Crunchy Brown Leaves

This morning I met a friend for a walk around one of our local little lakes.   As I pulled into the parking lot I couldn't get over all of the leaves scattered around.  Now I know this is nothing compared to some parts of the U.S., but for us...it was pretty cool.  It had rained pretty hard yesterday, so I'm guessing that's what brought all the leaves down.  I kept imagining my kids jumping in the leaves.  We have many varieties of trees around us, some of their leaves fall, a lot don't, but there have never been enough leaves to play in.  I enjoyed my walk and then as I was getting ready to leave I was wishing I had a way to bring the leaves home.  Could I shove some into my reusable bags???  Do I throw armfuls into the back of my car??  Hmmm.  I couldn't imagine being able to grab enough to make it fun.  The bummer was that there were gardeners there blowing the leaves.  I was sure that if I came later with the kiddos they would be gone.



Fast forward to after school....after homework.  I decide, what the hay, let's go try the leaves.  And they were still there!  And it just seemed so meant to be, like it was perfectly planned for US.  Because not only were they there....they were put into these perfect little Shane and Marin jumping piles!

I spy with my little eye......

*****

Alright, so I'm a little embarrassed to say this, because I think it says something about my patience??  Immediate gratification anyone??  But I bought 4 pumpkins yesterday.  Two for our Halloween Jack-o-lanterns, and then two specifically so I can cut into them and grab their seeds!  Kinda sad, huh?  Well, I mean that those little pumpkins don't get to have their dual purposes.  What can I say?  I LOVE homemade pumpkin seeds!  So today we baked them up and YUMMMMM!  The good news is that I'll get more a few days before Halloween when we cut open the other two.

Before

After

*****

My little crochet project....  I decided I wasn't liking the size of my little hexagons.  So I started completely over with a bigger hook.  Finally there's some progress again.  I'm happy to say it probably won't take me three years.....maybe now just two.  I hope it turns out like it looks in my head!

 

*****

Oh, and Fall decorations are out!  Wreath on the door, other shades of oranges and browns throughout the house....and some yummy smelling candles by my sink.  *sigh* Yay Fall!!

Thanksgiving artwork by my friend Aimie

Head in the Clouds

I've been completely enamored by clouds of late.  The weather has really been spinning us around.  70 degree temps one week and then skyrocketing up past the 100s the next and now these last few days we've gotten these ridiculously gorgeous clouds with a slight tease of rain.  Now, I'm not a typical cloud lover.  You know, I enjoy them like the next person...like to find things in them, etc.  But not like these last few days....these last few days if I'm outside, I'm staring straight up into that sky.  If I'm driving, my neck is bent all weird trying to look up and out my windshield window while keeping at least one eye peeled to the road.  And even though I try, I can't stop but say, "Wow!"  These clouds have simply been breathtaking.  Puffy white against a beautiful blue.  In the mornings I've been able to grab my camera and grab some shots, but I just can't capture what I see and feel on film.  I keep trying though.

We've been on a treadmill of sorts, with work, school and sports and then of course practices, etc.  But THIS eve we had a wide open evening.  So my cloud obsession brought us to the beach.  I was certain those clouds would be there too and they wanted to give us a spectacular show.  We all got busy with what had to be done so we could take this impromptu trip.  I whipped up a quick batch of peanut butter brownies and threw together a modge podge of food that would pass for dinner.  The kids got busy with their homework.  And Mike finished up some loose ends at work.  And then......

we hit the beach.  And even though those kids always say they won't go in the water (when we're there for dinner...you know, it's night-like and kinda cold)......they were in that water.  Marin fully clothed.....Shane had sense enough to take the shirt off first.  :)  I love the fully clothed beach nights.  They don't happen often, but I really do love them.  We wraggled them in to get our grub on and then they were off again.  And me and the hubby, we were able to just sit and watch.

And then the show started.  Wow!  What a show.  God sure outdid himself.  It was so amazingly beautiful, breathtaking, fabulous.....  there's a perfect word, but what is it?  Whatever the word...and even if we didn't know we needed it, it breathed air....and fresh LIFE, into all of us.

Get Ready for some FOOTBALL

So yesterday was the day.  My boy had his first flag football game of the season.  And like my girl's first game...it was simply A-MAZING!  He was pulling flags and was ALL in.  Mike and I had to divide up because both our kids had games at the exact same time (of course they did), so as happy and thankful I was to get to see Shane in his flag pulling glory, I was sad that Mike didn't get to see it first hand too.  That's just the way it goes sometimes.  But I guess reliving both their games through their excited explanations can be pretty cool too.  When you can fully sense that they know they played hard and well and are nothing but happy to share it with someone who wants to know every detail.  Not sure what it is about this season, maybe it's their age....but so far, they are killing it!  And I want to do nothing else but watch them do it!

:: wish #5 wasn't blocking my shot ::

:: Another shot that's not totally clear, but can you see what's in that mohawked dude's hand? ::

:: Shane got to play his very good friend's team, so it only made if funner cheering them both on (I have to add, his friend had a pretty great game too!)::

Did I say yet that they won?   .....'cuz they totally did.  ;)

Like after most games, we had to hit the nearest spot to grab a slurpee.  And in this 100+ heat.....we went SUPER size x 4!

And as if our day was not already pretty perfect, we took some time to shower and relax and then went after some more.  Had our good friends come on over for some family fun and some hangin'.  So nice, because we've missed this kind of time with them.

And what's better than one momma's margarita??

:    :    :    :    :

Two momma's margarita's, of course!!

Groovin'

Why, hello there!  It's been some time since my last post. Things have taken off here and I've been scurrying around searching for my groove.  Now that the kids are in school, as my typical style, I'm attempting to scatter myself in a variety of ways.  I'm just hoping that I remember to see this extra time as the blessing it is and however I choose to use it (with school, volunteering, friends, even cleaning) to keep that blessing in focus.  I know I'll need to cushion the 'busy' with downtime, but I hope to keep the joy a part of it all!

This week......More evidence of fall.....

A little project I'm working on.  It may take 3 years, but I hope to turn this.....

Into some version of this  (bad photo copy to follow)......

Oh!  And I can't forget, Happy 3rd Birthday little man!  We had so much fun with you!  We love you so much and hope your day is super wonderful!

Wish you a most fabulous week!