Please say a prayer that by some miracle all of my children wake up this morning well enough to go trick or treating this evening!

Be safe and have fun and remember that famous line from Yo! Gabba Gabba’s Halloween show…

Too much candy gonna make you sick
Too much candy gonna make you so sick

This from the same show that brought you…

There’s a party in my tummy
so yummy, so yummy
A party, party in my tummy!

And for those of you that have absolutely no idea of what I’m talking/writing about…just thank your lucky stars! *smile*

The Pumpkin Prayer

Dear God,
As I carve my pumpkin help me say this prayer:
Open my mind so I can learn about You;
(Cut the top of the pumpkin)

Take away all my sin and forgive me for the wrong things I do.
(Clean out the inside)
Open my eyes so Your love I will see;
(Cut the eyes out in heart shapes)

I’m so sorry for turning up my nose to all you’ve given me.
(Cut a nose in the shape of a cross)
Open my ears so your word I will hear.
(Cut the ears shaped like the Bible)

Open my mouth so I can tell others You’re near
(cut the mouth in the shape of a fish)
Let Your light shine in all I say and do! Amen.
(Place a candle inside and light it)

make for sick children…be back when I can.

Click to view, right click and download PNG…print on heavy cardstock.

Shelley has a little contest running at the moment. Just post a comment about your favorite Halloween costume. Here are a few photos from Halloween’s long past…

My sister, Colleen, was a little devil (she kept sticking me and my uncle and aunt with her pitchfork) and I, of course, was the little angel. I think we’re about 3 and 4 years of age here (c. 1963).

Me and Colleen posing in our front yard on our Jack O’ Lantern. I’m missing my two front teeth so 5 and 6 years of age…maybe? (c. 1965)

Posing on my Momma’s bed, 1970. Colleen was a gypsy and I’m a flapper. My baby sister, Honey, is almost 9 months old. Funny how I can remember being the angel but I don’t remember this at all.

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Halloween night
Author: Nancy Hughes

Gobbledy gooks,
spooky spooks,
moonlit sky,
witches fly.

Scaredy cats,
Eerie bats,
spiders spin,
pumpkins grin.

Doorbells ring
children scream,
“Trick or Treat”
It’s Halloween!

Martha Stewart always has tons of good ideas for pumpkin carving.

FamilyFun.com’s Pumpkin Carving Ideas and Pumpkin Carving Patterns are nice.

A great tool for carving your pumpkins plus it offers a variety of printable templates to download.

If you already own a Dremel Tool…here is a website that show you how to use it to carve a fancy pumpkin. It also offers advice on how to protect your Dremel from flying pumpkin pieces (in comment section).

Pumpkin Carving 101 from Squidoo.

Carve your pumpkin online here.

My beautiful little pumpkin graphic was made with my friend, Lucie’s, gorgeous Painted Pumpkins.

Inspiration comes in many different forms. I ran across this photo at Ullabenulla’s (I love this art blog. Lots of eye candy!) and it inspired my little baby fairy doll.

Toot came from watching The Mighty Adventures of Hercules with Quinn online. He doesn’t have green hair but that’s just because I’m a fanatic for tonals.

To see the full-sized images, just visit my Fae Folk Gallery at Dani3D.com.

Click to view PNG. Right click to save. Print on heavy cardstock.

Some photos of my decorating endeavors, taken early this morning…I went outside in my nightgown to get the photo of my beautiful new (and decorated) fence that Michael has almost finished putting up. Hope none of my neighbors wake up as early as I do!

Some inside seasonal things…

My Jack O’Lanterns, that sit on the boys’ desk by the front door, nesting in a leafy bed.

Quinn’s autumn books and some ghosts and pumpkins.

My backdoor wreath that will remain up until a Christmas one takes it place.

The window over my kitchen sink with my smiling jack o’lantern wreath and one of the homemade bats that I made with Sean many, many years ago.

