New England's Hallelujah Month

I have come to the "life-startling" conclusion that October is THE saving grace of living in New England so far from my family. There are other things I love about living in Connect-i-cut, but this is top on a very short list. The leaves changing colors, the cooler weather that impresses upon the soul to bust out a cute jacket, awesome looking gourds, pumpkins, apple picking, the freeway drives (leaves again), farm hopping, needing to cram in every minute of parks that we can (as if we could expend all that energy that stores up during the winter), last minute trips to the zoo, parties, and of course calf-length boots (I love watching all the ladies bust out their cute boots. I meanwhile have officially begun google searching "fat calf boots" and haven't found any I love yet.).

The above picture makes me smile mostly because Sawyer is cracking up. He thinks it is hilarious that people put a little box (the camera) in front of their face and start yelling his name. I could see how it's odd and kind of funny from his perspective. Can you see why I love Fall here?

I love this picture of Lily. Forget that we had to bribe her to smile (what a grump she was that day), but she was happy to get some fruit snacks!

And let's not forget the number one reason October really rocks - HALLOWEEN of course! The one holiday (besides the 4th of July) that doesn't leave me feeling sad and empty that my family is so far away. I don't have to buy a million toys and wrap them, I just get to pig out on my kids candy (shhh!), put them in a costume and let them run around like happy fairies screaming their trick or treats to anyone who will open their door.

When I saw a Tinkerbell costume on clearance after Halloween last year, I thought, "Who looks more like Tinkerbell that Lily?"

Forgive my Toddler and Tiaras Bad Mommy moment. Yes, I did put eye liner and blush on my 3-year-old. Please, do not call TLC to refer me.

And if Lily is going to be Tinkerbell, and Sawyer has no say in his costume, why not take full advantage of the situation and dye her tights green, squeeze him into them and call him Peter Pan? I couldn't resist.

Has anyone noticed that there is little to no difference between Robin Hood and Peter Pan's attire? This was sadly the best picture I could get of the two of them together...

So...I photoshopped a better one!

If you did not smile, you are hopeless and need to leave my happy blog now. If you did not notice Tinkerbell in all her sparkly glory, look again!

The shoes killed me. Muahaha.

Sawyer petting the "skunk" at our Halloween party. Sorry baby Alex!

And October wouldn't be complete without an awesome package from Grandma with Halloween treats and cute new hats for the Winter.

Good think she sent them too, because SNOW almost ruined my beautiful month.

BUT, to make up for the snow and to make it a good month overall we welcomed not one, but TWO new baby cousins into our family (Lily and Sawyer's first cousins)! I'm itching to see them and hold their sleepy, sweet little bodies next to mine, but alas it will have to wait. Baby O. to my brother Jon and his cute wife Janilee (30 hours of labor - no thank you!) was born on October 30th and the next day my sister in law, Julia and her husband Mark welcomed their cute new Halloween baby A.!