Octoberfest.

October, was a bit brilliant, and a bit epic.  It started with a mini summer revival (picnic in the park on October 2nd? Oh okay then.), then got gorgeously autumny very quickly, then ended up with allsorts of spooky Halloween fun & a definite nip in the air.

A busy chunk of a month, full of good times:

Halloween was loads of fun - that Jack Skellington masterpiece (ahem) was my first attempt at pumpkin carving, and I was a bit proud of myself actually - plus the little dude loved it, so I suspect a new tradition has been born. It was the first year Dylan's really been interested, rather than just being dressed up against his will for mummy's amusement, so we decided to give trick or treating a whirl too.  We hit the streets with our chums from Beetroot & Gherkins not really knowing what to expect, and it turned out some people in our area take Halloween *very* seriously!  It was brilliant - some houses had gone all out with spooky decor & all three mini skeletons went home with bulging bags of swag.  Seeing the streets lined with pocket size witches and ghouls was really heart warming in a funny sort of way and I'm sure it'll be more fun every year as our own little spooks get older.

Speaking of which, as of the 20th, my little monster was officially Two and a half.  Gulp.  That means that once Christmas is out the way, it's all downhill to me having a three year old.  Double gulp. 

2 1/2 is an ...interesting learning curve.

For the most part, he's still my gorgeous little boy who makes me smile and laugh and feel incredibly proud.  But just now and again, the planets align a bit wrongly, something happens and *poof* that sweet little boy with the infectious laugh turns into a screaming hissy fit throwing demon child.  In about 7 seconds.

Yeah, it's keeping me on my toes, that's for sure.

We've decided that nursery would be a good thing all round - just a couple of mornings a week for now, which has me all over the place emotionally, but it Will Be Fine.  It'll be great, actually, once we finally get him a place & settled in.  There's a whole other blog post there really!

And yes, I did mention the C word - sorry.  But consider it me trying to be helpful - I'm on a mission this year to have the shopping side of things all wrapped up (pardon the pun!) by the end of November.  Ambitious much?  We'll see.  there's another post in that too.

I've also been in a bit of a festive frame of mind because I've made a start on kooky flavoured Christmas pretties - again - another post - I'm on it.

For now, I'm going to indulge in November - we had a super wholesome fireworks outing at a local school last night, which was fun, and today little legs & I are bundling up for a stomp around the park & a lunch date.  (Plus, I've heard a rumour that Starbucks gingerbread lattes are back again, which is very very good news.)

I do believe I'm loving this time of year folks.  Rather a lot.