Ready for the Holidays

Every year starting in September, I begin to get excited about the upcoming holidays and seasons. The changing of the leaves, going to the pumpkin patch, trick-or-treating, and hot apple cider are all things that I associate with the Fall season. I love the cooler weather that accompanies it. People come here to Asheville to see the changing leaves and it is quite beautiful. I am so happy that I don't have to travel anywhere to see such gorgeous views. If you haven't been here during this season, I highly recommend it. The Blue Ridge Mountains are a sight to behold.

Halloween is the first holiday and it is one of my favorites. I love getting the kids dressed up and going door to door in our neighborhood. We have several decorations already put out and I will quickly be adding more as I can't seem to be able to stop buying them. We are going to throw a Halloween party with a few neighbors and some of Hayden's buds this year. I plan on serving a light dinner of some sort and having cool festive foods/goodies. Afterward, the kids can take off trick-or-treating. The good thing is that our neighborhood is *the* place to be for TOTing. There are so many houses here that it is a one-stop-shop. I love that! I will probably send Clayton with the kids and I will stay behind to hand out candy. That is one of my favorite things to do.

Shortly after that, Emerson and Clayton's birthdays come around. E is at the beginning of November and C is at the end. Both of their gifts have already been bought and E's is even wrapped. I went ahead and gave C his gift last week (an XBox 360). I know it was way early, but he has been so wonderful to me. He has also been pretty bored since his XBox went kaput recently, so I just had to give it to him. He was thrilled, to say the least.

Anyway, Thanksgiving comes next. We take an annual trip to the pumpkin patch for pictures and then we buy some pumpkins from a really nice old guy that runs a roadside stand. He is the nicest guy ever and I will continue going back to him every year. For our holiday dinner, I always make a huge meal with my parents and grandparents. I am so glad that I get to be the host each year. Cooking is one of my hobbies, so this holiday definitely suits me. Clayton and I are both huge turkey fans and we always manage to eat every last bite of the leftovers. Yummy, I can't wait for the feast to begin!

Christmas is the grand finale of the year. This year, I am well prepared. I have already addressed my cards, bought everyone's gifts, gotten the Hallmark ornaments, and the homemade gifts are almost done. The only thing left to do is buy the Christmas jammies for each of us. After that, we will be able to enjoy the holiday without a lot of stress. Yay! I am so looking forward to the festivities. We are most likely going to do a trip with my parents on the Polar Express to see Santa. The kids will get a big kick out of that! We will do Christmas morning at home and then have dinner with my family in High Point. It's always so hectic, but we really enjoy it.

LOL, I didn't mean to ramble so much, but I am super tired. Clayton is in Wisconsin this week and I can't sleep without him here. Ugh. I can't wait for him to come back on Friday.