Happy Halloween.

We celebrated Halloween very simply this year. I didn't even know what my boys were going to dress up as until the day before. My husband decorated our front porch only hours before the trick-or-treaters arrived, feeling a little embarrassed in our neighborhood whose porches were decorated to the hilt. Not sure why, but the spooky spirit didn't bite until a week before, and by then, I didn't feel that decorating was worth the effort.

Still, we had a fantastic holiday. We spent the morning at IKEA. Left the older two with IKEA's babysitters and shared an almost-intimate lunch and shopping trip together. (The baby's babbles were welcome addition to our conversation.) The pumpkin carving happened without a hitch. I used my handy pumpkin carving knife, while my husband brought out his power-tool of choice. A true manly-man, I suppose. My husband decided to make an elephant out of one of our pumpkins that sported an extra long and thick stem. We had at least 4 people take picture of it. Way to be creative, Hubs. The kids looked adorable in their last minutes costumes. The food was delish and the after-kid's-bedtime movie was fantastic.

I may have cheated a little on my sugar fast. I feel kinda bad about it. I had a bite of pumpkin cookie without thinking. Dang. Recommitted today and didn't cheat. One more week, then Red Mango, here I come. 

I'm officially ready for November. It's a favorite month of mine. My birthday will arrive in 23 days. The big 2-8.

*Is anyone else ready to pull out their Christmas tree? I'm usually anti-Christmas decor until after Thanksgiving, but I've been humming "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" for two months now.