All Fall! (Part 1) *pics*

Dear Diary,

Now that I’m past sharing vacation pictures I’m going to do a big Fall catch up.

After a few conversations with Reagan it was pretty clear he was set on being this scary Jester for Halloween.  It wasn’t my first choice (too scary) but he loved it which is what really matters….

The day I brought it home for him he tried it on and we took a few pics outside in it…

He went to show his little friend next door who also happened to be in costume so I got their picture together.  This little guy is a BIG Star Wars fan!

First Grade shared their reports about Mesopotamia with the rest of lower school one Wednesday in March.  Here is Reagan during a snippet of the presentation….

This was a dress down day at school (no uniform).  First grade had a writing celebration where they shared books they had published.

Selling Popcorn for Cub Scouts….

These are the first three belt loops Reagan earned in scouts.  He received four more since I took this and he has 7 coming in November.  He’s been a busy scout!!

When we left popcorn selling in the picture above we stopped at a farm stand and picked out lots of pumpkins, gourds, etc to decorate for fall with….

Reagan had taken off is cub scout shirt and ended up in all navy.  I wasn’t prepared for a fall photo shoot!  Oh well!  Well be turning these next two neck pumpkins into puree for pumpkin bread.  Reagan LOVES his grandma’s pumpkin bread recipe!!

Having lots of fall fun!

What we chose to take home that day….

The back seat….

And the front….

Once home Reagan got his wagon for hauling…

We decided the wagon was a cute addition to our front porch display…

One evening in October we shared the evening with friends for their hometown Halloween parade.  Keith dressed up with Reagan…

They have a little girl Reagan’s age….  We only see these friends a couple times a year.  The Halloween parade is something we’ve done together each year for the last 7 years.  It’s a nice little tradition….

We spent a bit of time in the park nearby before the parade…

cute hand in hand pic…

Just a couple of pics from the parade…

Here is a pack picture from the October meeting.  The newspaper was there for a story about the Scouting for Food drive the boys are doing.

These 7 little orange hat / scarfed boys are the current Tigers….

They shared what they’ve been up to the past month with scouting and then sang the song Father Abraham that Keith recently taught them….

Reagan received his earned belt loops and badges for October…..

This face painting was part of the ceremony where he earned his bobcat rank….

Mister cute stuff!

I worked with the boys on pumpkins and then about me pages for the bulletin board for October….

I haven’t been doing a lot of baking because I’m dieting some but I did make some bran muffins with pumpkin puree recently.  They’re actually pretty healthy (and yummy!)…

This was a quick project I did for the two first grade teachers a week or so before Halloween….

Hershey Hugs and Kisses with some plastic spiders mixed in…..   Labeled Bugs and Hisses…..

I took some pictures of the fall decor inside.  This one happens to include Reagan playing Minecraft, too.  My mom gave me that Turkey wall hanging last year.  It was after Thanksgiving so this is the first time I’ve been able to use it….

I still have the fall decor out but anything that was Halloween specific like these below I have packed up following Halloween…

This runner across the top of the piano is also a quilting piece my mom made….

Over the kitchen sink….

The melting witches…
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One of the shelves in the dinning room….

And the other….

My  department at school dressed up for Halloween….

Later that same night was our Halloween festival here at the school.  I have lots of cute pictures of Reagan with his classmates…  Love how these two are eating their pizza for the picture!

This little classmate of his and I had the same costume…

A spooky family pic!

 

This little girl (who is usually VERY girly) in her dragon costume is pretty much my favorite from the night!

They all melt me a bit….

He has some great classmates…

When in Kindergarten this boy was Reagan’s 5th grade buddy  (sort of a mentor type program the school does)….

In the middle is Milo who I use to babysit back when he and Reagan were about a year and a half old.  Now his mom is an Art Teacher at our school and the boys are attending as well.  LOVE that!  It so sweet to hear Milo’s "Hi Miss Brendas" as we see each other throughout the school week.  The youngest will come into the 3 year old program next year.  The other two are here at school already.

Although I do love the dragon this one is a favorite, too!  It is SO her….. just perfect!  She’s a doll….

These two make a spooky pair!

The MOST awesome thing about this festival is that the upper school kids and their clubs run all the activities and booths for the little ones.  The entire event has an amazing feel.  The upper school kids earn a lot for their clubs and activites, too.  One of the clubs was offering face painting and Reagan decided he was in….

Another one of the clubs let the kids throw water balloons at them.  Reagan seemed to enjoy this one probably more than I would prefer him to.  Must be a boy thing….

This little boy has also joined cub scouts.  LOVE that he chose a sweet costume!
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Moving on from the Halloween Fesitval now….

The festival was on the Friday before Halloween in the evening.  The following week on the actual day of Halloween the class moms planned a Halloween Party for just the first graders.

This first activity was beading pipe cleaner spiders that sat on top of little pumpkins.  I provided four different types of bags with the kids names on them that divided them up into four groups for the activities.  

Reagan’s group beading the pipe cleaner spiders…

This is a picture I took of Reagan’s finished spider / pumpkin later that evening at home..

At this next station they made paper plate pumpkin pockets.  I made up little goody bags for the kids to tuck into their pockets that included Resee’s Pumpkins, pumpkin lollipops, bat rings and vampire teeth…..

Here is Reagan with his completed paper plate pumpkin pocket project (say that 10X fast!)….

And the goody bag in the pocket…

This is the same little girl who dressed up like a Dragon.  These are the vampire teeth that were in the goody bags…ught this next craft the kids did was VERY clever.  They wrapped mason jars in gauze and added wiggly eyes to make mummys.  You drop one of those light bulb tea lights inside and it is SO cute!

Reagan’s finished mummy jar lit up at home that evening….

 
There was a photo back drop set up where the kids could put on some costume props and then have their picture taken.  One set of parents set up the back drop and was printing the pictures.  I worked a station nearby where the kids decorated photo frames to put their printed picture in….

This is the picture frame station….

Here is the photo backdrop….

Reagan chose his props for his photo….

Here is Reagan’s finished picture frame at home on his dresser….

 
There was also a BOO ball game set up just outside the class….

After all the games the kids enjoyed some snacks….

This snack that one of the moms made was incredible.  She made spider webs using pretzel sticks and melted chocolate!

Whoopie pies!

One of the moms sewed all these little fabric pumpkins and tucked apples inside for each child.  Very clever!

I supplied the paper goods…

OD is cutting this entry off here so I’ll continue with a Part 2 in a separate entry….