fall-ing

and love-ing it.

the food. the colors. the sunlight.

watching my children. cheeks rosy. gathering leaves for the mantle. chasing crickets.

a chill in the air.

but with warmth in our hearts.

because Our Lord is so generous in the gifts He gives to us each and every season.

raindrops on pumpkins

and tin signs on doorknobs.

these are just two of my favorite things…..

some of my other favorite things. this very night. include:

:singing my babies to sleep. songs that are some 16 years old for me. that’s how long i’ve had an audience.

:running my fingers through their hair and stroking soft. velvety foreheads.

:clear. sparkly nailpolish. and actual nails to paint! (i stopped biting…and, well, i am pretty thrilled with my stubs!)

:warm showers. the string of butterfly lights twinkling in the bathroom. and a comfy robe to put on.

:body scrub that smells yummy.

:chocolate covered bing cherries from trader joe’s. i hide them in the fridge so they stay nice and cool. and so no one else can find them.

wishing you a weekend full of lovely. favorite. things.

goodness

gooey caramel-marshmallow-butter-popcorn balls. leaves on the tree in our front yard. some colorful kindergarten manipulatives. a few nature treasures.

not much going on here. it was a long, quiet saturday. the boys left really early with dad so my girl and i had the house to ourselves. i snacked on chocolate covered coffee beans and a spiced chai tea latte while i did some sewing and painting. she ate breakfast upstairs with me and read a million books. we went to a piano concert at the library in the afternoon. we walked. when we got there i started knitting a scarf for my dad while we sat. the musician noted that the first piece she played was written in homage to a baby she had aborted. i thought it was very brave of her to admit that. and i told her so after the concert. we learned that beethoven didn’t name his sonatas. his publishers or editors actually did. perhaps because they thought they’d “sell” that way.

on our way home i caught the sun shining so beautifully through those leaves, aren’t they wonderful? i am curious as to what kind of tree it is.

i found a yummy recipe for pumpkin butter in the october issue of bhg. i can’t wait to try it.

a very dear priest friend of ours is saying mass in town tomorrow. we won’t have to drive to the moon. what a blessing it will be to come home early and plan a few lessons for the week.

well, hope your weekend is filled with tons of goodness too.

when autumn and summer compete

it can be quite a treat.

autumn says, bring your sewing outside. or better yet come on a walk with me and i’ll show you my colors. i’ll show you what’s new. and i will even send a breeze to cool your face.

summer laughs and says, don’t bother with those things on the ground. gaze instead into the eyes of the cosmos. she blushes pink because she heard you say how pretty she is. and she saw the little girl with you stop to wait for you to have a look.

but wait! calls autumn. did you notice the color my leaves brought to that bouquet. without them it wouldn’t quite look that way. and your favorite sweater. the one you got last Christmas. if it weren’t for me it’d still be packed in the attic. causing static in your “done with summer” brain.

empty acorns. scurrying squirrels. black-eyed susans nodding their heads. all because they know it is almost time. time for them to hide under their leaf and pine needle blankets. the remnants of summer can only last so long in those 50 degree afternoons. and before i know it, she will take her place with the rest of them. it is nap time, i tell her. and when you wake up you’ll be in a better mood. you and spring get along so much better. even though it is wetter. and then you will be the one trying to show me things. wanting the spotlight. using your sunny mornings and your longer days to drive her away….but until then… thanks for an awfully lovely day!

fall-ing

asleep. because i am so tired.

in love with these stories . the weather. the october sky.

over all of the toys books and papers that clutter the loft. and my desk. (it is definitely friday.)

for my husband who throws me kisses and whistles at me while i do dishes.

i am also fall-ing for a little girl with big brown eyes who takes my re-chargeable camera batteries and uses them for a tiny light-up haunted house set on top of a bookshelf in her darkened room and a curly haired boy who puts his arms around me after stories and tells me “i just miss you sometimes.”

what are you falling for these days?

orange ya glad?

we have a place to vent our deepest fears. and quirky habits. and we lovingly support each other?

please know that i don’t condone messy houses. or being unorganized. i really do try each and every day to be a better homemaker. teacher. person. success is elusive. but that is totally beside the point.

today my guest friend commented that she loved my “shabby chic” look and i said that the hardest part was keeping it looking less shabby and more chic. and that is not easily done in a house with 3 boys + 1 man boy. but i have never cared so much about having things just so that it interferes with the comfort level of anyone living here.

unfortunately i am a pack rat and my robert downey jr. looking husband is a minimalist who complains about fire clearances if the furniture is too crowded. but that is only the beginning of our many differences. he likes modern. me pure country. but i/we make allowances. he’ll eat organic ketchup. and i, well, i’ll drink tap water in a pinch.

i think that is really what i was trying to say. make allowances with that voice in your head. or you can ignore her altogether. 

besides, most of you dear readers have children so much younger than mine. i can usually rally enough help me to do a quick pick up and get presentable looking real quick. and as for the deep cleaning, that has to wait for the times that it can get accomplished. i wait for the lists and dustbunnies to tell me when. and sometimes i even ignore those dustbunnies too. they speak ever so softly…

so tea was as successful as i could possibly manage. i won’t bore you with gory details. i did, however, much to my dismay forget to clean a “pile” of stuff i’d swept up early this morning. usually the broom remains in place and that is my “cue” that my work is not finished. well, someone hid the broom. it was must’ve been satan. because i didn’t notice it  until everyone was gone.  sitting there all nice and piled.

and finally, orange ya glad that we are entering a season that embraces orange?!!??! i love the color orange and am looking for ways to sneak it into every room. orange with turquoise, green, red, purple, gold and brown in my dining room. orange with pink, fuchsia, black and maroon in the family room. i don’t mind seeing it here there and everywhere. will i be tired of it come the end of november? probably. do you bring fall colors and decorations into your home decor?

a peek

at the least complicated thing about my monday….

the protype for the dolls i am making for my friend. i have many ideas, one being to use flowered fabric for legs. another is to use some of this darling vintage cotton lace that my mother-in-law gave me. what do you think so far?

father read this poem to us at mass yesterday and i loved it. i have another poem i am going to share with you this week from everyday graces which we have been reading as part of our virtue studies. it is a wonderful book. so much so that i am going to order it off amazon this week. i have to return it to the library, but it is full of good things.

happy feast~ we adore THEE O Christ and we bless THEE because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world!

but now i must go because i have way too many things to do today. and my husband is home.

one last thing~it was 70 degrees when i woke up. 70. are things changing in your neck of the woods too? shorter evenings. cooler days. a different look to the leaves. trees. and sky.

i am so enjoying this chilly morning…..starting with my first cup of warm coffee. i’ll toast to fall even if she’s a bit early. cooler weather is one guest i’ll welcome early any time!