October planning

What happened to September?
Seriously... just a few days ago I was excited for the start and now here we are on it's final weekend. 
Remember when we were kids and the stretch between the start of school and Halloween took forever?  Not to mention to time between Halloween to Christmas..  that seemed to take years.

When I was a kid,  the plastic boxed Halloween costumes didn't show up in the stores until October.   Now we see that stuff in mid July.  I'm not complaining ~   : )   

Here's a fact :   As much as I love Halloween,  I didn't carve my first pumpkin until Michelle was about 3 years old.  That's when the craze started...   Paul, myself and a tiny Michelle trying to figure out what we were supposed to do with that pumpkin.  That was one of those moments when I thought,  this is what Halloween is supposed to be.  Not just taking the kids out to collect candy in cute costumes -  but time to create family memories (and I have spent most of my adult life making a many memories as possible).   What was once a night event,  turned into a week long event,  turned into a month long event.   

The kitchen is all dressed up for Halloween and fall.  I have trimmed down my decorations to just a few simple things.

My favorite thing to do in the kitchen in October...

Creating spooky dinners and Halloween themed treats.

Every year I make myself a menu/calendar ~  which is undated so that I can jump around.  

This year's calendar consists of some family favorites and a few new recipes to try.   Of course, I am saving the Zombie meatloaf for the Walking Dead season premier. 

Yesterday, I got a head start on the treat making.

To add to the ambiance of the season, Sally and I had a girl lunch date to Barnes and Noble and I found these lovelies..

However cheesy they may be,  I'm excited to read them!  : )

We've got a lot of fun things planned for the upcoming month,

I sure hope that it slows down a bit so that we can enjoy every moment of it.

I hope that you all are feeling festive too.

Have a wonderful weekend!!!