Getting the little people pumped up

Have I mentioned recently how excited I am that Halloween is so soon? Most teachers dread Halloween, but I'm really looking forward to it for a few reasons.
1) I've spent two years teaching at a school where Halloween wasn't celebrated or recognized. I wore my Halloween socks to school the second year when I was feeling braver, but hid them under my longest pair of pants.
2)I love the holiday, so I love that my kids are excited! I'm kind of feeding into it by reading Halloween poems with them on Friday, and buying them Halloween pencils for a special treat. We're not allowed to have food in the classrooms, and pencils are a hot commodity for some reason (they get stolen constantly), so I figured some ghost pencils would be really fun.
3)We're having a pumpkin contest at school! My school has some of the lowest test scores in the state so we don't get to deviate much from the curriculum and do fun stuff, so I'm happy that I get to do something that helps make school fun. Granted, we'll be staying inside during recess to decorate our pumpkin and write a biography, but it's kind of chilly this week anyway. But the biggest reason is...
4)Halloween is a Friday night. I won't have to see my kids until 60 hours after the initial candy rush.