The official start of fall.

Well it is finally here. The official start of fall. I am enjoying waking up every morning to see the leaves changing colors and drifting slowly out of the trees to my front lawn. I know that at some point all the beautiful colors will also bring lots of work in the form of raking but right now I am just enjoying the moment. My children are so excited to get the rakes out for another purpose. They enjoy raking little piles to jump in and have fun. Such a simple activity but so full of enjoyment. Here is a photo of my son on his roller blades. He is a maniac and I usually have a magazine in hand that I can lift up and cover my face until I hear him say "I'm Ok, I'm Ok" That is my queue to look up !

This is my favorite time of year. I love waking up to cool air blowing in my window. I love that I only need a sweater to go out. I love walking my kids to school on a cool morning. Just cool enough though. I don't break a sweat but I don't freeze either. I enjoy talking to my kids in those few moments alone. No distractions to pull our attention away from one another. I find the fall to be a peaceful season.

I cherish these last few weeks outside before the cold of winter hits hard. Then I will be back to indoor activities and projects. Back to painting and decorating, back to holidays and birthdays and back to counting down to the next falls arrival.

Oh the chaos!

This week is starting off very chaotic. Sunday we went to an art show for my husband- he did not win anything but I did as I already have the artwork hung on my walls. Then we went to a triathalon for the kids. Yesterday was not so bad except that the kids could not wake up in the morning due to sundays festivities and that I cleaned my oven and heard a pop in the process. I thought I broke the heating element, but thanks to a friends suggestion I found out it was only a tripped circuit breaker. As for today, we started out having to get up earlier then usual to take Dad to the train. After dropping the kids off at school I made my way to the nursery to pick up fall flowers and gourds. I then proceeded to come home and mow the lawn, weed, laundry and clean and now I am about to bake cookie for tonight's dessert and get a meal prepared for coworkers of my husband who are coming for dinner. Nothing like fitting it all in! I am looking forward to a days rest tomorrow, if I am lucky and nothing comes up!

A beautiful fall weekend

What a nice weekend with the family. It was busy but fun. We went to a party for a friend on saturday and the adults had a great time, one of the kids had so much fun and the other was wishing she was not there. My son knows how to fill his time by talking to people he does not know about rocks and space, while my daughter shies away from making new connections. Someone at the party asked me if my son was the "well spoken scientist". That about summed him up! We also went apple picking this weekend. A time honored tradition for our family. The kids love picking fresh fruit and having a bite or two in the fields. They also love getting cider donuts and apple cider to take home. It is fun for us all and mom gets to bake with the apples at home. I love to bake and made apple crisp for dessert last night. I also love the fact that the kids request apples for their school snack instead of cookies or chips. It is a refreshing change.

Back to school

Well, that time of year has arrived and the kids are back to school. Now don't get me wrong. I love my kiddos with all my heart but I have been waiting for these days to arrive again. The days when I can go to the grocery store by myself (which takes about half the time and about half the money as no one is requesting *extras*) the days of cleaning a room and not coming back 5 minutes later to find a bigger mess, and the days of folding laundry while watching a few minutes of the today show instead of phineas and ferb. I have been waiting for these days all summer long and now they are finally here! Yes, I do have to get up earlier to make lunches and get the kids ready and yes, I do have to help everyone with homework and yes, I have to be more prepared for things then I do in the summer but I find it all worth it. I miss them when they are gone and I smile when they return to me, but I am enjoying the quiet "me time" which I think every mom deserves.