Another Halloween Party!

Today we had another Halloween party with our Waldorf home school group. I LOVE our group because we get a little more eccentric with the things we do. We had SO MUCH fun!! I was in charge of our Dia de los Muertos altar again and I also had a little "fishing" game where kids could "fish" for a little treasures. I stayed up all night last night making these acorn necklaces with the acorns we gathered the other day. Then this morning the girls and I made little bags with "fairy pumpkins" and other little treasures from nature.






















Our party started with Claudia leading pumpkin carving which the kids could have done all day. Then we had a potluck with lots of yummy foods. Then we had a circle time together where we did these songs and verses:

1. Jack O Lantern (song)
Jack O Lantern Jack O Lantern
You are such a funny sight
As you sit there in the window looking out at the night
You were once a yellow pumpkin
Growing on a sturdy vine 
Now you are a Jack O lantern
See the candle light shine

2. Five Little Pumpkins (verse)
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.
The first one said, "My it's getting late!"
The second one said, "There are witches in the air."
The third one said, "I don't care!"
The fourth one said, "Let's run, and run and run!"
The fifth one said, "It's just Halloween fun!"
Then Woooooosh went the wind
And OUT went the lights.
And five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.

3. Three little pumpkins (verse)
Three little pumpkins, lying very still
In a pumpkin patch on a hill.
This one said, "I'm very green,
But I'll be orange by Halloween."
This one said, "I'm on my way
To be a Jack O Lantern someday."
This one said, Oh my, oh my, 
Today I'll be a pumpkin pie!

4. Witches Brew (song)
I'm stirring and stirring and stirring my brew
Whoooo ooo  Whoooo ooo!
I'm stirring and stirring and stirring my brew
Whoooo ooo  Whoooo ooo!
Tip toe, tip toe, tip toe  BOO!

5. Three Little Witches (song)
One little, two little, three little witches,
Fly over haystacks, fly over ditches,

Slide down moon beams without any hitches,

Hey ho Hallowe'en's here! (clap, clap, clap, clap,clap!)

6. A witch, she went a shopping
A witch, she went a shopping
One October day
One October day.
She bought some stew,
And a new broom too, 
One fine, clear October day.

A witch, she went a sweeping
One cleaning day
One cleaning day
She dusted her house
And chased out a mouse, 
One busy cleaning day.

A witch, she set to stirring 
At suppertime
At suppertime.
She sat down to sup
And ate it all up,
At witches suppertime.

A witch she went to dressing
One midnight hour,
One midnight hour.
She straightened her hat,
And patted her cat,
One late midnight hour.

A witch, she went a riding
One Halloween night
One Halloween night
She took up her broom 
And ALA-KA-ZOOM!
One moonlit Halloween night.

Most of the kids know these songs and verses so it was very fun to do it all together!

Then AnnMarie told the cutest story of a witch who makes herself a house from a piece of orange paper that when you open, it turns into a Jack O' Lantern. All the kids got to cut one and it was a fun surprise.

After this, we went to the altar and I explained Dia de los Muertos and the various things on the altar. Afterwards, all the kids got to take a sugar skull off the altar to eat. Fun!

Then AnnMarie had the kids draw Jack O' Lantern faces on some orange balloons.

Then we played our fishing game-- I think everybody liked their acorn necklaces and fairy pumpkins!

Then Lucy took the kids on a small treasure hunt through the trees and had them say fun verses to get their treats. Lucy is always so much fun with the kids because she's an actress!

Last, Elizabeth, dressed as a witch, handed out treasures from her cauldron. So much fun!

We ended with a DELICIOUS chocolate spider cake. YUM! (I mean, reeeaaallllyyy good!)

I love us mamas that love our kids so much that we go all out for them!

My Dad got a Hospital Bed!!

Today was a really busy crazy one!!

It starts with the fact that my Dad got a back injury almost 2 months ago. He was walking out to our pool and tripped over a stray board and fell right on his bottom. It has been VERY HARD on him, he's been in A LOT of pain although X-rays showed no break. So my poor Dad has been on lots of pain meds and was sleeping in a chair because it was too hard for him to get up from a laying down position. Well, we just discovered yesterday that he now has ulcers and an infection in his legs due to them not being elevated and a lack of circulation. It has been really bad. My poor, wonderful Dad! :(

So now the good news:

My dad got a hospital bed today!!!!!! This means he can lay flat on his back, elevate his legs and still be able to get out of bed! This means he can sleep comfortably and that his legs can heal. We are so happy!

