Halloween photo wall

Wordless Wednesday: Creepy Halloween eyes

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Since it's Halloween on Tuesday it seems fitting to me that we have a Halloween movie weekend. Of course I know that Charlie Brown is television episodes but still - my kids love this one. I'm certain we'll also watch Hocus Pocus this weekend. I'd also like to watch Gremlins which I know isn't technically a Halloween movie but it always seems like it should be one to me. Then of course, on Tuesday there will be dressing up in costumes and trick or treating. It's all so much fun! What are your plans for the next few days as we lead up to All Hallows' Eve?

Happy Halloween

I hope everyone had a wonderful, safe and fun Halloween!

Gryffindor scarf

The Harry Potter Gryffindor scarf I made one of my daughters for Halloween. I have already started a second one because naturally now my other daughter wants one. That's all right because it was fun and easy to make. Plus, they'll be so cute when they wear their matching scarves and show their love for all things Harry Potter. I'm going to make myself a Slytherin scarf - mainly because my favorite color is green. Also, it will be fun to see their reactions to my choice.

Wordless Wednesday: Inspiration for Fall decorating

First day of November

The first of November is an exciting day for me. For one thing, I thoroughly enjoy the excitement my children have about going through all of their Halloween candy. It is so fun to see them spread it all out (on the living room floor this morning) and take a tally of what they have. Then, of course, they start trading. I have one child who can't eat nuts and dislikes coconut. So she trades her sister all of that sort of candy for stuff she does like - Twix, crunch and Kit Kat being the forerunners. It makes me smile to see them do this because I like seeing them work together (now to achieve this with their actual chores) and it reminds me of my brother and I at their age. We had so much fun going through and trading our Halloween loot.

Another reason I love November first is because it is the official start to National Novel Writing Month (NaNowriMo). I have already achieved my word count goal for today, which is 1,667 words. I will write more though because I like to start off ahead if possible. It has become a habit for me to start writing my NaNo novel just after midnight on the first. I had to go to bed after reaching a little over 1,200 words last night. Then today when I opened up my story the last couple of sentences I had written last night made absolutely no sense to me. I had no idea what I had been trying to say and had to laugh at myself. I was so tired I had literally been falling asleep at my laptop. I know one of the goals for NaNoWriMo is no editing during November but I had to take those last sentences out. I honestly had no idea what I'd been trying to convey.

The last reason I get excited at the beginning of November is because in my opinion we are in the holiday season. If I could convince my husband to get on board we would be decorating for Christmas today. He's not keen on this plan, though. The earliest our kids and I can really start putting out decorations is the week of Thanksgiving. He won't balk overly much at that. Still, there are a couple of little things out on my desk now, a little snowman and a Christmas bird that I crocheted. They are both very Christmas-y to me and make me happy. So yes, I love this time of year for so many reasons.

Team Nightmare

 

My daughters and I (and my husband when he is around when we watch) love Dancing with the Stars. This past Monday they had an amazing Halloween episode. They had individual dances along with team dances. This is Team Nightmare. Enjoy - it is Epic!

Musing Mondays: Horror (or lack thereof) books and movies

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme put on at A Daily Rhythm that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

• I’m currently reading…
• Up next I think I’ll read…
• I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
• I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
• I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
• I can’t wait to get a copy of…
• I wish I could read ___, but…
• I blogged about ____ this past week…

THIS WEEK’S RANDOM QUESTION: Do you read any horror, or something scary, in honor of Halloween? Why, or why not?

I don't read horror books. They get in my head and stay there. I will have nightmares about horror books and movies long after I have read the book or watched the movie. However, I don't mind suspense or even ghost stories that are more along the lines of mysteries than horror. I do read those sorts of books and watch that kind of movie around Halloween.

The book my kids and I look forward to most at Halloween is called Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson. Here is a description of the book from Good Reads:

The witch and her cat are happily flying through the sky on a broomstick when the wind picks up and blows away the witch's hat, then her bow, and then her wand!  Luckily, three helpful animals find the missing items, and all they want in return is a ride on the broom.  But is there room on the broom for so many friends?  And when disaster strikes, will they be able to save the witch from a hungry dragon?

My kids are what is called 'tweens now but they still love this book. They pull it out every year at Halloween and ask me to read it. They still love the voices I give all of the characters. They have even begun to read it and give their own voices to the characters. It is wonderful! I can definitely see them reading this book to their future children.

The Halloween movie we like best is Hocus Pocus. As a matter of fact, we will be watching it together on Friday evening. Do you have Halloween favorites in your family?