T minus Six Weeks to Halloween. Time to Decorate!

Because I'm in the mail order business, I tend to start shopping and planning early for holidays. Halloween is still six weeks away, but feels like it's right around the corner to me.

My kids are big into decorating for each holiday, and so the boxes are about to come out with our Halloween mugs, our big hairy spiders, and Mr. and Mrs. Bones, the plastic skeletons that hang out on our front porch throughout the month of October. Each year we add a few new things to round out our decorating statement, but they have to work with spiders and the Bones family -- they're non-negotiable.

I've decided the focus this year will be to replace the centerpiece I always have on my kitchen table. For several years it's been black slate tiles with ghost candles on them. I think it's time to enhance the level of sophistication, as the ghosts are looking pretty sad after five long years of spending 11 months of the year in a box in the garage. I've decided to do a pumpkin centerpiece that will be a mixture of real pumpkins and pumpkin candles on vintage breadboards. My kids love pumpkins.
When I started shopping, I was surprised how many good pumpkin candles there were in the market.
I found these at Pottery Barn:












I found these at Williams-Sonoma:












and I found these at Crate and Barrel:












When I mix these pumpkin candles up with some real pumpkins and gourds from the Farmer's Market, I think this centerpiece will be worthy of the kind of status Mr. and Mrs. Bones hold in my house. My son Jack, who does not like change at all, says I cannot retire the ghosts. However, I think when Jack sees my fabulous ode to pumpkins, he will change his mind. I'll let you know how it goes in a later post.

Five Boys or 50 Boys. Same Thing

I've always prided myself in having a house that goes back together very quickly after a party. My husband and I have a place for everything, and very easy care surfaces and materials in all the rooms. We usually can clean up in about 20 minutes after all our guests leave, even the 13 and under set.

However, we threw a party last night that presented new and interesting cleanup challenges -- some that we're still scratching our heads over. I took five 11 year old boys to the Giants game, then brought them back to the house for a movie and a sleepover. They were all very well behaved, but I can't help but wonder:

What they were doing when they got chocolate on the wall in the hallway
Why every ball in our garage is now on the roof
What they needed all those towels for
What that is on the rug in the family room and how it got there
Really, five boys and not one of them can hit the toilet?

The party was fun, and the boys had a great time, so we don't mind the little extra elbow grease to get the house back in order. However, for our next party, we'll have to play a little better defense. I'm thinking:

Sleeping in tents outside (the boys, not me)
Serving food that's not quite so delicious -- alfalfa sprouts and lima beans maybe
Giving each boy one towel and a box of clorox wipes instead of a goodie bag
Awarding a prize to the neatest kid -- probably a car