Apple picking. Making apple crisp and candy apples.
Walking a corn maze.
Pumpkin picking with a tractor ride and photos.
Thinking about a Halloween party for the kids, since I don't think I will have them for the trick-or-treating (they want to be with me, but not sure what x will push for).
Decorating the house in a spooky theme - we make silhouettes each year from black tagboard for the windows.
A few years ago, we made a Thankful tree, and I leave blank paper leaves out with a few glitter pens. Whenever we think of something to be grateful for, we write it down on a leaf and hang it on the tree. We use these for Grace on Thanksgiving.
We have collected colorful leaves to laminate (or use 2 pieces of clear contact paper) to make placemats.
A big one this year, is I have a certificate for a flying lesson at a small local airport. I am going to take the kids up to see the colors over our "neck of the woods."
I'd like to get one more camping trip in, and/or kayaking, before it gets too cold.
I'll try to take the kids to corn maze.....or would that be a maize maze?......hmmmmm deep thought....I digress.../fall fest sometime soon we've done it every year for the last 3.
For Halloween, I'll probably take S8 out trick-or-treating in matching viking helmets, Spider-man masks and 3, count 'em 3, tube socks. He'll love it. XW, not so much.
We used to egg cars on Halloween when I was in H.S. We would run it from the 1st of October all the way through Thanksgiving. Maybe I can rekindle that tradition! LOL BTW.. We would also celebrate Easter in that fashion. We would affectionately call it Easter Egging! LOL
I am struggling with Thanksgiving. For the past 8 Thanksgivings, I have gone over to XH's family's home and had the meal with them. My family does not do much for Thanksgiving. As of right now, I am sitting alone eating whatever I have in the house. And I do not know if that is the best way to spend my 1st Thanksgiving alone.
Me-31 H-38 M: 5 yrs T: 7 yrs No kids Went to Prostitutes 10-1-06 Found out about OW 12-24-07 Bomb on EA/PA: 1-2-08 OW ended it with H "for good" 3-8-08 OW is back 4-19-08 H and OW tell me that they are in love 5-19-08 Filed for divorce 6-5-08 Divorced 7-2-08
Do you have other friends you could invite for a special Thanksgiving at your house for potluck, or meet at a restaurant?
If everyone is booked, you could volunteer to work in a soup kitchen (I am actually thinking of that option for at least part of the day; another friend invited me to her family's, and my aunt invited me to her house like I did last year...)
Here's a few I regularly do or have started since the D with my four children (S6, D8, D11, D13)...
Go to an Orchard (I'm in MI, so plenty of apple orchards...) Fresh donuts, cider, apples, honey...
Visit the pumpkin patch. For me, I visit a local one where i have to drive back to the patch. Allows for a fun bumpy ride through the rows of apple trees
We started a "Scare Board" (similar to Monsters Inc.). We started Mid Oct through Halloween. We get "scare points" for startling one of the other family members when they least expect it. Winner gets a special prize on Halloween. To keep from freaky everyone out, can only be done when all are home and ends at bedtime. I encourage teamwork by allowing people to get assist points (little ones need help with the setup sometimes...). Lot's of fun and keeps you one your toes!
Halloween Spooky Meal - On a night just before Halloween (too busy on Halloween night) have a special Halloween Spooky meal. Lots of candles, gruesomely good foods, deserts, etc all with a Halloween theme. There are great ideas online but one year I did the hotdog/crescent roll wrapped "mummy dogs", mashed potato snakes, evil cheese fingers, a huge cat made of vegetable cutouts. Be creative. The kids love it!
Have a fall campfire - weather permitting, on a cool sunny fall evening have a campfire and roast marshmallows. Note: may have to rotate like a rotisserie chicken to avoid your backside getting too cold....
Monkey Bread: on the first snow flakes of the season (whether it sticks or not) make a huge pan of monkey bread (find the recipe online, but its pop and fresh bisquits cut into quarters, put into a pan and drizzled with a brown sugar/cinnamon syrup and baked. Can sit around the table and pull it apart to eat.
Thanksgiving Blessing Cup - this one is from my mom. Pass a blessing cup around the table on Thanksgiving and say something you are thankful for in life.
And it the words of Clark W. Grizwold whenever the kids complain about doing anything around the holidays tradition or not...."Well it's all part of the experience..."
I dropped the bomb this weekend, and we moved out. This is hard, this will be our first Thanksgiving without our extended family (my parents, sis+hus+kids, etc). So, we (me, S15, D12) been invited to a friend's for dinner. I am committed to a Christmas that does not suck. Donna, I'll try to get over to the other place tonight. Peace.
Me:44, WAW hx bi-polar H:48, hx of abuse S:22, S:19, D:16 Filed Oct 08, dismissed Filed again Jan 10, dismissed Now Piecing alter persona: SuperBoots
