The Countdown Has Begun

I'm going to have several entries that I will add later that are back logged but I wanted to get to this post first before I go to bed tonight because I just LOVE HALLOWEEN and I found the funnest idea in blogland as I was searching for decorating ideas, a Halloween advent calendar. We have a huge wall going up our stairs that is bare and I knew that's where I wanted to hang it and I wanted it to be big. Here's the finished product. I am in love with it although it's still not how I want it. Each day I fill each pocket with a treat, trick or activity we can do as a family. Thank goodness for Winco and their bulk candy section. I didn't want to spend a fortune on little goodies so I just went and filled little baggies with 15 different candies and it only cost me $5. I was also telling Nana about what I had planned and coerced her into buying some fun tricks too. Guess who's going to be rummaging through the clearance aisles the day after Halloween for stuff next year. The kids just love this! We sing Halloween Countdown to the the tune of "Final Countdown" and when Lucy hears us she runs over to the calendar and just starts jumping up and down and reaching for the pockets. She knows something good or fun is in there.

Here it is partially filled. We already have done 10 of the days. I wish I would have made the pockets a little bigger. It's hard to fit stuff in their for 4 kiddos.

After seeing how thrilled the boys were with the capes at cornbelly's I just had to make them some so I rummaged through my fabric and found enough material and stayed up really late two nights finishing them. I really wanted to have them ready for the first day of October but they ended up getting them on the 2nd. (We went to Chuck E Cheese's on the 1st day). Lucy has princess power, Mikey has fire power, Sam has lightening power, and Conner has planet power. The kids love them especially Sam and Mikey. Mikey wears his almost every day. For someone who sews I can't believe I've never made them capes. A little bit of childhood they almost missed out on. Better late than never I guess.

On day 5 they got silly teeth. They had a hard time keeping them in their mouth but we got a good laugh out of them. On Saturday we went swimming at the Clearfield Acquatic Center and yesterday we made popcorn balls and all the kids helped. We had a lot of fun. My mom would always make popcorn balls in October. She even sends them to me almost every year still and you know exactly what the package is because it smells so good. Not to deter her from sending them again this year but I just wanted to keep up the tradition and get my own kids involved. We are having the best October so far and I have a lot of more things up my sleeve for my little munchkins. They off track next week so my goal is to get Halloween costumes done by the end of this week so we can have two weeks of playing. Wish me luck!