Halloween All Around!!!

Halloween is just a few days away now! Of course there is no way that I could forget this since the kids are so pumped up for candy and costumes that they are bouncing off the walls! Because they are soooo ready, I figured it was about time that I got my act together and got into the Halloween spirit! My decorations have been out for weeks, but I finally got around to carving my pumpkin today. May I just say that I think this is the best pumpkin I have ever carved on my own? Growing up, my parents always did a majority of the work, and we just made simple faces in the pumpkins. When the pumpkin carving kits came out, my sister usually did a majority of the work, and since she is pretty artistically gifted, the pumpkins were always cool. In fact, I would usually start my own pumpkin, mess it up, and rely on her to fix my mistakes! I especially liked the Statue of Liberty she carved into one of our pumpkins after 9/11. This year, the pressure was on because I was all alone in the pumpkin carving department. I used a kit, of course, because I am not skilled enough to carve without a pattern, but I am still proud of how it turned out. In addition to getting in the spirit at home, I also made sure that the two classrooms my students are based out of had the doors decorated for the holiday. The kids have loved looking at their bats on the doors for the past few weeks (because each of them have their name listed on one of the bats), and they have been very protective of the doors! You can't be overtly Halloween-ish in a school building, so that is why the doors read, "Beeware...we're batty about learning!" If you look closely, you'll notice the giant bee in between the doors has vampire bat fangs as well. We've received tons of compliments from other teachers and students, so the pressure is on to come up with something clever for Thanksgiving! The pictures can't really do it justice! My TA, Lynn, really outdid herself! Happy Halloween everyone!!!