We spent the weekend getting hyped for Halloween.
It was (thankfully) another pretty low-key weekend and I loved just hanging out.
After our library trip on Saturday morning, we came back and pulled out all of the Halloween books that we own at home. We've been reading a couple per day since then.
I'm pretty sure all but maybe one of those books came from Aunt Casey & Uncle Dub or Nana for past Halloween presents. (I think I bought the Corduroy book.) My favorite is Room on the Broom - a gift from the Rethmans for Halloween 2007 (Will's 1st).Will and I worked on a spiderweb craft while Sophie napped on Saturday morning. I drew a spiderweb on black cardstock with white crayon and Will traced the outside lines with glue and placed beans on the glue lines.
Then he got out some of his critters (that weren't actually spiders) and played with them on the web.
Next he cut some strips and squares into smaller pieces for out Jack-o-lantern craft...
...and glued them onto our paper pumpkin for a sort of mosaic effect.
Next he selected from a pile of facial features (eyes, nose, mouth) and stems to create a face a la Mr. Potato Head.
When Sophie woke up, she did the same, with a little help from mommy. I squirted the glue dot, she placed the facial features and orange pieces.
Will gave his pumpkin two mouths... or a mouth and a mustache depending on how you look at it. 
They're hanging on our mirror for decoration.
Speaking of decorating, I finally settled on displaying my white pumpkin on a wire cake stand that I've had for a couple years (from Target). I like this display the best.
Perhaps a little garland or leaves would be cute around the base? Maybe next year.
Then, just before lunch, we decided to clean out our Jack-o-lantern pumpkins. Craig had the tops carved and ready to remove and we set up with spoons and a big bowl.
Will made a few, small attempts...
...while Sophie just curiously inspected. :)
After a bit, Craig and I started just putting a handful of pumpkin pulp in Sophie's hands and asking her to put it in the bowl.
And then she was totally down for the job. :) She loved using the spoons and she liked it best when we gave her handfuls. Will just looked completely "inconvenienced" by the stickiness on his hands.
"Can we be done now?"
She's saying "cheese!"
More "cheese". :)
Trying to hand Will a spoon so he can get to work. Look how he's avoiding her. Haha!
Two spoons are better than one!
Pumpkin guts.
While the kids napped, I carved the pumpkins and sorted out the seeds to bake them.
I also baked one of our pie pumpkins from Fleitz's for a dessert that Will and I are going to make this week.
On Sunday we made spiders using white paper plates and black crepe paper. I gave the kids a black crayon and marker to color the body and/or make a face. P.S. I held Sophie's hand to draw on the eyes and mouth quick.
LOL
Gluing on eight legs.
This picture is terribly dark, but we hung them in the dining room window. I may still add googly eyes yet.
Earlier this year, while reading through all the Tot School blogs, I came across tons of "sensory trays"... especially with seasonal themes. They looked kinda' cool, but also a little pointless and cumbersome. And I thought Will seemed a tad old for them. But one of the suggestions was to use dry black beans for a Halloween themed tray and I decided I'd give it a try for Sophie. Seriously, this couldn't have been easier. I just used a 9" square baking dish instead of a bigger tray like I'd seen others do, and I filled it with random-textured orange and black items.
Oh my gosh.
Then he got out some of his critters (that weren't actually spiders) and played with them on the web.
Next he cut some strips and squares into smaller pieces for out Jack-o-lantern craft...
...and glued them onto our paper pumpkin for a sort of mosaic effect.
Next he selected from a pile of facial features (eyes, nose, mouth) and stems to create a face a la Mr. Potato Head.
When Sophie woke up, she did the same, with a little help from mommy. I squirted the glue dot, she placed the facial features and orange pieces.
Will gave his pumpkin two mouths... or a mouth and a mustache depending on how you look at it. 
They're hanging on our mirror for decoration.
Speaking of decorating, I finally settled on displaying my white pumpkin on a wire cake stand that I've had for a couple years (from Target). I like this display the best.
Perhaps a little garland or leaves would be cute around the base? Maybe next year.
Then, just before lunch, we decided to clean out our Jack-o-lantern pumpkins. Craig had the tops carved and ready to remove and we set up with spoons and a big bowl.
Will made a few, small attempts...
...while Sophie just curiously inspected. :)
After a bit, Craig and I started just putting a handful of pumpkin pulp in Sophie's hands and asking her to put it in the bowl.
And then she was totally down for the job. :) She loved using the spoons and she liked it best when we gave her handfuls. Will just looked completely "inconvenienced" by the stickiness on his hands.
"Can we be done now?"
She's saying "cheese!"
More "cheese". :)
Trying to hand Will a spoon so he can get to work. Look how he's avoiding her. Haha!
Two spoons are better than one!
Pumpkin guts.
While the kids napped, I carved the pumpkins and sorted out the seeds to bake them.
I also baked one of our pie pumpkins from Fleitz's for a dessert that Will and I are going to make this week.
On Sunday we made spiders using white paper plates and black crepe paper. I gave the kids a black crayon and marker to color the body and/or make a face. P.S. I held Sophie's hand to draw on the eyes and mouth quick.
LOL
Gluing on eight legs.
This picture is terribly dark, but we hung them in the dining room window. I may still add googly eyes yet.
Earlier this year, while reading through all the Tot School blogs, I came across tons of "sensory trays"... especially with seasonal themes. They looked kinda' cool, but also a little pointless and cumbersome. And I thought Will seemed a tad old for them. But one of the suggestions was to use dry black beans for a Halloween themed tray and I decided I'd give it a try for Sophie. Seriously, this couldn't have been easier. I just used a 9" square baking dish instead of a bigger tray like I'd seen others do, and I filled it with random-textured orange and black items. 
Oh my gosh.She LOVED it!
She dug her hands in and just took her time touching everything.
Soon Will came to join us and he was just as interested. I know part of his interest has to do with the fact that I was already working exclusively with Sophie and he doesn't want to be left out. But I guess he's not really too old to enjoy sensory exploration. Think about rice tables at preschool or sand boxes. I'd seen one mom fill her child's sand/water table with dry beans just like this and create a huge sensory table for a group Tot School play date. Cool idea!
So now our house is filled with pumpkins:
And we're almost ready for Halloween!
She dug her hands in and just took her time touching everything.
Soon Will came to join us and he was just as interested. I know part of his interest has to do with the fact that I was already working exclusively with Sophie and he doesn't want to be left out. But I guess he's not really too old to enjoy sensory exploration. Think about rice tables at preschool or sand boxes. I'd seen one mom fill her child's sand/water table with dry beans just like this and create a huge sensory table for a group Tot School play date. Cool idea!
So now our house is filled with pumpkins:2 carved jack-o-lanterns
3 small, painted pumpkins from the street fair
1 small pumpkin from the school field trip
1 small pumpkin from the school field trip
1 small, painted pumpkin from the babysitter
1 white "Cinderella" pumpkin
2 pie pumpkins
and this pumpkin with stick-on facial features that Will made at Nana's house:
And we're almost ready for Halloween!
Then tonight we had dinner at Craig's parents house to celebrate Kelly & Craig's birthdays, which are just three days apart. We had a nice meal and hung out as a family.