This is what my sewing area looks like when I am rushing to do Halloween costumes. I did go much simpler this year as one costume will be recycled from previous years, one is store bought (really!), and I would have bought the other two, but I couldn’t find them anywhere, so I made them. It isn’t my best sewing job (don’t look at my bottom seams too closely), but I got the job done and the girls are in love with it. True kept hugging me and thanking me for it and that makes the stress of planning and making it worth it.

If you’ve been following this blog for awhile you know that we really have a lot of fun with Halloween costumes, we’ve had a barber shop quartet, The Three Little Piggies, Hannah and Gretel, The Untold Story of Oz, and Little Red Riding Hood. This year I am letting the big girls take more ownership of the story, so we will have to see what they come up with. We’re studying characters, setting, plot, climax, and resolution, so I can’t wait to see what kind of story they create based on their costumes.

One thing I loved when I was a teacher was integrating subject areas together (i.e. this book is good to read and then talk about counting and sorting). I loved reading literature and using it to drive home math concepts. Learning is done everyday with everything (even if you don’t homeschool, I am sure you are teaching your kids new things everyday too!) and I love that even with something as simple as Halloween costumes, even that could be morphed into a lesson on writing.

Today will be the first chance the girls get to wear their costumes out and they are so excited. They are going to a Halloween party at Nickelodeon Studios (Ben’s cousin works there so it’s a perk that he can get the girls in), so I just know they will have a blast! If you follow on instagram (@rubyellenbratcher), I am sure Ben will be snapping pics tonight and you may just get a sneak peek at some of the characters that will be in their story.

Happy Friday everyone!!!