Merry Christmas, Darling.

I asked The Spouse what he wanted for Christmas the other night, and without batting an eye, he said "An American Girl Doll."

I pondered this. It made sense. Most of members of this household want one. Maybe he was feeling left out.

But he was fairly quick to explain that, unlike those of us who daydream about tea parties on miniature tea sets that cost so much Thomas Jefferson might have made them in his spare time at Monticello, his desire is for purely financial reasons. He seems to have noticed that they are the most secure investment on the planet right now. You can buy one of these dolls, brand new, for $95.00 from American Girl. Or you can get on e-bay and get the same thing for $234. A new outfit on the official site: $32. On e-bay: $46. Even those of us that aren't so good at math can see which one is more.

Well, I live to please.

I just can't wait until I get to tell the Fed-Ex guy that the dolly is for my husband. *smirk*

Land Ho!!

Happy Columbus Day, everyone.

This morning we got up and made stick-puppets about the Columbus story. Complete with Moneybags King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. (Who, by the way, was 9 when Columbus sailed. NINE. No wonder she wanted to give him the money.) Anywho, we took our Window Markers and decorated the windows of our car with the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. Then we wrote "Happy Columbus Day!" on the back window. I believe in offending people as much as possible. Because it's good for them.

So we set out to explore and discover--to find a new world.

Before the morning was out, my children yelled out with excitement "LAND! LAAAAAAND!" Hands waving and pointing frantically.

At a McDonalds.

So, we made landfall and ate McNuggets.

The irony is delicious.

Halloween is on a Sunday? Uuuuuh...

So, has the debate started for you guys?

Halloween is on a Sunday this year.

Do you dress your kids up and take them trick or treating?

If you don't, do you answer the door for other trick or treaters?

What about the mutiny that will ensue if you go that route?

Maybe we could give out Pass-Along cards and dress up as Mormon missionaries? Would that make it ok? Are we willing to live with the title Scariest House on the Block, forever after?

I've been feeling this out among friends. I had assumed that, like Utah, the Bible Belt would just automatically celebrate Halloween the night before if Halloween fell on a Sunday. But it appears that I assumed wrong, even among my Latter-day Saint friends.

Well, SHOOT. Now what do I do?

I've decided to put on my big girl panties and do something that is TOTALLY out of character for me: invite my neighbors on my street to come to MY house for a Halloween Eve party. I know. You should've SEEN the look the Spouse gave me when I suggested it. Because I don't even GO to these things, let alone HOST these things.

But I'm feelin' pretty strongly about this whole "Sabbath day holy" thing, so I'm trying to follow the prompting to do something about it.

I'm attaching a printable large .jpg file for a Halloween Eve invitation, if you don't want to make your own. If you're having trouble deciding how to celebrate this year, join us--save this to your computer, print it (I went easy on the graphics to save ink), fill it out, stick it in your neighbor's mailboxes (tape a sucker to it, for added incentive), and then wait for them to stand you up... oh... I mean, come.

Hey. At least we'll be able to say we tried.

Books for Autumn...

One of the ways that my kids and I really get into any season is the books that we read and the movies we watch (over and over again). For me, autumn is divided distinctly into two separate portions: early autumn, ending with Halloween, and late autumn which encompasses my favorite holiday: Thanksgiving.

My Thanksgiving choices will come later. But following are some of my Early Fall favorites.

Owl Babies, by Martin Waddell, is considered a classic for good reason. Chances are that you've read it, but if you haven't, treat yourself and your kids to a new favorite. My kids really started loving this one at ages 3 and up.

Creepy Castle, by John S. Goodall, has no written narration, but it is one of our family's favorites. Given to us when my oldest was born, we can tell and retell this story over and over again. My kids love to play different parts in the story, and everyone throws their head back and cackles when the bad Rat appears. A fun, fast read for kids of all ages from 1 and up.

I don't own many Halloween books, but the illustrations in this one delighted me, and so we added it to our collection this year. Ghosts in the House by Kazuno Kohara is the most asked for book in our house right now--delightfully fun and not at all spooky, it's the kind of book you don't mind reading out loud 100 times. Appropriate for ages 1 and up.

This might not seem like an obvious fall/Halloween book, but The Monster at the End of this Book by Jon Stone, is well entrenched into our fall repertoire. The kids LOVE to act like the pages weigh a ton when they turn them, and who doesn't love Grover?? This one deserves a place on your year-round shelf.

Now, the two DVDS that we love for fall and Halloween...

No explanation needed really--both about fall and harvest, we got Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure when it came out last fall and we all dig it, but our true fall favorite has to be Wallace and Gromit in The Curse of the Were Rabbit, keeps our family laughing, and will definitely be the family pick for our Halloween Eve celebrations this year.