Halloween last year I made a real effort of trying to get the boys geared up and into Halloween. I purchased a few different items online and we had our own Halloween party at home. Our local pumpkin farm had closed but we did some carvings from supermarket bought ones! And this year I envisioned putting some goody bags together for the boys and planning some actual activities for the lead up to Halloween itself. However non of this actually happened, instead half term came and the boys were knackered from the first part of school. We kept the days to small outings, walks and Halloween experiences.

Because we live in the middle of nowhere, with no neighbours (in walking distance) I struggle to come up with ideas for celebrating (is that the right word???) Halloween. I’ve spoken to many other people about what they do. Some local villages hold Halloween parties which sounds like fun for next year. I was given a great idea that I will be doing going forward, imagine a Christmas Eve box, but for Halloween. Filled with goodies to eat and play with, sounds too easy, but loving the idea!

Usually we go to an event in the local village, however 2021 was too busy, I spent most of the evening queueing up for food and winning the fireworks that she started. I wasn’t with my own family. And once they finished the whole field dispersed, and that was the event done. I didn’t want to go through that ordeal again so this year, after speaking with Gavin we decided to throw a small event at home and it was very successful. Going forward we plan on doing this every year and making it a new tradition at home. This year we had a simple bonfire with a few fireworks as well. But because of the boys ages it didn’t last long and we came inside to get warm again. Next year I plan on making a guy fawkes scarecrow to go on top of the bonfire and I also plan on doing some more food too, like bonfire toffee, marshmallows s’mores and jacket potatoes for us to enjoy around the fire. I also want the boys to know the story behind bonfire night, so I’d like to get some activities or books around this subject (especially on the lead up to the actual day) to encourage the boys knowledge in this area.

We also have had lots of birthday parties in the last couple of weeks, which has meant we’ve been super busy dashing from one event to the next – the boys really must have enjoyed themselves as they’ve been super tired, each night. I hope you were all able to enjoy parts of October and November, I certainly want to enjoy these events as these are traditions that I remember from my childhood and would love my children to carry on as well.

Much love Rebecca