St. Maarten's Dag - 11th November

St. Maarten's day was Tuesday, which is the 11th of November, and it is the Dutch version of Halloween. I am not sure about the origins or how it started, but this is how it goes:
Children make (or buy) paper lanterns that they light with a battery-operated light on a stick. They then walk around the neighborhood and, at each door, sing a song about St. Maarten or the 11th of November (pronounced "elf" November). After they sing, they are given candy. Kaylie, Keiric, and I headed out to meet up with Anna, Kaylie's friend from school and church, while Jeremy stayed back at the house to pass out candy. At first the girls were really shy and didn't want to sing, but when I threatened them that they couldn't eat the candy unless they sang for it, they became bolder. Keiric was confused at the beginning and didn't really want to participate, but when he realized that people were giving him candy, he began to lead the way. "Come on guys!"

Here are some pics: *Kaylie made her lantern at school - we bought Keiric's


When we got back home, we took Jeremy along to a few of the houses on our street. Kaylie had to sing, all by herself, in Dutch, and she did! We were SO proud of her, and our neighbors were impressed with how well she sang the Dutch songs.

This was the reward.

Here are some videos - Sorry, they're pretty dark