My oh my life has been hectic and busy, busy, busy. October is here and with it the cooler temps and rain. Fall is absolutely my favorite season, always has been. The crisp air, changing colors, warm sweaters, apple crisp and cider put me in a great mood. I remember riding our horse in the fall into the woods behind our farm, crunch, crunch went the leaves. The air smelled so refreshing it keeps you alert and you seem to notice things you looked past just weeks before. A strong sensory memory is waking up to the smell of homemade applesauce rising up from the kitchen. Mom always put plenty of cinnamon in it.

Halloween was a favorite holiday at my house. Our first Halloween at the farm Mom didn't know how many kids we'd have so in true MOTHER fashion she made enough snacks for several neighborhoods. Halloween night a huge storm spoiled Trick-or-Treating for everyone. My sister, brother and I were so upset. Being creative we came up with a great plan to save our night. Our kitchen had a huge swinging door into the sitting room, so we pretended it was a Trick-or-Treating front door. We got into our costumes and knocked. When Mom opened the door we yelled, "Trick-or-Treat!" She of course filled our bags with treats. Excitedly, we ran upstairs. Then one of us (not sure who - but probably - ME - as I am the brains of the family) decided we should get dressed up in some other kind of costume and knock on the door again. Not only did it work once, we wore out the hinges of the swinging door that night dressing up over and over again in every piece of clothing/accessory we could come up with. We had a blast and saved our Halloween, Charlie Brown would be so proud!

Traditions I have started with my kids include carving pumpkins after visiting the farm to pick the best ones for our porch. Hay rides, corn field mazes and fresh hot cider donuts. What's not to LOVE. Don't ya think it is so cool that God gave us seasons like he just knew we would get bored and needed to be renewed periodically. This year we are going to participate in Trick-or-Trunk at our church. The idea is everyone parks their vehicle in the church parking lot, then you decorate it, be original. They plan to have inflatables, face painting, food etc. Then at dusk the kids walk around the lot coming up to people's open trunks. They yell out, "Trick-or-Trunk" then they get a treat! Sounds like a lot of fun. Somewhere in my garage is a portable generator I plan to have lights as part of my decorations. I hear there are prizes!

My kids are still debating what they will be for Halloween. My youngest has no choice she will be a red hershey's kiss because that costume took forever to make and one more kid will wear it before I pass it on to someone else. Last year a friend sent me a ladybug costume for her it was adorable. I prefer the homemade costumes and like to encourage my kids to be creative in this endeavor as it their only chance to dress wild at school. One rule though no scary costumes as I won't be responsible for putting that out into the world.

One wish for this year is no SNOW till after Thanksgiving. Can you believe this?