We had a great Samhain / Halloween this year. Alex didn't trick or treat this time, so we stayed home and handed out treats we had made. Only we had almost 100 children visit our home, and we ran out of treats at like child # 48.
Knowing trick-or-treaters don't cotton to the house with no goodies to hand out, we furiously swept through the house looking for suitable things to give away. We don't usually have candy or sweets in the house and there was no plan B. We DID have plenty of fruits, so we grabbed a few bunches of bananas and I quickly scrawled jack-o-lantern faces on the peels with a black sharpie, and grabbed all our oranges and did the same thing.
The first kids who got fruit in their pails gave us funny looks. One little girl ran down our driveway yelling excitedly, "I got a banana! I got a banana!!"
Eventually those all ran out, though, and the kids just kept coming. So we started raiding all the cabinets and pantry for everything we could think of. We ended up with a big pile of possibilities, which included carrots, potatoes, cliff bars, flax raw food snacks, old leftover party favors, paintbrushes, crayons, and an unopened package of saltines.
The frenzy began at 7:30pm, and ended almost exactly at 8:30pm. It seemed like it lasted for hours, though. And it was fun and hectic and Alex loved opening the door in his Grim Reaper get-up and trying to scare little children. And I couldn't believe how many teenagers and what appeared to actually be adults came a-knocking with their pillow sacks opened wide. Seriously??
All in all we had fun. Next year I will just break down and buy a truck load of candy. I will just have to protest consumerism and the consumption of high fructose corn syrup some other way!
Some of our decorations inside and outside.
I put out Fall and Halloween themed baskets for art and crafts.
The new art center. When I moved this toy shelf to make space for the holiday decorations I realized it would make a great art shelf.
It also holds the tray for serving and table ware, a water dispenser for self-serve drinks and a basket of towels for little spills.
The redesigned sewing basket- sewing kit (blue), two hoops with fabric, one is felt the other muslin, and the small one is shelf liner for toddlers to use with the plastic blunt needle as they practice their sewing techniques. :-)
The sewing kit I made for them is just right for the Pre-K's and Kinders. It has scissors, needles, thread and a pocket for needle threader and buttons.
The larger creation station basket for recyclables that can be turned into fun sculptures, crafts and art.
Some of these pictures feel like deja vu. have I posted these already before????
Here is the sandwich bread we baked and sliced for one of our bread making days.
Alex being a ham. Even though he was trying to be creepy, I love love love this smile of his!!
Alex and me having fun taking self-pics and using the delay feature, something Alex never tires of.
Oh my goodness- aren't they adorable?! Halloween day the kids all wore their costumes. So cute!!
Elise was such a cute witchling! My little apprentice in training. lol
Hera (below) posing under the witchy table. We were sad to see her go. She was the only kitten that was ALL black and was SO sweet. I am glad she has a loving family to call home, though.
The two momma cats and Zeus cuddling on the reading rug before Zeus left us. The mommas were always little cats, even though they do almost nothing but EAT, and the kittens all were so big, it's hard to tell who the baby is in this picture. The one sitting up is Hecate, she is mostly all black and Alex's cat. Laying down the one facing the camera with the golden eyes is Zeus, and the one on the bottom right is Ostara. Our momma cats have green eyes, whereas most of the black kittens had golden/orange eyes like their dad. And the two white kittens had blue eyes I believe.
