Halloween is finally here!

For the past several years, I've had our house all ready for Halloween by the beginning of the month. Even Alfie's complaints about my Halloween obsession don't deter me from decorating the house, inside and out, with the silly and spooky decor I've amassed over the years. I do try to go easy on the spooky stuff for the first half of the month, using pumpkins and ears of corn instead of skeletons and spiders. Those come out of my Halloween closet around 2 weeks before Halloween night. I try to add a little bit of decor each day, so the kids can come home after school and have fun looking for all the new things on display, and by the time Halloween night rolls around, the house is in its glory.

Maybe I had too much time on my hands.

Because this year, I've been swamped with the kids' school schedules and afterclass schedules and my volunteering schedules and my workout schedule and my blogging schedule and my work schedule and our social schedule.... and my Halloween House has suffered. Horrors!

Enough is enough -- thirteen days into October, I've finally remedied that oversight. The Bongga Household is once again the House of Horrors, thanks to a few strategically placed tombstones, spiders and pumpkins. I'm still not up to my usual standards, and I probably won't be going all out this year. But I'm pretty happy with the way our new Haunted Graveyard turned out:

The kids are definitely happy about it; all year they brag to their friends about our decorations, and as far as they're concerned, it's about time. They've had their costumes picked out for ages and are ready to get into the Halloween spirit.

Speaking of costumes and Halloween spirits, pay close attention to the zombie skeleton peeking out from behind the second tombstone. That's not a decoration -- that's actually 3Po posing for our first Halloween photo.


If it weren't for the red shirt and blue shorts, you wouldn't even realize he isn't part of the decor! Just looking at this photo makes me feel tingly all over -- with anticipation, not horror. My favorite holiday has finally arrived!