...October's Days of Disguise...

...Swinging Into Fall...

I love October -- It is great fun to watch as Life and the world take on a big disguise…I love this time of year – the leaves and the great fall hikes…

... Hiking up VF Mountain in the Leaves!!...

The jumping in the leaves….

...What is Leaf Pile Diving without the springboard? er, i mean Trampoline?...

The hauling the leaves with our OLD tractor…

...ie: "Tractor Papa"...

...LM, in particular, loved the Papa Tractor...

here he is, hanging out on the top of the tarp catching a free ride...

and… Hauling the leaves with our NEW tractor….

...Not sure who's smile is bigger?...

...Papa who is no longer the "manual" tractor? Or LM cuz he gets a ride?...

It was a birthday party kinda month too… seems LM has lots of friends with September and October birthdays! (like his mama does – something about those Virgos & Scorpios that we are attracted to!)

...LM and his buddy at her Birthday Bash...

First major “injury” while at play... Bummer.. thankfully, the "Halloween" spirit took over and saved the day, as we disguised his finger (and the blood) with a little “costume” for his finger…

.. Meet "Ducky"…

It was also “Hat Day” on “photo day” at school this year…

...Nothin cuter than a boy in his hat looking all sorts of innocent...

This year brought an added surprise… a beautiful snow covered our area – it was almost like Santa snuck by to enjoy Halloween with us…

... Ashton was in this shot and then ran off with Jeff...

...Puppies of course are TOTALLY AOK with snow. Anytime...

We had a walk and romp on the local playground in the snow!! it was fun, i admit i didn't mind snow in October :)

And apparently one of his reindeer clipped our electric supply – as our entire area was out of power for days… One night we decided to give the grill a break from cooking, and hit the fancy local hot spot: Panera for a hot date night with my boys. (now given the new definition of “hot” for me is actually a place that has heat b/c it was COLD COLD COLD in our house without power!! LOL)

... My Men and their warm bowls of mush...

Cuttin up pumpkins for decorating our house… LM was totally into decorating.. we had purple and orange lights in our front window, Halloween window stickers, a Count Dracula, and a wagon full of pumpkins on the front patio… And LM loved pointing out all the decorations in the new hood… We have 1 house in our new neighborhood that puts up a couple new decorations every day of October… by Oct 31 it is incredible. LM loved going past that house, and, aside from the snowy days, October was actually pretty mild, so we did a lot of jogs together and he always wanted to go past that house and stop and see the “new stuff” – always saying “Mommy (his label of the month for me!), look at that – that is new stuff I didn’t see before”… it was pretty funny and wild. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an entire yard and house covered with Halloween stuff before… I am very curious to know what they will do for Christmas!!

... Master Artisans plan their Knife Attack on the poor innocent lil pumpkin...

... Proudly Displaying the Final Product...

And, of course, finally – Halloween itself… Papa was actually off this year! The first year he has been not working and so his first Halloween with LM… I love Halloween and holidays in general.. always have. But, what is now really fun, and an unexpected part of parenting, is the “comparisons” each year – I remember Halloweens of the last 2 years like they were yesterday…

2009 - Year 1: the Year of Santa

2010 - Year 2: Flyers - The Year of ALL things HOCKEY

And then, there was this year.... LM was Old enough to love superheros and embrace his citizenship…. Of course, nothing better but…

...2010: Year Three - The Year of CAPTAIN AMERICA!!...

... Proud Papas disguise themselves as Pig. E. Backs...

Scenes from Candy Swiping:

It was a really wonderful month with lots of smiles…

... It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere...
Cheers from Captain America and his family!