I think Franny has been talking about our upcoming Halloween since November 1st of last year.  We typically don't even start thinking about costumes or preparations until just a few weeks before, but this year both Franny and Cole were very adamant about the costumes they wanted, and had been for long enough that I decided to just get their costumes ordered.  They were both very excited, and their attention turned to what Delaney was going to be for Halloween.  So, I suggested we pull out all the kids' old costumes and see if there was something that she would like.  Needless to say, this quickly progressed into getting out all the Halloween decorations--something I usually hold out on until about 10 days preceding the big day.  It's not that I'm not festive, I just don't like all the extra things out on every surface imaginable.  But, I couldn't bear to squash their enthusiasm, so our decorations are now up just days before the beginning of October.  But, it actually has been fun--we've been reading Halloween books and there are pumpkins, black cats, and little orange lights throughout our house.  Maybe with this head start we will actually get to some of those things we always seem to run out of time for!  May the Halloween festivities begin!