Trick or Treat?

If you know me, you know that I'm not a fan of Halloween. As a matter of fact, I am against supporting the "holiday" because of it's origins and what "All Hallows Eve" is REALLY all about. On the surface, celebrating this day seems innocent enough, however, All Hallows Eve stems from pagan and satanic origins. I won't get into it here, but I greatly encouraged you to do some research. You may find some things that will surprise you. I believe it's good to be educated about these "innocent" things that our culture embraces, and know, if nothing else, what we are allowing our kids to take part in.

That being said, I have mixed feelings about allowing Audrey to trick-or-treat. Eric and I have decided to participate in it for the past two years, but we may not do it in the future. Once Audrey is old enough to understand why we don't want to support the "holiday", we will certainly replace trick-or-treating with something else that is enjoyable and fun, such as a harvest/Fall party or something that will still be fun and special, something that will not make her feel like she is missing out on all the fun.

Audrey was a chicken for a good part of the day yesterday. At first she DETESTED the costume and threw a sad little fit whenever I tried to put it on her. After awhile, she finally got over her frustration, but it took a few minutes! Here is Audrey and her friends at our play group:

Ava and Audrey were terribly upset about having to wear their costumes, and poor Emma was a little taken aback by all the fuss!

My little chicky :)

Yesterday evening, we went trick-or-treating with our friends. It was a BLAST to walk around together and see the kids enjoy getting treats. (Laura & Ava, Katie & Brianna, Audrey & I, Abby & Nolan)

Nolan and Ava riding in style:

Dave & Katie's neighbors had a massive display of carved pumpkins that the entire street had put together. Many of them were really impressive, like this one of Patrick Swayze...

Good times! Also, there is another new post from today, below. Check it out!

PS - A big thanks to Laura and Katie for sharing the above pictures with me as I am still camera-less!

Autumn Allure

Fall is really turning out to be gorgeous this year. I snapped a few more cell pics last week during an enjoyable walk with a friend at one of the nearby metro parks. (Have I ever mentioned that the Columbus area has AMAZING metro parks?! Much love.) Great conversation, great weather, great pictures, it doesn't get much better!

Audrey loves the leaves and acorns that fall on the ground. She usually finds one that is particularly interesting to her and carries it around during the rest of the walk.

We have enjoyed the fall colors in our own neighborhood as well:

Our sweet neighbor Jo makes beautiful bags, and made one just for Audrey this week. She loves it and likes to wear it on her arm:

A few random pictures that I couldn' t help posting:

Audrey is big enough to ride in the neat little car carts at the grocery store, which she thoroughly enjoys! Here she is excited about some stickers that the checkout lady gave her.

Audrey is into bags, shoes, and sunglasses... my kind of girl!!!!!!!!
(Blurry pic I know. She would NOT stop moving! Haha)

The Beginnings of Fall in the Midwest

Audrey and I took a walk to the playground this morning, and I snapped a few pics on the way with my cell phone. They're terrible, but at least you get the idea. :) I LOVE FALL! The leaves begin turning yellow, orange, and then red, starting from the tops of the trees and working down. It is as if the sun has gently kissed them, sending warmth down through the trees until they are completely encompassed in it.










Here are a couple from a walk we took last week... you can see how much more color there is now as compared to then:

"The Host" coming to a theater near you!

Fun, Nerdy, and Somewhat Embarassing Fact about me: I love the Twilight books by Stephenie Meyer. Yes, the book series that has teenage girls all over the world in complete hysterics, wishing for the reality of their own teenage vampire lover. I don't fall into that category, but I do quite enjoy the books. (No, I'm not a goth or a vampire loving freak with a scary dark side. I just like to read good books.) As a matter of fact, I'm re-reading the series in preparation for the movie New Moon coming out on November 22nd! Stephenie Meyer has a way of drawing you into the story, deeply endearing you to her characters and causing you to turn page after page without being able to put the darn thing down. Since I thoroughly enjoyed that series, I went on to read a sci-fi thriller that she wrote called The Host. Now, I'm not really one for science fiction, although I don't have anything against them. I simply have limited time to read so I choose to read other things. (I think the last sci-fi book series I read were Timothy's Zahn's Star Wars books, back in high school!) However, I completely enjoyed The Host. This thing has like 900 pages and I read it in a matter of days. If you love Stephenie Meyer's writing and can deal with a bit of sci-fi, I definitely recommend reading The Host. It's not as "sci-fi" as I assumed it would be so don't let that tag scare you away (I really didn't think I would like it as much as I did).

Naturally I was excited when I heard that it will soon be made into a movie! Check out what Stephenie Meyer has to say about it, taken from her website:

September 23, 2009

Hey guys, great news! The Host is on its way to the big screen:

Variety.com: "Twilight's Meyer..."

I'm so excited to be working with Nick Weschler, and Steve and Paula Mae Schwartz to bring The Host to a visual format. They've all been a dream to work with, so lovely and collaborative, and I feel like we're in a really good place to make a great movie together. And then to have Andrew Niccol writing and directing? Truly awesome. If you've never seen Gattaca, go watch it now. One of my favorite movies of all time. It's such a great example of character driven science fiction, which is ideal for The Host, no? I'm having an absolute blast imagining different dream casts, which I would post if people didn't take my silly blogs so seriously these days. I'm looking forward to seeing the cast lists you come up with in the fansite forums, and if any of them match mine.

So, very exciting. Yay Host!

XO
Steph

Before I conclude this post, I will give in to my nerdy and somewhat obsessive side and share a New Moon countdown, as I'm looking forward to the movie! /nerdmode off.

Fall For It!

Fall. Beautiful Fall. It's here. My favorite time of year (followed very, very closely by Christmastime). The sweating is over. The humidity is done. It is time to rejoice. As I wrote a few years ago: "Here's to all the wonderful autumn things that I have been looking forward to so much. Cold noses, warm houses, mittens, scarves, and big comfy coats. Steamy hot chocolate, warm cookies, apple and pumpkin pies, and lots of turkey with gravy. Brilliant leaves colored red, orange, and yellow, and a chilly breeze that whispers of winter. Darkness will come early now for cozy nights that bring hearty hot suppers."

Not that I don't enjoy the lush, "greenness" of Spring and Summer. I really drank it in this year, as last Winter lingered long and left it's gloom around a little too long. I'm trying to enjoy being outside every day until the gloom settles in again. Snow will be really fun this year though, with Audrey big enough to run around and play in it! I am looking forward to it.

We took the dogs to the river last week, wanting to enjoy it one last time before the weather turned cold. It was great!









In honor of Fall, it is time for a new banner. Coming soon. :)

PS~ The pic at the top of this post is my new desktop wall paper (click for big version!). No, I didn't take the picture (*pout*), and I have no idea where the picture was taken. I love it though!

Pony Tail!

AWWWWW - I can put Audrey's hair into a pony tail now. I had to share these pics despite the terrible cell phone quality... my little girl is getting so big!

Also, here is Audrey's first "real" pair or gym shoes. AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

Okay, I'm done gushing. FOR NOW. :)