Here is the scene that greeted me on our patio this morning:

At first my brain couldn't comprehend what had happened - until I saw the empty table that used to house a very cute pumpkin. Actually, three.

Halloween is approaching, and we have yet to stock up on treats.

I’m not as fired up as usual about the whole fall-decorating/Halloween thing this year — maybe because our street remains a construction zone.

The weather is improving just in time for the weekend, and Family Picks returns with a full lineup: arts and literacy events, a chance to learn some aviation history and, in a special Halloween preview, the Great Pumpkin House and a Ghost Train!

My “serious” conversations with my children never seem to go according to the textbooks.

Some of you may remember a certain little project involving my breezeway.

It’s Homecoming weekend at the University of Illinois, starting with the big parade through campus tonight  — the one with candy — and pep rally on the Quad. You can also take in a free soccer game, cheer on the No. 1 Illini volleyball squad or visit the Veterinary Medicine Open House, a kid favorite. Plus hayrides, harvest festivals and more!

I’m not sure how this happened, but this month I have three friends — all moms of young children — traveling to Europe.

And I just found out another is going to London in October.

Did I miss a memo?

Fall is just around the corner, and the flurry of festivals continues this weekend! Orchard Days in Savoy, Vemilion River in Danville and a celebration in Monticello.

I found a priceless notebook recently, one I’d forgotten I had.

It wasn’t anything fancy, just a plain red spiral with anecdotes from my children from 2005 to 2009 — funny things they said or did that I thought I’d never forget. But of course, I had.

You can mark the 10th anniversary of 9/11 in any number of ways this weekend, including the National Day of Service or the local memorial ceremony Sunday in Urbana. Other highlights include the Arcola Broomcorn Festival, the AMBUCS Scarecrow Festival, the Spurlock Museum's Worldfest, and of course Dan Zanes at the Ellnora Guitar Festival.