Windy Day at the Pumpkin Patch

After school Thursday, we took the girls to our local pumpkin patch.  It’s not the most exciting place to hunt for pumpkins, but it seems more authentic than the grocery story and it benefits a local non-profit (Disability Resources).  The girls weren’t exactly in the mood for pictures after a long day/week at school, and the wind and sun didn’t help my cause much.

Nonetheless, the girls had fun picking out their pumpkins and I was able to check something off my Fall Fun list. We came home with two LARGE pumpkins for us to decorate sometime this week.

 

 

Fall at the Chicago Botanic Garderns

Title 9K in Chicago

Quite a while ago, my friend Susie and I decided we wanted to run a 9K together.  So long ago, in fact, that we were the first two runners to register!

For the past few months we’ve been long-distance training partners, encouraging each other and holding each other accountable as our runs got longer.

This past weekend we did it!

It was a gorgeous fall day — sunny, not much wind, and about 50 degrees.  And Chicago was full of fall color, a rare treat for this Texas girl.  It made me miss the two falls we spent in Wisconsin exploring forests full of fall leaves (and the time when we befriended John and Susie!)

It was so fun to run and chat (chatting and laughing so much that we had to catch our breath and walk some)!

Time to find another race to run together!

Oh how we love books!

It’s probably no surprise that our family is quite fond of books.  Here are a few examples, just in case you ever doubted.  Or as Bill likes to say, proof that nerds beget nerdlings.

Ode to Books by Jane Anne

Your long words are like

candy to me with soft delicate pages

you embrace me with sweet memories

of times you sat waiting in my desk quietly calling

me to your pages

Awesome!

And from Molly, her book A Rainy Day:

It reads:

It was a very rainy day in summer.  I went to Kathleen’s house to play.  While it was raining, mom went on a date with dad.  It was at Bonterra Blu.  There were a lot of puddles and it was muddy and I got a SLEEPOVER!

She even had an about the author page:

And there’s a sequel forthcoming: A Sunny Day

She made copies for all her friends and teachers and handed them out.  She even signed a few copies.

Cooking with Jane Anne

Since real food, cooking, and eating together is a big part of our family ritual, I try to involve the girls in cooking as much as I can.  I’ll confess, though, I’m a bit of a control freak in the kitchen.  (That may be an understatement.  Also, please note that control freak does not equal someone who cooks without making a huge mess.)  As a result, sometimes it’s been hard to let the girls take a central role in meal preparation.  They love to cook as much as I do, so I’m trying to be more intentional about fuller participation in the kitchen.

On Saturday, I handed Jane Anne our copy of Dinner a Love Story (oh, how I love this book), and told her to pick something to cook for dinner on Sunday night.  Because JA is a lot like her mama, she’d already read it cover to cover.

She ended up choosing Tony’s Steak, roasted broccoli, rolls, and pasta salad.  This was Jane Anne’s first time to cook a whole meal (mostly) on her own, preparing the marinade, chopping the veggies, and even helping Bill with the grill.  She also invited Nana and Pop-Pop over to eat with us.  Somehow, I neglected to take any pictures — these shots are from the archives — and the meal was delicious.

This morning as we were heading to school, she said “last night was so fun!” When I asked her what part of last night, she said “cooking!”  I think she’s earned herself a new job!

October blahs

At dinner one night this week, my friend Susan and I were talking about the October blahs.  I love fall, but about this time of the semester I can start to feel a bit down.

We’ve settled nicely into our routines, but that also means their newness has worn off.  It’s starting to feel cooler, but we’re still experiencing highs in the 80s.  My students, bright-eyed and motivated a few weeks ago, are staring to look glassy-eyed and a more than a bit sleep deprived.

The realization the semester is flying by (week 7 ends today!) makes me melancholy thinking about how quickly my little ones are growing up.

