take off the costumes and get down to the business of the school day.
Connor's friend Sean went as an army man complete with camoflouge and beret, and he decided that's what he wanted to be next year. That'll be next year's ruse to weild a gun, I'm sure.
One modern tradition they have here that I do like very much is the Chinese lanterns they light and release into the sky. We didn't light any ourselves, but we did see several floating up into the night sky.
Here's our photos:
Yes, that is a cut over Ronan's eye. Yes, we were in the emergency room in Temple Street Children's Hospital for that. His cut really should be a blogpost on its own. We'll see if I get to it.... :)
Just as we started making our banana bites, Uncle David stopped by! 
I love how happy Connor looks with himself in this picture. 
This is our prep station for crunchy chicken fingers. They get their crunch from coating them in potato chips! Connor was so happy we got to make a dinner with "crisps!"
My famous Greek Leg of Lamb. Mmmmm!!!!
