Flora & Fauna

halloween 2016

Ladies and gents... I present to you - Christopher Robin and... foxy! Every year I say it's the best one yet and yet... I really think it's going to be hard to top this year. This was the year Birdie picked out her costume. The first week of October. She saw it in the Halloween aisle of Target and it was love at first sight! She begged to put it on right then and there, wore it the entire time at the store, on the car ride, at dinner and then asked if she could wear it to bed. She told anyone and everyone that she was going to be a fox for Halloween and gosh I would give anything for you to see her face when she saw her own reflection after I drew on the whiskers and nose. What is it about children and the way something as simple as a costume can make their whole year??? It's the thrill I think. The thrill of Halloween, Christmas, birthdays or a big trip. It's just not as good once we're all grown up and cynical.

And that's what was so special about this night. Getting that tiny little dose of magic through our kids. Watching their faces light up, hearing them timidly and then by the tenth house, not so timidly, say "trick or treat!!" Seeing them running through piles of leaves excited about what the night held for them. The way Birdie hoarded her candy all night, refusing to eat a single piece and just looking upon her treasures with such pride. The way Teddy would bolt to the door every time the bell rang yelling "twik-o-tweeting!!" and furiously dumping giant handfuls of candy in any open container he could spy.

As nighttime descended we were gifted the most beautiful cotton candy sky that was the cherry on top of such a memorable evening. There were so many times I felt like I was watching these little people in slow motion, wanting to drink up every smile, every shriek of delight and every "thank youuuuu" that Teddy uttered between chewing mouthfuls of candy. It was a night I know I'll remember well past the kids leaving the house. I'll remember how they looked, the fiery maple tree we took pictures by, Teddy's sticky fingers and Birdie's face with smudged on cat whiskers. It was just that good.

Hope all of you enjoyed last night and made some wonderful memories with your little ones!

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, by Flora and Fauna

a week's worth of odds + ends

^ to say Birdie has been ready for the 31st is an understatement :) ^

^ "halloweenies" from our fave - Dutch Monkey ^

^ Teddy tried his hand at cookie making, with... moderate success ^

^ treasures from an autumn walk ^

Somewhat hard to believe the end of October is actually here. But for those of us still in disbelief the stores are making a valiant attempt at reminding us that Christmas "really" is just around the corner! There's no sillier sight than the back aisles of Target where you can purchase both a Christmas tree and a pumpkin. What a time to be alive!!

If I'm being completely honest however, I do feel a butterfly or two take flight every time I remember that red cups arrive the day after halloween!! RED CUPS!! And then we begin the joyful downward slide into the very, very best time of the year! I'm sorry I'm getting ahead of myself here... I'll blame it on Target. Those station wagon snow globes tho...

But back to this week. This week was busy but good to. On Sunday we saw off our family who were here this past weekend and carved our pumpkins that evening. Birdie absolutely loved everything about it and Teddy just spent the entire time trying to figure out how to steal one of the battery operated candles for his stash of contraband that he stores under his bed. Kevin and I jointly carved a cat face onto the biggest pumpkin we could fit in our wagon at the pumpkin patch and I dare say it turned out quite good!

We've also been going on weekly "leaf chasing" expeditions but haven't quite yet found the perfect specimen. Nothing a little time and cooler temperatures can't fix, I'm sure of it! It's to the point where Birdie will point and say "There mama! There's a good tree for you!" Always on the lookout for me :). Speaking of driving with Birdie usually Kevin does the morning preschool drop-off and I pick her up in the afternoon but due to a meeting on Tuesday Teddy and I took her to school. It was such a pleasant drive - I had the "autumn leaves" station on spotify turned up nice and loud, the day was dark and overcast and the kiddos were still a bit sleepy and pensive. Once we parked the three of us trudged our way through piles of leaves (her preschool is on the property of a nature preserve) laden with homework, a lunchbox, Birdie's various assortment of lovies for the day and a plane for Teddy. We kissed our favorite girl goodbye and walked back to the car Teddy "ooh-ing" and "aaah-ing" over the leaves and squirrels that run rampant all over the grounds. Having been awake since before six that morning he fell asleep on the drive home and blessed me with an uneventful car transfer that turned into a two and half hour nap. It was divine! I made myself coffee, finished it in peace (unheard of), blew through my to-do list and got in a few loads of laundry. And then I sat down and pondered what this would mean for the rest of the day... (spoiler alert: it wasn't that bad! We had him in bed by 7 which is insanely early for us and we so enjoyed the additional hour or peace and quite).

On Wednesday we continued indulging ourselves in holiday fun and got "halloweenies" from our favorite donut shop. Then we made our way to the bookstore where Birdie just had to have ANOTHER Peppa Pig book and of course Teddy picked one in the shape of a truck (what else is new??). A stop at the park for some swing time and my babies were all tuckered out and ready for a nap when we got home. I spent some time wondering how and when my kids become so "good" so fun to be around, so relatively stress free. Just a year ago a week such a this would have been an impossibility and yet now the though of multiple errands, eating out and drives longer than fifteen minutes are not just a reality but a part of our weekly endeavors. People always tell you it gets easier/better but the changes are so incremental on a weekly or monthly basis and you barely notice until one day... BAM! You wake up and you're not surviving anymore you're actually thriving and I guess what I'm trying to say here is it feels nice. It feels phenomenal for life to finally slow down a bit and to give you the opportunity to smell the roses, again. To notice things again.

Tomorrow we leave on for our annual camping trip and the level of excitement at our house is through the roof! We have our sleeping bags, tents, marshmallows, hot dogs and matches ready and I'm about to head downstairs and put some chili in the slow cooker. Birdie has spent all day today counting down the hours until bedtime because I told her that when she wakes up in the morning it's "camping time!!" I can't wait to see her face once she's awake!!

Wishing you all the best weekend! Eat, sleep, eat some more and be merry!!