My goodness! How long's it been since I've written?! And what has happened in a month's time? Well, what's happened besides Halloween, my school's Fall Pumpkin Festival (where I face painted for the first time!) and of course, the Election? For one, I have finally started the Art Club for my school. Looks like the kids'll dig it. Our first assignment? Set design for this year's Christmas program. I have also been preparing for something I haven't done in awhile – a portrait of my kids – together. I realized as I was looking at my portrait work, that I have done paintings of each of them, but not together. The challenge is that I want this to be more that a mere rendering. So I will produce it to enter in the North Light Book cover competition. And after today, I think I may have found the perfect images to work with!! At the same time, I will be working on the SCBWI illustration contest for November. The theme: "Thanks, but no thanks!" More on that later! In the meantime, here are some pumpkins I carved (from the fake foam pumpkins) and displayed in my classroom.