The End of October...

Today is the first day of November. I have 27 days left in my twenties. Boo. Sigh. Gulp. 

My kids actually decided to start singing Happy Birthday to me this morning. No, I am not normally one of those people who wants to celebrate the entire month for my birthday. However, Bailey learned long ago which months go with which family member's birthdays. So, she asked me what was next, now that Halloween is over. I told her that it's now November, so Thanksgiving is next. 

She proceeded to jump up and down in excitement. "It's your birthday!" Followed by my explanation that it isn't actually my birthday yet. I was ignored. The singing begun. Jake keeps asking when we are getting the cake. :) That's all he cares about when it comes to parties anyway (he is MY son). :) 

I guess ignoring this birthday won't happen... so I might as well embrace it. :) Happy birthday to me... in 27 days.

We had a wonderful October. It went by really fast. It was hot for a big part of the month. I don't really like hot Octobers. It makes them seem fraudulent. I love cool mornings with my falling leaves... not 80+ degree days. I like sweatshirts and sweaters... not tank tops and flip flops in the fall. :) You can imagine how happy I was this weekend when the temperatures actually finally dropped. However... the cooler temperatures are giving me excuses to avoid running. I haven't run in 9 days. I am mortified. Running has to happen today. 

With all of that said, October ended in a wonderful way. We had a great weekend in eastern Kentucky, visiting my parents and Brad's mom. My mom, the kids, and I spent most of Saturday shopping... trying to get ideas for Christmas, because as much as I wish I could see my mom every weekend, I will most likely not get back home until Thanksgiving... and then, we will need to be ready for our serious shopping day, Black Friday. We spent Saturday evening trick-or-treating in my hometown with Brad's mom. The kids had a blast, of course. Brad and I enjoyed seeing old friends and catching up, if only for a few minutes. 

Then, on Sunday morning, we wrapped up our little weekend trip, packed up the truck, and headed home. The weekend wasn't near over for us. Our fabulous friends were coming over to trick-or-treat in our subdivision and to eat chili. Basically, Brad thinks that I invited our friends over because I wanted them to bring me chili. I admit, the chili is so much better than what Brad and I put together. We just can't find a happy medium... Brad loves his chili spicy (as in on fire) and I like it with some flavor (as in spicy, but not take-your-breath-away-eat-500-crackers-and-a-gallon-of-milk spicy). :) Bret and Paul both fixed amazing chili - I ate two bowls of each. Yum. I wish I would have stolen a bowl or two for my lunch today before they left. :)

I did not invite them all over to cook for me... it was just a nice bonus. :) I did cook, too. I made potato soup and four pies (apple and pumpkin). We had a great time eating and hanging out. The kids had a great time playing. We all had a lot of fun trick-or-treating. It was probably one of my favorite Halloweens. Ours is normally pretty quiet. It was a lot of fun to watch the kids running door-to-door together and, of course, raiding their candy when they got home. Oh... and I found out this weekend that there is a good possibility that I am related to Brandon, my friend Dawn's husband. It's hilarious to us because we are from the same hometown, never met while we lived there, met through another person from our hometown, who lives in central Kentucky, etc. etc. etc. So, that was pretty neat... there's an addition to that whole "research my family tree" list item. lol. 

Anyway... the kids loved Halloween. Jake cracked us up, as he rarely remembered that he was supposed to get candy because he was too interested in what all the other kids were dressing up as. I don't know how many times I heard him say, "I want that one, mommy." He, then, proceeded to ask some people for two pieces of candy. After explaining to him that he's not supposed to do that, he quickly adjusted. Then, he gave me a report after every house on how many pieces of candy they gave him... and how he said "just one piece." 

Bailey was all about hugging any of her friends from school... and their parents. LOL. Leave it up to Bailey. She also wanted to sprint from door-to-door. I think she would have been much happier if I would have jogged with her through our subdivision. Her friend, Jackson, was not too happy that she kept running ahead of them either. He was so freaking adorable when he yelled out at her, "Bailey... stop running... wait for your friends." I loved it. 

All in all, we had a great time... and to make everything better, my fantasy football team beat my mom's team, which now places me in first place. The girls are totally rocking it out... the guys should totally take note. :) 

Oh... and please vote tomorrow. I would try to sway you, but I don't want a HUGE political discussion on here. Just VOTE!