Sweet-Lee Home

One of my favorite times of the year is fast approaching! The temperature has dropped into the 60's now and the rain is upon us. Here in the Pacific Northwest, that is a sure sign that summer is gone until next year and soon we'll be headed into the freezing nights and cold, cold days. BUT. Who wants to talk about weather when life is happening all around and my favorite time of the year is right around the corner?!

It is just about the beginning of October and in the Lee household, we refer to October as "the beginning." Because you see, it is the beginning of watching our well-saved earnings go out the door. Or, it would be if I was a spendier (is that even a word?) person. October marks the beginning of birthday and holiday season. We had the very bad luck of all three kids being born right before and right after Christmas, and on top of that, we have Halloween (which I really can't decide if I actually like the fact that we even refer to it as a holiday or even call it that in our house!) and then of course, there is Thanksgiving, and Black Friday. And yes, I am one of THOSE mothers that you will see in a line around the corner of the Toys R Us at midnight so I can grab the last $40 dollhouse that I NEED to get my daughter. Oh yes, I have a carnal need to save. And buy. It's a vicious cycle.

So, on top of all of that, it is also the beginning in which I will be going CRAZY planning their birthday parties. And this year, I absolutely, positively MUST plan one for my littlest who is turning three. (Three, already?! I can't believe it...) It just so happens that he had the not-so-good-luck of being the last born AND being the last birthday of the "season." And, unfortunately for him, I have not been the best of mothers because by the time the holidays have come and gone, and I have planned and thrown two birthday parties in the midst of all the other celebrations, his birthday comes around and...well. Let's just say I've dropped the ball both years. Although, I have made and decorated two very awesome cakes for him. The first one was a Lorax cake (because he LOVED that movie when he was a a baby) and the second was a rainbow Spiderman cake. So, although he hasn't had huge birthday parties, he has gotten his cake. And that has to count for something, right?!

I also LOVE this time because it reminds me that a new year is right around the corner. A new beginning. A new dawn. Another birthday. Another chance. And a new resolution. Now, I know that a lot of people think that resolutions are overrated, but I still make new ones. Every. single. year. Because, you never know what you can accomplish unless you set your mind to it. And there's just something about the traditional-ness of sitting around the Christmas tree on New Years Eve talking about hopes, dreams, new ideas, aspirations, and goals. When it's time to ring in the new year, and I hold up my champagne glass and toast everyone around me, I am resolving to uphold those resolutions not just to myself, but to my husband, my kids, my family. I know, I know. It sounds so cliche. Maybe it is. But I happen to like cliche. Especially around this time.

And this year, I want the holidays to be filled with cliches:

• Long Christmas lists (which we have already started!)
• The smell of cinnamon and pumpkin when you enter my house
• Digging through my purse to drop money in the Salvation Army bucket
• Rushing from store to store to find the perfect gifts
• Taking pictures of the kids until their faces are blue (not really, but really)
• Snuggling on the couch with my husband
• Baking yummy sweets and treats and getting sprinkles all over the kitchen
• Doing Advent the whole month of December...

I think you get the picture.
Yes, this is one of my favorite times of the year. Welcome, Fall.