All Things Fall

We had such a busy week leading up to Halloween. Along with all the usual weekly activities Athena had a scavenger hunt at school. They have been learning about maps and this was a fun activity to see how well they learned how to follow directions on a map. All of fourth grade was split up into groups of 5 and handed a map with directions to each stop. At each spot they would get a sticker or stamp to show they made it, then at the final stop the reward was popcicles! It was a lot of fun.

Then Athena was the recipent of student of the month on Friday! The look on her face when she walked in to the cafeteria was awesome! She was so surprised to see Shawn and I there, then just very excited knowing she was the one picked this month.

There was also a Fall Party on Friday. It's always fun to watch the kids relax and just interact with their friends for a bit once in a while.

Athena and I also got to spend Friday evening with our dance friends at opening night of 42nd Street at the Arizona Broadway Theater. Her dance teacher Jan let them use the studio to practice so they gave all the girls 2 tickets each! It was a lot of fun and a great show.

Then more tileing on Saturday, it's almost done!!! You can sort of see a sneak peek behind Athena with her pumpkin.

And of coarse we had lots of fun on Halloween. Shawn and Athena carved the pumpkin in the morning. (actually Shawn did most of it with his nifty dremmel but Athena was the foreman ;) She did actually dig out all the guts on her own this year though.


They went for a nice scene from A Nightmare Before Christmas this year. Shawn got a lot of compliments on it and one woman even took a picture!

After changing her mind several times this year Athena finally decided on Mother Nature for her costume. It was really fun for me to get to just be creative and not have to make a costume look like someone from a movie or TV. But, it being Athena she still wanted to be very girlie and elegant. So we found a dress pattern with long flowing sleeves that she was very excited about. She picked out the fabric and all the leaves and flowers herself. I wasn't real sure how the ivy she picked was going to look but she really wanted it. After it was all done I agreed that she made the right choice.

And as most of you probably know by now, I have this thing about matching the treat receptacle to the costume. This year it was actually Athena that came up with the idea to use the earth! She also did almost all the paper mache and painting all by herself. I think it turned out great, and was a great addition to the costume.

It was nice to have Hailey stop by and hang out with us on Halloween. I think Athena loved that she went out Trick-or-Treating with her!

Now for a few fabulous weeks of fall weather to just enjoy. I am on boycott of even thinking about Christmas shopping yet because I am so sick of stores trying to cram it down our throats earlier and earlier every year. I am however already craving that turkey! Happy Fall everyone!