What....is it really November?

I can't believe today is the first day of November. And Daylight Saving to top it off. Unfortunately I did not get that extra hour of sleep. Little children do not appreciate that extra 60 minutes. They wake up when the sun comes up. Oh, joy! It is going to be a long day.

It seems like just yesterday I was buying presents for 2 babies. Now it is time for me to shop for 3. Some may think it might be a little early to be thinking about Christmas but I typically have all my shopping done by Thanksgiving. I HATE shopping in crowds with a passion. This year time is ever more pressing because between now and Christmas I think there is only a couple of weekends where my calendar is empty. My sister is getting married January 16th so I have several weekends with wedding stuff. I can't tell you how excited I am for Heather and Tyler. They have been together almost as long as Jamie and me. And let me tell you, the girls ADORE Tyler. They can't wait to call him Uncle Tyler.

Well, last night as you know was Halloween. I have to say that I still really don't understand the all the excitement surrounding this holiday. As we were trick-or-treating through the neighborhood we came across many houses where it appeared hundreds of dollars were spent decorating. Not to mention the cost of costumes. This year I resolved myself to not spend a fortune on costumes that are worn once. Reagan was Dora (she LOVES Dora) and so I made her outfit which was really easy. She had all the clothing pieces, I just had to dye them. Then, Emerson was a ballerina. Did she WANT to be a ballerina, not really. But that was the only choice she was given. WHY? Well, she had said she wanted to start dance this year. So in August we enrolled her in dance, bought the leotard, tights, tutu, ballet shoes and tap shoes and started dance. After 3 classes she decided she didn't want to go back. Dance attire isn't CHEAP. I was determined to get my money's worth. It just seems so silly especially in this economy to be spending so much money on these things. I don't want to sound like a party-pooper because I do want my kids to grow up having fun during this holiday as I did when I was younger. In years past we have gone to festivals and I think I like that better. There are fun activities like face painting, jump houses, petting zoos, etc. It seems when you go door-to-door about one in every five houses are passing out candy. Plus, you should have seen Reagan last night. She had some of the best facial expressions. I wish I brought the camera along. She was absolutely terrified of some of the decorations and didn't appreciate when dogs came to the door. Emerson had a lot more fun this year because she finally grasped the whole idea but she got tired pretty quickly and wanted to be held. Jamie had to work so my mom came over to help me take the kids around the block....thank goodness. I only have so many arms. But as we were going up to the houses we got to thinking how silly it was. Here we tell our children NOT to talk to strangers, yet we let them take candy from them. Seems a little paradoxical.

So, Christmas here we come. I LOVE CHRISTMAS. And, this is the holiday where my kids get spoiled!!!