The start of a new season is always exciting minus the super cold weather. I'm excited that it's Fall now. Time to bust out the Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations. I usually start slowly getting out the Thanksgiving ones first and then Halloween around that first week of October or slightly sooner, as my boys love seeing those skeletons. You would think they'd be scared of them, but they've always loved them. Pumpkins too, but the skeletons are what they get most excited for.
Here's a parent hack for you. Go to Home Depot with your kids. Mine could have spent all day there with the huge animatronics and the massive skeleton. It was funny seeing all of the other parents walk around with their kids too. The Halloween section was just bustling with excited kiddos! It was pretty adorable. I've never been the biggest fan of Halloween, but now I'm getting more into it thanks to my boys! I've always been into decorating though, especially for Fall and Thanksgiving. My main jam is Christmas. That's a huge favourite of mine! Let's just say, we've got a bit too many totes in our home. I can't wait to move into a bigger house, so I can store even more Christmas decorations I collect over the years. Sorry to my hubby in advance.
As the holidays roll near, it can be kind of bittersweet for me. I sometimes find myself looking around when we are out and about at the different people my age with their parents or siblings, and my heart sinks a bit. I'm so unbelievably blessed to have my own family here with my husband and three healthy and beautiful boys, but man do I miss my parents and sister. It's so hard to be so far away, especially at this time of year.
These next few months can be hard with not only seasonal depression, but all of those family events. The big family one coming up is Thanksgiving. It's always around this time of year I'd get so excited to have our family over. My parents always hosted everyone, and it was just such a happy time in my life. We'd get everyone together and just talk about our lives, sit outside in the sun eating our hors d'oeuvres. I will cherish those memories forever.
I miss my Grandma who would always come to our house for Thanksgiving. We'd go pick her up at the old age home, and she'd be so excited. Dad usually picked her up, while mom got all dressed up (something I do to this day. Lots of laughs were had with grandma. I also miss my aunt and cousin (who now has a family of her own), as they would also come over for the big feast. When I was a little girl, my cousin and I would sneak off from the adults and just play for hours!
No one really talks about the changes when you get older of not seeing those closest to you as often, but it's so hard. When I say not as often I mean a couple of years. I'm definitely overdue to see my family. It's been about two years since I've seen my parents. Luckily there are video chats on the phone, but it's just not the same. It's pretty difficult to travel with kids, especially with ours so young, but one of these days I'm hoping to get out and see them when our schedules allow. For now, I have those memories to look back on around this time of year, and those are some pretty good ones to be thankful for.
Happy Fall!
