Sweet Autumn

Fall is my very favorite season. Snacks had three days off of school, so I decided to make the most of it.

Wednesday the kids and I went to pick apples. Since it was allowed, we tasted our way through the orchard in order to decide what we like best. Snacks knew about all kinds of apples from his recent trip to an orchard with school and decided on Sweet Tango apples which, he said, taste like a banana split...and I have to agree.

I chose Haralsons to take home for both eating and baking and, of course, who could leave an orchard without at least a few Honeycrisps?

We visited the goats and chickens, ate apple cinnamon donuts, and picked out a pumpkin, some gourds, and some Indian corn to take home along with our apples.

Thursday we went to Heritage Village for the Harvest Festival where the kids got to visit a museum for old tractors and farm equipment, ride on a horse-drawn trolley, pick an ear of corn right from the field, make corn husk dolls and wooden boats, and do some old-fashioned print-making.

Friday John took the day off and took the kids to Cherokee Park to hunt for fossils where they climbed around in a clay pit and came home soaking wet, filthy, and happy with their pockets full of treasures. (And because John typically refuses to travel with a camera, we will just have to imagine what their fun looked like.)

Saturday the big chicken coop project began with John pulling out the old lilac bushes with his old truck and a big chain--a project which included taking apart the back fence and repeatedly running over my poor peony bushes (you can't see them in this picture because, in fact, they are under the truck).


Today the kids and I put our Dowling plot "to bed" for the season while John continued work on the coop. Sissy insisted on driving her car all the way to the garden. Thankfully, it was a gorgeous fall day so Snacks and I didn't mind that the walk had to be leisurely.

We ended the perfect weekend with pastured brats on the grill, chips with homemade salsa, and homemade pumpkin pie the kids and I baked this afternoon.


Life here is good.

Keepsakes

I often think I should be following my kids around with a camera and a tape recorder all the time. They say and do so many precious things so many times a day; things I want to remember always, but know I'll forget before long.

Today I'm thinking about the smattering of freckles across the bridge of Snacks' nose that you can only see when you are close enough to kiss him, and the way Sissy's hair curls into perfect flaxen corkscrews when it's warm. And I'm remembering Sissy's giant smile in the early morning light each morning after she has climbed over me and tucked herself in to snuggle up to her still-sleeping dad, and the way Snacks offered to give me $9 from his piggy bank when I was searching high and low for some misplaced cash saying, "You can have it, Mom, I don't care when I get my fish tank."

I know I can't record and keep it all...

but I'm sure going to try my best.

Today is John's 38th birthday. Since I have known him, John has not been on good terms with this particular day of the year.

But this morning he got to snuggle in the dark with his best girl (the little one), and after an hour in bed alone enjoying his coffee in peace, Snacks brought his dad breakfast in bed on the red plate that says, "You Are Special Today," and a fancy birthday card that he made himself.

The kids "kept Daddy company" while he ate, and then John went for a run and worked on his truck.

After several naps and an afternoon to himself at home, John and I went to the Birchwood for an evening out while Grandma Ruth and Bob stayed with the kids.

There's a full moon tonight--a perfect ending to the best birthday John's had in years.

A Perfect Fall Evening

Cold, dark, blustery and rainy.

Homemade potato leek soup made with my own chicken stock and herbs and CSA veggies.

A glass of organic wine.

A cozy living room.

A soft, bulky sweater.

Kids tucked safely in warm beds...


It doesn't get better than this.