My kitchen table all ready for the Great Pumpkin. You can see more bats plus the autumn leaf suncatcher that Quinn and I made out of crayon shavings. Okay, I actually made it and Quinn watched, trying to smother his yawns of boredom. He pushed the crayons shavings around a bit but very quickly lost interest. I ruined our ironing board cover when the crayon shavings turned into a running pool of red…I forgot to make sure the iron setting was on LOW. *smile*

It’s hard to see but that’s a big black spider guarding the Apple Bundt Cake that I made.  It’s really delicious!  (The cake not the spider. )  I added 1 cup of butterscotch pieces to it in place of the walnuts the recipe calls for.

I decorated the back porch too but Michael has to dig up an extension cord so the lights work.

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Shelley sent an award my way!!!! Thank you, sweetie!

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LittleGiraffes.com has very nice kindergarten unit studies for just about everything…lots of ideas!

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I spent yesterday with my friend, Dawn, selling (well, she was selling, I was sitting) popcorn in front of the Halloween Spirit store. The boys are camping this weekend so just the moms manned the tables. It was sunny, chilly and a nice way to spend an autumn afternoon. We talked about taking our boys on the Fells Point Ghost Walk this year…should be a lot of fun.

For religion, the twins read from the “Loyola Kids Book of Saints,” and we talk about what they have read afterwards. Sometimes one of the them reads a bit too quickly and yesterday it was Connor. I asked him what he had learned about St. Francis and he mentioned that he was a Franciscan, received the stigmata and lived a life of poverty. I was surprised that he hadn’t mentioned him as being our Patron Saint of Animals and he was just as surprised and said no that the book didn’t mention that but it did say that he took care of lemurs…lemurs? Stumped for a moment, it dawned on me and I then said that you must mean lepers. Well, Cade and I just about busted a gut, laughing. I quickly pulled up a google image page of lemurs and then lepers to show him the difference. So from now on, in our house, dear St. Francis of Assisi will be known as the Patron Saint of Lemurs. *smile*

My Beautiful Boys
Quinn, Sean, Connor and Cade

Victorian Journal

Nature Journal

Quinn’s Family Tree printable. This is a huge file (PNG format 300 dpi scaled to print on 8 1/2 x 11 inch paper) so I zipped it using Windows explorers utility. I’m hoping that it can be downloaded and opened with no problems…if you do have any problems, please just email me (danidh at aol dot com) and let me know.

Click to download each printable. Print on heavy cardstock.

It was a fairly quiet weekend, for a change. I’m not feeling too well today so just a quick little update and a graphic that I painted and played with in Photoshop.

We’re still having hot, hot temps…yesterday selling popcorn, it was in the mid 90’s. YUCK! I did get a chance to meet a new homeschooling family that’s joined our troop…they were so nice! Not that I’m surprised as our homeschooling co-op and boy scout troop do seem to attract the nicest of people. *smile*

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Still poring over the Cambria County Genealogy website when I can, trying to find any mention of our family names of McDonald, McMullen, Benden and Clevenger. The excerpts from the old newspapers are really interesting but sometimes heartbreaking as so many children died so young. Whilst perusing the recipe section I found a recipe for Chocolate Sauerkraut Cake…I think I’m just going to have to try it!

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I’ll post some more nature journal and victorian printables tomorrow and I think I’ll also post the family tree template (one without my photos) that I created for Quinn as I know I can’t be the only one to need a family tree for a child.

A Fall Song
~Ellen Robena Field~

Golden and red trees
Nod to the soft breeze,
As it whispers, “Winter is near;”
And the brown nuts fall
At the wind’s loud call,
For this is the Fall of the year.

Good-by, sweet flowers!
Through bright Summer hours
You have filled our hearts with cheer
We shall miss you so,
And yet you must go,
For this is the Fall of the year.

Now the days grow cold,
As the year grows old,
And the meadows are brown and sere;
Brave robin redbreast
Has gone from his nest,
For this is the Fall of the year.

I do softly pray
At the close of day,
That the little children, so dear,
May as purely grow
As the fleecy snow
That follows the Fall of the year.