It's the MOST wonderful time of the year!

It's here!  I absolutely LOVE the fall season and especially this part!  It's the end of September, the weather is finally starting to cool off and for the next 3 months, we have something to look forward to each month!  First up is October - my favorite month of the year.  Not only is it my birthday month, but Halloween is here too!  I already have Hannah's costume (unless I find something better).  Brittany and I found the most adorable fairy witch costume at a consignment shop for a steal of a price - 12 bucks.  I couldn't pass it up - she looked adorable in the outfit and it came with even cuter stockings!  Emma's newest idea for a costume is a big cat.  She's been one before so I'm trying to talk her out of it, but it is fun to watch her pick out what she wants to be.  Her list for this year has included: a firefighter, a doctor, superwoman, a donimoes girl (as she calls dominoes pizza and her grammy has a PT job there and Emma thinks its amazing!), Miley Cyrus (since she was Hannah Montana last year), and a few other things.  I wanted Hannah to be a monkey because she loves them, but we'll see, the witch costume gets cuter and cuter each time she puts it on!

Then we have Thanksgiving only a few short weeks after Halloween.  It's one of my favorites and is so underrated.  I LOVE Thanksgiving!  Last year was the first year I cooked and I plan on it this year too.  My Dad comes and we have a small little gathering with a whole lot of food.  I wish my place was bigger and I had family more willing to travel here, I love hosting things like that and I love cooking all of the food.  The Paula Deen in me comes out!  My new favorite tradition is Black Friday shopping.  I went for the first time last year and LOVED it.  It was cold and a little stressful but WELL worth the deals.  I knocked out most of my list that day for unbelievable prices.  I'll never forget walking into Wal-mart and realizing there were no carts.  I was able to squeeze by the people with carts, but holding an oversized sweater and my purse was very difficult when it came to holding a giant vacuum box!  At least I can smile now.  I somehow managed to hold onto everything until I ran across one of those carts with the big section in the front for multiple kids to ride in.  It was the biggest pain to manuever the crowds in, but at least I wasn't holding the vacuum anymore!  I'm desperately trying to find someone to go with me this year - the biggest lesson I learned from last year is that it works best with a partner!  You need someone to run across the aisle to grab something so you don't have to abandon your cart! But if I have to go alone again, I guess I will!

Then we come to Christmas!  I've already started shopping actually.  I've been trying to pick up a few things here and there for the kids each time I go grocery shopping.  I add it to my grocery budget and it makes my christmas savings last a little longer.  Matt's family gets together every Christmas Eve at his Grandparents house.  It's almost more fun than Christmas morning.  His WHOLE family is there and we have dinner, dessert and open presents.  We start with the youngest and everyone opens up one gift until we're all done.  Then we do a grabbag type of exchange.  Everyone brings one present and wraps it but doesn't put their name on it.  Then we all draw numbers.  Whoever is first gets their first pick of their gifts.  Then the second person goes, they can either pick what person one has or open a new present.  There are always a few really good things that everyone always wants.  We'll switch back and forth, as in I'll have something someone really wants so they take it from me, and I'll take something from someone else and so on and so forth.  But if the present has already been "stolen" during a round, it can't be taken again.  It makes it very interesting and exciting. 
Then Christmas is at our house for the four of us.  Last year, Matts mom, brother, nephew and nephews mom joined us to open gifts.  Matt likes to leave a trail from the fireplace and leave behind some sort of "item" that Santa may have dropped.  Last year I couldn't find where I hid some of my gifts and at 230 in the morning, I was panicking BIG time!  I made monkey bread and a breakfast casserole and then it was all over.  Of course there is New Years, but with kids, I don't really stay up late anymore. 

I end the season with Emma's birthday.  She's almost 6, boy has time flown by.  I never expect gifts because her birthday is so close to Christmas, but everyone is always so generous!  Last year I just planned a small little gathering and most of Matt's family turned out.  They are so great to her! 

But I LOVE this time of the year.  There is so much to look forward too and I'm so glad it's all started.  I'll officially welcome fall when I chaperone Emma's field trip to Graves Mt. Lodge on Thursday for pumpkin picking!  We'll head to the pumpkin patch with my Dad and maybe my mom and some of my other family in the middle of October and this year I'll try to make a homemade apple pie - hopefully with apples from Graves Mt. Lodge!  Let the excitement begin!