Week 44: Feliz Dia de Los Muertos

The day after Halloween, Dia de Los Muertos is the day marked to celebrate the life of family and friends who have passed away. Candles are lit to guide souls to their altars, so they can arrive and eat (usually the foods they loved) that have been prepared for them by their families.
I learned about this day back when I first started teaching elementary school in Los Angeles, and loved the idea of having a time to honor the deceased in our lives. I didn't grow up with any sort of ritual like this, and frankly the whole idea of death just always seemed disconnected and scary. 
So now with lil' ones of my own, I'd love to adopt a form of this ritual in our home. They're only three and a half, so don't think I want to focus too much on the whole death theme quite yet, but I would like to create a space to honor the people and animals that have have touched our lives and have passed away. 
So I'm planning to light some tea candles tonite and wink up at the sky at my 3 grandparents and 2 dogs. 

Update!: The experience went really well! It evolved from just lighting candles, to me digging around our house for pictures. I was more touched than expected and felt a sweet sense of connection to my grandparents and passing on their story to my kids. I mean outside of Nicolas saying "They drived? They're driving now?", I think they got the connection that I too had grandparents and the importance of acknowledging them in life.


Okay, back to My Goals for the Week:
Mom: Create a photo album on Shutterfly of my Halloween pictures
Health: Make appointment for HINI shots for kids
Athlete: Sign up for Vineman, Kaiser Half, and create a general 2010 race game plan!
Personal Growth: Spend 30 min a day to finish my freakin' USAT exam!


As always, I write these goals on a book marker I use in my organizer and attempt to read it each morning as I plan my day. I would love to hear how you either plan your day and week, and if you've done any family rituals with Dia de Los Muertos to pass along.  (Oh, and my good friend who is a professional photographer took the first pic above w/my camera last nite. Obviously, the second one was me and the iphone:)