I have to give all the credit to my younger sister, Cindy. She called the medical supply place and my Dad's insurance company and arranged everything. What a blessing!! I really did not realize how bad things were with my Dad until yesterday. I guess I was a little too wrapped up in Halloween.

AND as Enrichment leader in my ward with a big quilt and teddy bear making night tonight, I had a lot going on. It was awesome to see the arrival of this bed and come home to see my sweet Dad lying in it.

By the way, I brought my girls to Enrichment with me tonight and they loved making the teddy bears. Wish I would have taken a picture!

A Nature Walk

Last week the girls started a knitting class in northern Pasadena (no picture yet!) On our way home, we stopped in a neighborhood that has an oak tree with HUGE acorns. We decided to take a little nature walk because it's a really cute area and we found some fun treasures that we want to use for our next Halloween party this coming Friday. I was especially happy to have found these little pods!

Our Home School Halloween Party!

So this is how Bella and Ceci's costumes turned out! I spent the entire morning finishing them all the way until we had to leave! I drew the designs on Bella's dress and then finished her wig. I then made Ceci's pumpkin costume. By the time I was done, I had to hurry and put make-up on because it was time to go! I was so grateful that Olivia had chosen such an easy costume! (I hope next year we can recycle ones we already have! :) )

Our home school group party was really cute and fun. Some of us moms brought games to play. We brought bobbing for apples. Another mom did a super cute "Monster Walk" cake walk game. Another mom brought a shooting game and another organized a pumpkin rolling relay race!

Everything was great until the wind suddenly came in giant gusts!!! We were literally blown out of the park!


Our party was already coming to a close, but this made us leave a little more quickly! But we sure had a lot of fun!

Getting ready for Halloween!

Today we did lots to get ready for Halloween. After our schooling, I continued working on costumes, sewing the sleeves on Bella's Sally dress, the last blue patch and then hemming things up. We then tried to dye the dress in coffee (borrowed some from the neighbors) but it only made the dress about 2% darker. Oh well! I also got to work on Bella's Sally wig which was so much work, I think I would buy one if I had the chance to do it over again! (At least I only paid $2 for the yarn!) When Craig got home, he put up our trusty scarecrow and then carved a pumpkin with the girls for family home evening. They had a great time carving and I think it came out very cute! Somehow, we got the girls in bed just in time to watch "Dancing with the Stars!" Yay! While watching, I got to start on Ceci's costume, cutting out leaves and making her a little beret with a stem on top. I voted for Donny with two email addresses and one phone! You can vote 10 times per address and phone. I always throw in a couple votes for Aaron Carter because I think he dances great!

Harvest Festival at Underwood Family Farm

Yesterday we went to the Harvest Festival at Underwood Family Farm in Moorpark. We LOOOOOOOVE going here every Autumn and we had a WONDERFUL day there as usual. We got to see tons of animals. We especially enjoyed watching the goats and feeding them with a conveyor belt that took our carrots up to them. We saw a donkey, an alpaca, a cow, turkeys, chickens, pigs and more. We watched an animal show, pigs races, a live bluegrass band, got lost in the corn maze and took a tractor pulled trailer ride. One bummer was that my camera battery was about to die so I had to take less pictures than usual which is hard for me because I can't really enjoy a moment unless I'm taking a picture of it!! ( I know, that's kinda sad.) We wandered the pumpkin patch and picked out pumpkins to bring home. Ceci rode a pony (sadly, Bella is too tall this year!) so Bella and Olivia played the Wheel of Fortune game and won pumpkins and jumped in the moon bouncer. Then they all rode a train ride. We had A LOT of fun. We LOVE all these pumpkins and love this farm!!

WE GOT TICKETS!!

Yesterday, on our way to a Harvest Festival, tickets were about to go on sale for David Archuleta's Christmas tour. I called the box office at the Grove of Anahiem and waited on hold for close to an hour. When we got to the farm, I was still on hold, but I finally got through and was successful!! I got 3 tickets-- for Bella, Olivia and I. WE ARE SOOOOOO EXCITED!! There I was at this cute farm, praying not to lose reception, or to get hung up on, buying David Archuleta tickets. The world is beautiful!

WE CAN'T WAIT!!!

I realized yesterday that I have to get going on halloween costumes!! We have a party next Tuesday and I promised Bella that I would make her a Sally costume from "The Nightmare Before Christmas." I already bought the fabric and yarn for her hair the other day. So I spent much of today sewing. I am basing my ideas on these pictures and I'm just winging it, without a pattern! This is what I've accomplished by today's end:



I think this means I get to watch some more of the new BBC's Emma that I've been trying to squeeze in every chance I get!!!