New Halloween Inflatables

Our yard says Happy Halloween!

our new inflatables

the ghost goes down into the pumpkin...

and then pops back up! He's a big hit with the kids in the neighborhood.

Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone is having a great Halloween weekend! Here are some of our favorite decorations from the neighborhood!

T loves this Frankenstein at the end of our street!

We think this spider is supposed to be Aragog, the giant spider from the Harry Potter books.

This house is a favorite because their inflatables are almost always plugged in. Also they have a Sassy A (the cat).

Part of the display at a house on Dungarvan that has gone all out for Halloween.

More from the house on Dungarvan.

I like the banners above this front door. We could do something like this on our porch.

One of T's favorites.

Our neighbors at the corner of Forsythe do a great job decorating for holidays. The motorcycle ghouls are at the graveyard races.

Happy Halloween!

Spooktacular Recap

T and I had a great day celebrating Halloween a little early. Here is our photo report:

T thought the man at the top center (near the flag) looked like he was dressed as Professor Quirrell from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

All the musicians at the concert this morning dressed in costume (see above), and the music was as good as advertised. They played the theme from Disney's Phantasia, two brief classical pieces, then several popular songs - Monster Mash (with a vocalist), Thriller (with the audience providing the vocals), and Ghostbusters (again with BIG audience participation). T was worried they wouldn't play anything from Harry Potter, but TSO did not disappoint, performing a great medley from the films.

"Who you gonna call? GHOSTBUSTERS!" The kids loved singing along.

Abby didn't sit with us for the concert but she did come over to visit with us while we waited for the buses to come pick us up.

Love Lexi's Halloween costume.

After the concert, we went back to school for class Halloween parties. The home room parent for T's class went all out! It was an extravaganza. 

Cheesenstein! A big (delicious!) cheese ball with black olives for hair, mouth, nose and eyebrows; cucumbers for his eyes.

Taco dip scarecrow. Also yummy. 

Worms! Hot dogs cut into strips length-wise. Pretty clever, huh? 

Spooky punch on a darling punch table.

Mummies! Cocktail weiners wrapped in crescent dough, with mustard dots for eyes. The kids loved these!

Macaroni and cheese (with gummy worms garnishing the edges), veggies with dip, and friendship mix completed lunch. For dessert, the kids decorated sugar cookies and dipped fruit and marshmallows into a chocolate fountain! (I mentioned this was an extravaganza, right?) It was a great party and a great day for both of us.

We're looking forward to sharing one more Halloween post on Sunday: pictures of some of our favorite decorations from neighbors' and friends' yards.

Spooktacular (aka Fifth-Grade-Friday)

I'm spending the day today with the fifth grade, first at a field trip to the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra's Spooktacular, and then at T's class's Halloween Party afterward. Doesn't the concert look fun? I'll report back how it goes and share some of the fun from the party. Kim, the room parent, has a ton of great ideas and is bringing her chocolate fountain to school.

Getting Ready for Halloween 2

A few more photos of our Halloween goodies, mostly inside the house this time. First, by popular demand, here are Sassy A and Sassy B.

I know it looks like Sassy A is in the yard, but really she's hanging out at Grandma's house so T'll have something to inflate when we visit.

Sassy B is in the house, at home, but all the light up pumpkins are outside.

We have fun new Halloween night-lights.

Love how the cats eyes light up green.

Even the inside of the beer fridge is decorated for Halloween. I love this brew from Southern Tier: Imperial Pumking. It takes like pumpkin pie. 

Getting Ready for Halloween

Getting ready for Halloween is something we can barely wait for September to end so we can begin! Here are some of our decorations:

The giant ghost. People in the neighborhood often ask if they can take photos with him!

My favorite flag.

We have 2 of these very life-like pumpkins.

T's favorite flag.

Tigger!

Pumpkin Smoothies

My son and I adapted this recipe from Family Fun to our tastes.

1 cup canned pumpkin
1 1/4 cup vanilla low-fat yogurt (we like Stonyfield)
1/4 cup vanilla soy milk (we like Silk Very Vanilla for Kids)
3 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
8 ice cubes

Put all ingredients in the blender and puree until smooth.
Thanks @jules23 for suggesting soy milk - it made an excellent addition!

Love this old pic of T from his second Halloween: