^ 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!!