A Perfect Fall Day

Today we had *A*'s last soccer game and then came home to carve pumpkins. The kids were so involved in it this year and insisted on scraping the seeds, drawing the faces themselves, and *A* even wanted to cut most of hers herself.

Afterwards, ^J^ and I worked around the house, roasted pumpkin seeds, and enjoyed the day off while the kids proceeded to play outside for hours.

Here they are pretending they "had no home and were poor". They would find food (acorns) and cover up with blankets. (H) told *A* they weren't poor because they had blankets and toys. They used Ella-kitty as a means of transportation for their stuffed animals. She was very patient.

I even had time today to play with my camera a bit and take some photos with my big lens. Here are some of my favorites. I'm hoping to get some good Fall leaves shots this weekend too.

Happy Halloween tomorrow, even though no one wants to celebrate it then, but we still are! Boo!

My Little Pumpkin

Last week I went to the pumpkin patch with (H)'s preschool. I went last year with both kiddos and we had such a good time I knew I wanted to go again this year. I volunteered to drive (H)'s buddies and my friends (their mommies) down the windy, scenic road to the pumpkin patch, which is actually in Alabama.

It was a beautiful Fall day and we had a blast!

The corn box was the favorite thing to play in and they even added a cotton box this year.

(H) and his best friends, they play so well together!

 Petting the animals was fun too and the tractors were a big hit!



My pumpkin and his pumpkin



Riding the Rails

Last weekend we took a trip to Chattanooga to celebrate my mom's birthday. We wanted to do something we hadn't done yet, so we decided to do something we've always wanted to do, and take a train ride! It was so much fun! The kids didn't know what was happening until my mom handed them their ticket and they were so excited! (H) was literally shaking with excitement! Afterwards we tooled around the city and enjoyed the beautiful weather and many festivals going-on.

This kid couldn't stop smiling!



Here it comes!




We ate lunch on the train




We loved watching the world go by



Turning the engine around



We got to visit the shop where they work on these old steam engines!




Tunnel! So cool!




So much fun!



Weeeee!



This part was kind of scary!




Cuties!




Cooling off after in a new-to-us fountain




Playing and listening to the bluegrass festival




Followed by a tickle-fest



Welcome October!

My favorite month has arrived! I'm celebrating October today by making time for myself. I decided to give up a few things in my busy schedule because life was feeling too rushed and too stressful. I do not want to look back and remember my last year here as busy and hectic. (H)'s school is closed today so we're taking it easy this morning with a few cartoons (a rare treat on a weekday!), some knitting, and a good old-fashioned house cleaning. It was so nice this morning to just walk at his pace back to the car after dropping off *A* and not feeling like I had to rush to get to the next thing.
We're looking forward to a weekend of fun: date night, soccer, celebrating Nana's b-day in Chattanooga (I think we're going to take a train ride! The kids are going to go nuts!), and a visit to our sponsoring parish. I'm off to enjoy this lovely day with the windows open and leaves falling.

Reminiscing

The weather today is beautiful! It feels just like it does when we go to Michigan in the summers. I'm wishing I had a hammock and a beach right outside my door today. In honor of this Michigan-esque day, here are the final pictures from our trip this summer.

Soccer Time

I've been so slack with this blog lately, lots to share (even pictures!), just not enough time to do it! Hopefully this lazy, rainy Sunday will let me get caught up a bit. Soccer is in full swing this Fall and it's amazing how much difference a year makes! Last year we were having a hard time convincing *A* to get out there and take the ball away, and we wondered if she was just not really into competitive sports. Well, apparently kids kind of "get that" in Kindergarten. She is now one of our best players and has scored goals and totally gets it. It's so exciting to watch her and cheer for her from the sidelines (instead of telling her what to do all the time). And it's made even more fun this year because ^J^ is her coach! We were rained out Saturday, but she's had 2 great games and we're looking forward to games all the next month.


*A* was selected as team captain to watch the coin toss




Throw In




Action shot




Our friends came to cheer her on and get a few early soccer tips



Sweaty Monkey after the game



Good game! I think this is their favorite part!



A Good Busy

Life is busy but good. I've filled almost all of my alone free time this year and it seemed a bit out of control last week, but I think I'm getting the hang of it this week. I started EFM this year, so that takes up my Friday mornings, and I've been volunteering at *A*'s elementary school library on Mondays so that takes up most of my Monday mornings. Both days start later than my crazier Tuesday-Thursdays so I can be lazier and relax a bit before I need to be somewhere. Afternoons have been great, busy of course, but (H) and I (and sometimes ^J^) have been able to spend some quality time together until it's time to go get *A* from school. My favorite days are when we go get (H) and treat ourselves to lunch somewhere and then all come home and nap. This doesn't happen often but today is one of those days and I love being able to have the time to do it! After school it's pretty much a mad dash to get things done (homework, grocery shopping), or get to soccer or choir, and occasionally we just go to the park and play. Yesterday *A* had a friend over after school so we went to the park and I just sat and knitted for an hour. Ahhhhh.

I much prefer less stuff to do, but everything I'm doing this year I love. I think I'm trying to get all these wonderful opportunities in while we're here, and I'm really just trying to soak up our last year in Sewanee. I also really want this year to go slowly, but unfortunately busy and slow don't seem to go well together.

I'm really ready for Fall and cooler temps. I finally feel like in our 3rd year, I know what to expect with Sewanee weather, as much as anyone can, but I'm anticipating the cold and the grey days and looking forward to soups and fires and rain boots. To being "cozy-warm" as my kids like to say. 

One thing I'm missing right now is my camera. I have taken NO new pictures for over 2 weeks, and have had no time or inspiration to do so (hence the lack of pictures on this post). This makes me sad so I'm keeping my camera with me all weekend to play with and become inspired again. We have *A*'s 1st soccer game of the season and a trip to see family and celebrate my niece's birthday, so there will be ample opportunity.