It's the most wonderful time of the year....

Yes I'm singing that in my head, and have been for several days now. I'm a Christmas freak. I love this time of year - Halloween kicks off all the fun stuff. Probably goes back to my childhood and my Grandma J. She loves the holidays. Decked the halls, baked the cookies, played the music, yada yada -- tons of gifts under the tree, lots of talk of Santa Claus, great big Thanksgiving meal. Some great memories. I am so enjoying re-creating those memories and adding new ones for my little girl. And for myself, if I'm being totally honest here. :) This time of year feeds my soul in so many ways. Maybe it's because of the way people are a little nicer to each other, or the way families reconnect, or how everyone becomes openly spiritual, which IMO makes the world a truly happy place. When we all believe in something bigger than ourselves, we realize we are all connected.

And speaking of Grandma J, Nat and I are taking a trip to visit her in a few weeks. She is 88 years old, and I have not seen her in 2 years. She is in a wheelchair now, and each year her health gets a little bit worse. Nat is named after her, she had such a big influence on my life, and I love her dearly. I am looking forward to spending time with her and I know she will love to see her precious little great granddaughter. My mom and I are also hoping to get a 4-generation picture. While we are there, it will be the 5-year anniversary of my grandfather's death. It should be a special time, and quite emotional.

On to lighter topics -- this week, my little girl will be a bumble bee. Here is a picture of her, when I was trying to make Halloween cards. I got them through Wal-Mart and they blew. So I'm not sending those out! Luckily I only spent $8 on about 15 of them to send to some family. Last year, we got photo books for Christmas there, too, and they were horrible. So no more Wal-Mart photo purchases for me!!

We are going to carve pumpkins Thursday night, and take her trick-or-treating to a few houses on Friday night!! Parties on Thursday and Friday mornings... oh yes, the holiday season has begun! :)

In the world of parenting -- things are going pretty well. Nat had a few mini-breakdowns last week, I think the craziness of the month before finally caught up with her. But once she and I got back into our regular routine, the meltdowns stopped. It's amazing how much routine and stability affect toddlers!

I haven't done any more research on different types of schooling. We do live in a good (for this area) school district, so we may just give that a whirl. We have a few years before worrying about kindergarten, though. I have heard some good reports about a preschool, as well, so I feel like I can sit back until the spring now and then think about whether I want to send Nat to preschool next fall or the fall after. I am going to set some things up around our house after the holidays to do some early childhood homeschooling activities. Nothing too intense, but I know she would love it. I can already tell she has a thirst for knowledge! Loves to play games where B and I quiz her on what color things are, playing the "who am I?" game, etc.

OK this has turned into a very long post, so I'll leave it at that. :) Happy Halloween!