How is it already November 1st?!?!
Is it just me or did October just FLY by?
We are now officially in the swing of the school routine and businesses of appointments, events, and All. The. Things. that come with having a big family.
I’ve told you before, I am not a huge “Pinterest-y” perfect mom. I don’t go all out on my decorations or party planning or overbook events for the kids.
Truth is… I just can’t handle the chaos it sends all of us into when I put that kind of stress on myself or the kids.
I have learned that the simple things are the best things! And it’s okay to just do what you can handle!
Here are some of the activities we did in October:
Painted Mini Pumpkins
This was slightly stressful in my head! But my sister was here for the weekend, so I knew I had backup in keeping the mess under control.
We did the whole activity outside and put down butcher paper to give each child a specific area to paint. (They ended up painting both the pumpkin and the paper!)
We painted the mini pumpkins with tempura paint I had on hand. I really am not sure where I got the paint or even how old it was… Oh well… FREE!!!!
They loved it and the pumpkins were displayed proudly all month.
After School Halloween Surprise
I made an after school surprise snack for the kids on a random week day this month. It was super simple, cheap and a lot of fun. You can check out my little video on the whole surprise on my Facebook Page.
Red Ribbon Week
(a.k.a. Spirit Week, a.k.a. Dress up every day week) always falls in October.
We had two different schools to keep track of during the week. Each day was a different assignment for dressing up. Example: Twin Day, Book Character Day, Disney Day, Crazy Sock Day, etc…
I loved that on the day my girls could dress up as princesses Jazzy chose to be a superhero. She wore her cape with confidence and pride.
Pumpkin Carving with Daddy
Jon had each of the kids draw a picture of what the face they wanted to carve on their pumpkin BEFORE we began carving. It was a brilliant idea!
They boys did get a bit grossed out at digging out the Pumpkin Guts! But it was worth it for the roasted pumpkin seeds. YUM!
Harvest Festival at the School
Yah…. I have no pictures of this.
None. Nada.
And I don’t feel bad.
I took all six kids by myself.
And I have seven billion pictures of them this month.
It’s okay that I missed one event!
No Trick-or-Treating
Trick-or-Treating was canceled due to severe rain and thunder storms! But don’t worry. My kids all got plenty of sugar! We had an indoor Halloween Dance Party!
The only thing I bought for Halloween Costumes this year was face paint! We have an overflowing costume box in the play room, so I let the kids be as creative or crazy as they wanted and they pieced together their own costumes.
The neighbor with little kids joined in our dance party and brought over their stash of candy with them. We hid the candy in the house and did a fun candy hunt. Crisis adverted!
We ended the month with our traditional sugar hangover and every child was awake the next morning at 5 am! Let’s just say that coffee was barely enough to get me through the day today!
Next item on the “List” is to siphon off the Halloween candy a little at a time over the next few days….
I am NOT eating it!
I am giving it to my clients at work.
I just don’t want the kids to have that much sugar!
We have finally had some “Fall-ish” weather down here in Texas. I am excited for November and my favorite two holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas! I know Christmas isn’t in November, but I am totally going to decorate and begin the Christmas festivities in November!
I hope that your October was fabulous and simple and with lots of good things every day.
Happy November!
Keikilani
Jacqui Odell says
It did went by like crazy!! I love this time of the year because everyone refocuses on what maters the most and that’s family.
Ashley says
It did fly by, like insanely fast! We usually paint pumpkins too because I hate carving them. But this year October was so crazy I didn’t even get around to painting them!
Rebecca Bryant says
What a fun month of activities. So sorry to hear trick or treating got canceled but it looks like you found a way to have fun. as for November, i am looking forward to my birthday.
Danielle says
The picture you did get at pretty awesome! ?