This Is Halloween!

I think I've already expressed my love for this time of year, but I just have to say I LOVE IT! If I could live the same 3 months of the year over and over and over again, it would be October, November, December. (1) I'd never get any older (2) There is just so much fun going on!

We decorated the house a week ago and it just makes me smile to see all the pumpkins and leaves all around the house. Most of my Halloween decorations are really Fallish so that I can keep them up in October and November and just rotate in/out some Halloween/Thanksgiving specific decorations. My favorite new decorations this year are my Mickey Mouse Candy Corn and our Halloween Advent Calendar. So fun!
I also decided that since The Boy didn't get to the do the playgroup/preschool coop that is going on in my ward with kids his age, that I needed to be better this year about doing some more hands-on activities with him. He already loves to read and we read lots of stories together (and by himself - as only preschoolers "read") throughout the day, but I was really lacking on the crafty/cutting/coloring projects that kids his age love. So, we started this week since I've recovered from root canal nightmare and our company is gone (::sigh::). We made this fun little bat out of hand prints that I found on THIS FUN BLOG my friend directed me to. It's also reminded me of all the fun books that I already own from teaching that I need to pull out during this seasonal time of the year. Today we are going to make a spider out of egg cartons that my SIL did and I thought was totally cute. Too bad I didn't see the post about spider cookies before today, or we could do them today too. That's ok, we can make them another day.Yesterday when I was at Joann's to get googly eyes and pipe cleaner, I found this awesome Wilton Haunted House kit. I had a coupon for 50% off, but it was a $1 off, so I was worried they wouldn't let me use my coupon. My MIL had told me before that they will, they just put it at regular price and then apply the coupon. When I got to the checkout, the girl told me no, her computer wouldn't let her do that. So, I asked her get someone that could check for sure. The manager (who is awesome and has helped our Stake with discounts on fabric for service projects) was checking out next to her and he told her to ring it and then apply the extra 40% off to make it work out. SWEET! So we got this awesome kit for $5 and had a fun FHE activity.Will and I have this joke from when we made the Gingerbread House last Christmas about how I have a hard time letting anyone help because I want it just so. The Haunted House was no exception. After Will and I got the house put together, I was trying to frost the roof, but The Boy was so excited that he wanted to do something. So he started putting candy on the roof and was getting so hyped up that I sent him and Will to the bathroom for a bath so I could finish. When Will came out of the bathroom and I was putting PJs on The Boy, he reminded me that this time was just like the gingerbread house and they had been banished to the bathroom so I could make the house myself. LOL However, after I got all the frosting put on, The Boy did put all the candy and the ghost on. He was so darling to watch. He also has a little of my anal retentiveness in him and had to make sure the candy corn stood just right and went all the way around. Oh! And the black frosting was a nightmare, but he loved eating it. So his tongue and fingers were black even after teething brushing and hand washing.Who needed a haircut????? This boy did!!!!!So I gave him one! And boy did I give him one. Once I got started, it ended up looking more like his summer cut, but it will last awhile and be the perfect length for his three-year-old pictures in a little over a month. I recently noticed that he has little boy hair now and not baby hair. You know how baby hair lets them wake up and go out the door with no fuss? Little boy hair gets bed head and ratty and all funky. I have to remember to stop and comb his hair before we leave the house, or else he is one of those boys in the store that you look at and think - poor thing, his mother didn't even comb his hair.