October tends to be one of the busiest months of our entire year. There is something so festive about the Fall and an almost-desperate urgency to soak up every last sunny day possible before winter arrives. We did a lot of Fall-themed field trips, but here are some of the more Halloween-centered activities.
"The Spooky Cottage"
Lydia decided that she wanted to enter the library's "Haunted House from recycled materials" contest. She planned it and only needed a small amount of help to make it happen. My very very favorite part is the haiku she wrote to go next to her display.
"Eyes in the window - Moon shining high in the sky - Spooky all around."
She got a free-movie rental and a bag of popcorn for entering and our family went to the Halloween Party that was held there as a show of support for Lydia. Everyone loved it.
Walker Pumpkin Carving
Our favorite Halloween Tradition. A bunch of Walkers. Bowls of goopy pumpkin insides. Laughter and funny stories. A mad dash to take pictures on the porch before the sun went down plus plenty of pictures with candles in the dark.
I love this family. My mom wasn't feeling well most of the day and so she stayed back in her room, but it was just so lovely to spend time with these people.
Austin and Lydia carved their own this year, while Caleb and Lucy obviously just "helped". But they each picked out what they wanted and we had a great time.
Austin: Spooky face. Caleb: Dragon.
Lucy: Cat Lydia: Dog face.
Our next favorite October Tradition:
Gardner Village with Melissa and Zachary
We love coming here with them every year.
Homeschool Witch Tea Party
As part of one of Lydia's homeschool rotations, she is part of a book club. This month they read "The Worst Witch" then had a fun little tea party where they all dressed like witches.
Homeschool Halloween Party
We also helped arrange a Halloween Party for our Homeschool Co-op. A few simple activities/games. Memorizing a poem. A snack. All in all some great "socialization". (Things like this are important to me so that even though these kids' experiences won't look the same as public school, they won't miss out on the class parties and such."
And lastly, Vanellope von Schweetz
Amy Perkins wanted to do a Wreck it Ralph themed costume with her and Derek and Amelia. She needed help building the car and so I offered to help her a couple evenings leading up to Halloween. The car turned out amazing (Sadie was taking a turn in the car). I was just grateful for the excuse to spend time with Amy. She's a great friend to me. We worked really hard to make it awesome and even though it was more work than Amy probably bargained for, it was worth it! As a thank you Amy brought us an amazing charcuterie board. It had cookies that were all shaped out to be a skeleton and then surrounded by delicious candies.