I start fantasizing about being somewhere else.  Abilene is my beloved home and provides a profound sense of rootedness for me, but somedays it feels a little mundane.  Then, a song starts to play on from a random playlist, and I long to be in Oxford; a text pops up from my friend Corey, and I long to be at Disney World. (Of course, most days I wish I could be in both those places…)  Part of that longing is that time doesn’t seem to pass so quickly when we’re elsewhere.  We are more in the moment, enjoying each other as a family, and tuned into our surroundings.

So I’m doing two things.  First I’m looking forward to this weekend.  Tonight we’ll enjoy our Friday-night tradition of homemade pizza and family time.  Tomorrow includes JA’s first rehearsal for her dance Christmas show.  She was old enough this year to audition for a part and gets to be one of the school girls (her first choice).  I’m excited to anticipate that milestone with her.  And tomorrow night, Bill and I are going on a long-overdue date night.  I’m looking forward to a leisurely dinner and uninterrupted conversation.  If it doesn’t rain, we might even head out on an outdoor adventure tomorrow afternoon.

Second, I’ve been thinking about Barbara Brown Taylor’s question “what is saving your life right now?”  (My friends Katie and Shanna both blogged eloquently about this question).  I’m meandering through Taylor’s lovely book An Altar the World: A Geography of Faith where she poses this question and begins to answer it for herself.  I have some good guesses about what is sustaining me right now, but I want to reflect on it a little more before I attempt to answer.  I hope that in answering it I will be better about the exercise of reverence, “the proper attitude of a small and curious human being in a vast and fascinating world of experience” (Taylor 19).  Better at paying attention to the miracles of today.

Weekend away with Jane Anne

This weekend I got to spend a few days alone with JA.  I try to have special out-of-town dates with each girlie once in a while, and I let JA choose the agenda, so Friday she skipped school and we hopped in the car and headed to the DFW area.

We started in Fort Worth with a picnic of Five Guys Burger and a ride on the Trinity Park train.

Then we headed into Dallas to do some window shopping at American Girl followed by dinner at the Galleria.

After than we headed to the hotel and curled up in bed with our books and a cup of tea.  Saturday morning, we headed to Starbucks and then Half Price Books.

After lunch at La Madeline, we headed to the Dallas World Aquarium to explore there.

I sure do love spending time with this girl!!

No more braces!

Jane Anne had an extra baby tooth that caused her front left tooth to turn completely sideways.  A little over a year ago, our dentist suggested we have it looked at by an orthodontist, who decided braces were the best option.

Here’s a picture of her last fall with the crooked tooth (still one of the cutest kiddos I know):

 

And here’s a picture of her in the Spring, with her colored bands on her braces.

 

And, finally, on Monday with straight teeth and no braces!

 

Now she has a polka-dotted, glow-in-the-dark, retainer and she may need braces again later, but we are are loving that this phase is through.  And we are enjoying her even more beautiful smile.

Fall Fun

Fall is my absolutely favorite season.  I love the cooler temps — even if it’s not quite cool, yet — fall colors and recipes, even the shorter days.

Now that October is here, it’s really starting to feel like fall.  I know we’re 8 or so days into the season, but since it was 95 on the official first day, it didn’t seem quite here yet.  (I did wear a cute new, fall-colored cardigan to celebrate.)  We have a busy fall planned; in fact, I’ll be traveling four weekends in a row, which feels incredibly exciting (Chicago!  Boston!) and a bit overwhelming.  In the midst of this busyness, I want to be intentional about making sure we do some special fall activities.   Here’s a list of things I’d like to do:

1.  Visit Abilene State Park.  Hike.  Picnic.  Relax.

2.  Make Alyssa’s pumpkin bread.

3.  Cook some soup (maybe in the crock pot for Monday nights?)

4.  Take the girls star gazing.

5.  Take the girls to our local pumpkin “patch” and decorate/carve pumpkins.

6.  Do this outdoor activity and mail it to a friend.