Love Halloween

When I was a kid I didn't really like Halloween. My sister is six years older than me so she was through with trick-or-treating when I was little. My mom always had plenty of candy around the house so I really didn't care about that. However, my mom did. She wanted me to go out and get more! I remember one year I didn't even have a costume so we just put some fake blood on my face and out I went. At least this is the way I remember it?

Anyway, now Halloween is my favorite "holiday." Strange, huh? I love this time of year. I love finding out what the kids want to be and getting them all ready. Going to the pumpkin patch, finding a green pumpkin, and getting pictures with the scarecrows are traditions. The kids also like to pick out complicated designs for David to carve while they play or relax.

The Friday before Halloween the kids came to my school for our "Harvest Party (aka Halloween party)." I do think Jenkins Creek is one of the only schools I know where the kids can still dress up and take part in a costume parade which I love.

This year we went to the Trunk or Treat event at the Latter Day Saints Church. It was so festive and I think we passed out over 150 pieces of candy is about 10 minutes! The kids had fun with Brian and Katie.

On Halloween the kids went out for a couple hours with friends (David and I took turns). They were extremely disgusted that they didn't have the next day off from school Halloween should always be on a Friday or Saturday!

Dwight K. Schrute - Assistant to the Regional Manager We are huge "Office" fans. Alec is an expert at Office Trivia and loves Dwight Schrute. I'm not so sure if that is a good thing. A couple years ago I even took the kids to visit my friend Patty at work - she works in a paper company (the setting of The Office"). They were thrilled! In the show, Dwight considers himself a martial arts expert. Alec wanted to "attack" Hannah for some pictures but she was not a willing participant.

Finally . . . he got her.

Hannah wanted to be "goth" again this year. I'm a little worried that she likes this look a little too much!

The new addition to our Halloween stash, "Bones."

We went to a Halloween party but really didn't have the time to get ready, so Alec was "FACEBOOK."

To Carnation for our pumpkins. Gorgeous day!

Alec's green pumpkin in the bunch.

Where do I even begin?! For the past 11 years I was able to work part-time and really keep it a "part-time" job. In the years that I was Reading Specialist and then Literacy Coach, I rarely took work home with me. Now that I'm back in the classroom, I'm taking tons of work home with me, going in early, staying late, and working fulltime (or more) for half-time pay. Something isn't right! Being a teacher is so much more than most people realize. I have found though, that I really love being back in the classroom. I have so much fun with the kids and am excited to see them make progress. I wouldn't trade positions (did I say that?). The work will calm down, I know I'm probably going overboard at times. Thank goodness report cards are almost behind me! I did feel terrible when Hannah told me she didn't like my new job because all I ever did was work now. (Of course, Hannah loves 100% of the attention 100% of the time.) It was a good reminder though to set some limits. Anyway, long story short, I just haven't had time to blog in a long time. (Hey, I even started a classroom blog for my kids.)