* Happy Halloween *

We have had a very busy October.  This year we had a family Halloween party with Mimi and the Colorado cousins.  There was a trip to the Pumpkin Patch at the beginning of the month to pick out the perfect pumpkins.  Next there was the carving of the pumpkins and the eating of lots of donuts.  We went to Trick-or-Treat Street at B.'s elementary school and played lots of fun games. We had two snow days earlier this week because of a huge snowstorm.  Yesterday I helped out at B.'s school with her class party.  And then tonight we went trick-or-treating with Russell's mom who flew in just for the occasion.  It was all a lot of fun, but I am more than happy for Halloween to finally be over with.  Next up, Thanksgiving.

*Halloween Decor *

* Christmas Giveaway *

http://allscrapbooksteals.blogspot.com/2009/10/october-giveaway.html

* October *

October is my favorite month for so many reasons.  The leaves have turned to red, gold, and orange.  The air is crisp, and you can start wearing tall boots, and jackets with scarves.  There are pumpkin patches to be visited, pies to be baked, piles of leaves to jump into, and so many Halloween parties to attend.

My kids do not spend a lot of time playing dress-up, but they all love Halloween. They happily don their costumes, and endure the photo shoots that follow with a smile on their little faces because they know that candy will soon appear.  I love watching my children magically transform into fairies, witches, knights, and other fairy tale folk.  They take such delight in playing their parts, and granting wishes, or saving fair damsels in distress.  Oh to be little again.

* Pumpkin Patch 2009 *

When we lived in the Bay Area we would go to Lemos Farm in Half Moon Bay every October to pick pumpkins.  The farm has a petting zoo, a little train, millions of pumpkins, and yummy treats to buy.  After spending a couple of hours at the farm, we'd drive down the road and head to the beach.  I don't imagine there are many places in the world where you can pick pumpkins and swim in the ocean all in the same town.

We haven't been able to get to a pumpkin patch since we moved, and this year I promised the kids we would go.  We did a little bit of research and finally settled on Rock Creek Farm in Broomfield.  We headed out early Saturday morning because I am not a fan of crowds.  We arrived shortly after they opened at 9:00 am and drove out to the field with a knife they had given us to cut our own pumpkins off the vine.  The kids loved wandering around the fields trying to find the best pumpkin.  They charge you per pumpkin so you can get a huge pumpkin for the same price as a small one.

After picking a pumpkin for each kid we drove back down the road to an area where they had a haystack maze, animals (which you could look at, but not touch), and a huge inflatable slide.  The haystack maze satisfied our little ones desire to do a maze, there is also a corn maze that goes on for miles and cost $8.00 per person to run.  The biggest hit of the day was the slide though.  I think our kids bounced down it about 100 times.  Once the sliding was done we drove to the front of the farm and paid for our pumpkins.  The weather was perfect, it wasn't crowded, and we found some beautiful pumpkins. It was a wonderful way to start off the Fall.

* The Garden *

This year's garden was a learning garden.  We planted really late because of drainage problems, and a very wet summer.  I just wanted to try different things and find out what grows well here.  Considering this was the first time in my life I tried to grow a garden, I think I did pretty well.    Here is the final tally for the garden:

peas - a roaring success, will plant again next year.
grape tomatoes - fabulous, need to plant a lot earlier next year.
strawberries - yummy, spread a ton this year, no need to buy more plants next year.
pumpkins - only one survived the disease that took over the crop, will try a new variety next year.
cucumbers - small yield, very prickly, need to try a different variety next year.
carrots - still growing
corn - no luck. won't plant again next year
lettuce - bitter and awful, both butter and romaine varieties, won't grow again next year.  Even the rabbits who frequent our yard wouldn't touch the lettuce.
peppers - only one pepper this year, hopefully more next year.
raspberries - bushes look good, no fruit this year, hopefully next year.

Next year I plan on trying onions, potatoes, eggplant, watermellon, blueberries, and green beans.  What do you like to plant?

* Halloween Giveaway *

My mom's blog is hosting a huge giveaway for Fall and you should all go sign up for it.  One lucky person will walk away with $150 worth of Halloween crafting goodies.  Click here to find the giveaway.  Good luck!