It’s 2020, so we’re leaning into anything we can to bring joy into our homes (which is literally the one arena where I feel like I have control this year), and Halloween makes our family happy!
In addition to our usual decor, the girls both made their own paper haunted houses to add to our spooky vibes this month, and I LOVE THEM. (The houses and the girls, of course.)
HAPPY HAUNTING!
“And all at once, summer collapsed into fall.”
Oscar Wilde
We’re ignoring the sweltering heat outside and running full-force into autumn with every ounce of energy we have over here!
My favorite thing this year has to be the pumpkin-filled fireplace — which literally was the result of trying to let my girls help decorate (without being OCD, eek!) and them piling up pumpkins on my hearth in a haphazard manner…which was the ended up being the best inspiration (as usual). 😉
Well, we’re two weeks into our (at least) nine-week stint doing virtual school. We’re…surviving. Truthfully, it’s not as bad as the spring, and we’ll make it through (and I’m learning a lot of French in the process, haha!).
Right now Cricket’s learning space is in our playroom, and E.V.’s studying in her room. The week prior to school starting, I cleaned up, cleaned out, and added all the cutesy, fun school supplies I could get my hands on. (I mean, I figured if we’re going to be stuck learning at home, we might as well surround ourselves with all the happy things we can…)
As the days go on, the girls have started wandering around a bit with their iPads during class, but as of now I’m trying to make the girls stick as much as they can to their own school spaces — with me running back and forth like a madwoman — playing mom, para pro, butler and translator, haha!
It’s officially Christmas season, and our house is ready!
We vary our decorations every other holiday season between being a little bit more coordinated and what I call “Kid Christmas” — color + fun + childhood memories. Since our decor was a little more muted and grown-up last year, Kid Christmas gets a turn in 2018!
It’s our tradition for the girls make a tree topper each year (this year baby Jesus on a star won), and for Kid Christmas we pull out all the homemade ornaments and lean into the mismatched madness. I have a few family items that remind me of my mother and grandmother — the obnoxious bells my mom hung on the front door each December, Great Grandma Vance’s WWII ornaments, a couple of broken angels that have somehow survived the past four decades. Pairing the memories of my family’s older generations with tiny handprints and crooked angels from our girls’ first few years makes for a warm + cozy holiday, which is what Kid Christmas is all about. (Oh, and I vowed notto buy anything new for Christmas this year, but how could I resist the light-up Santa Schnauzer that looks like our beloved Oscar? But I swear that’s it! 🙂 )
Eek! I have been waiting for October for exactly 11 months now, and IT’S HERE!
The bits of fall decor around our house make me giddy inside, so the donning begins first thing in September around here…or earlier, if I’m feeling festive (which, let’s be honest, I usually am).
We have a rhythm to how our home looks in the autumn: In September, I put out generic fall decor (a few pumpkins here, a golden leaf there) with a few college football pieces (Go Dawgs!). Some of that decor stays and some goes when October arrives, but all of it becomes spooky with the addition of black cats, bats and cauldrons. (We even have a few really scary elements donated by my dad that go out for Halloween night only because, well, our girls are four and six still.) Then, come November 1st, the cobwebs are wiped away and the September decorations come back with a few Thanksgiving-y additions, usually including lots of corn stalks because #whynot.
Each round of decor takes about 30 minutes (maybe an hour if I’m trying something new), but the idea is to not make it so much of an undertaking that it becomes a chore. So yesterday, after church, the girls and I put on Halloween Baking Championship on the Food Network and pulled out the October decor boxes from the basement. (It’s kinda’ like our version of turing on The Grinch and trimming the tree.)
Even though this season’s set of decorations is up for three months, October’s details are always my favorite by far! I love the minor changes our decor undergoes over the three months of autumn leading up to Christmas, and I’m always sad to see them go on Black Friday. (Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas as much as the next suburban mom haha, but fall is my favorite time of the year.) Until then, here’s to enjoying the best time of year!
Only 30 days to go!
