Autumn has passed in such a beautiful and quick manner. Quite suddenly, we are buying turkeys, pinning Christmas shopping ideas, and sailing straight toward a New Year.
Fall is my favorite season by far. After the hot Colorado sun of summer, autumn’s 60 degree days and dim morning light always gives me flutters of excitement for cozy days spent snuggled up with my children and sipping coffee by the fireplace.
Out comes all of the baking supplies, and I start adding baked items to each weekly meal plan. My mom once told me that she thinks September should be apple month, and October should be pumpkin month. I have adopted this philosophy a bit, though to be truthful, I can do apples and pumpkins thoroughly and with commitment through December 1.
Now on the verge of another Thanksgiving, I am pausing to celebrate some of my favorites from this season and this lovely place I get to call home. As always, my memories center around my two babies who aren’t really babies any more.
However, they are not too old to love a family outing to the local pumpkin farm. This year, we graduated from the small “baby” farm and took the plunge to the giant, all-in farm. We went on a windy Saturday and had the best time. We had to drag Harper and Jameson out of there after four hours of autumnal bliss.
Babies no more, but face paint is always fun. I want to hold on as long as I can to these days when my kids love to “twin” and are each other’s best friend.
Every so often, I must remind myself of the backyard Colorado gives me. The foreground looks pretty good to me, too.
One of our favorite weekend outings includes visiting the Boulder Barnes and Noble and heading to lunch at Whole Foods afterward. On one particular Saturday, we also explored the Trader Joes and picked up some autumn culinary delights.
We cooked up our pumpkin pasta after a leafy bike ride through our neighborhood.
For Harper, fall was all about soccer. She has come into her own on the soccer field. I love watching her confidence grow and seeing her smile after a successful pass. She had a great season and earned her first hat trick! I love that both sets of her grandparents watch her play, and I love the sound of Jameson’s voice cheering her on. Thank you, Harper, for making your interest a family gift.
We took the opportunity to bake a batch of our favorite pumpkin muffins when we had soccer snack duty. It is Libby’s own recipe here and is delicious. The secret? Use orange juice instead of water.
Jameson had his first ever school field trip this October! There is nothing more exciting for a kindergarten boy than a ride on a school bus and lunch with his mommy at a farm. We took a hayride and picked potatoes, corn, onions, carrots, and pumpkins. When we returned to school, my sweet boy kissed me goodbye, picked out a book, and got right to his reading spot on the carpet to wait for his teacher. There is nothing more special to a mommy than having this boy to love and watching him be happy at school.
Colorado gave fall a run for its money with peeks of snow … many of them. In fact, in October, our schools had three delayed start days due to our winter preview! We made the most of those mornings with pumpkin pancakes and playtime in the snow.
Halloween arrived suddenly. How did those October days pass by so quickly? Harper decided to be Wonder Woman this year. In my opinion, Harper is already Wonder Woman 🙂 Jameson insisted that Storm Troupers were his thing this year. I wanted to ask what he knew about them considering he’s never actually seen Star Wars, but why question a five-year-old’s Halloween resolve? This year, we trick-or-treated for longer than ever despite the snowy sidewalks. The kids’ buckets were overflowing. Consequently, they have been sitting half-full on my counter ever since. I think it’s time to move on.
This is our family’s favorite Halloween movie ever. You are NOT too old for this. George’s giggle is sweet enough for kids and adults of all ages. One night, we put down the picnic blanket and had dinner movie-side.
Harper took a skateboard lesson this month and loved it! She and her buddy down the street are learning all sorts of new tricks.
And just like that, Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Needless to say, I am eager to have a little extra time with my family.
A date night with this guy is on the agenda.
Harper is thinking about giving thanks, and I love her thoughts. And I love that her teacher writes xoxo.
Jameson is on the gratitude train, too. He calls his grandma and grandpa “Jomma” and “Jompa.”
#longliveinventedspelling
Slowing down to recognize the many things we have to be thankful for is most certainly on our agenda, too.
I hope your autumn was special and quiet.
xoxo
