Fall arrived and it is always glorious! Running outside becomes enjoyable again, the leaves change color, and the world becomes overall less buggy and muggy.
At the first sign of chill in the air, I put up our autumn decor!
I switch out the painting on the bookshelf in the living room according to the season:
I put a lot of pumpkins all around:
Owls appear!
And I get to put out or wooden wreath!
What a blessing to live nearby so we can participate in fun like this.
One of the many highlights of October was having a Fall Festival for my family!
I cooked a delicious meal and then we played Dutch Blitz until it was time for the girls to go home to bed.
Mark got to snuggle the cats a bit.
I made my very first-ever batch of homemade apple cider for this festival and it was tasty!
Greg threw balls at the girls on the stairs!
And Cora learned how to use a RECORD PLAYER!
We danced to German polkas and The Sound Of Music.
Yes, our basement still has some boxes, but overall it's mostly cute.
It simmered all day and made the house smell delicious.
All these apple remnants needed to go to the compost bin!
After parties, the cats are always very tired.
We had some beautiful rainbows over the pond with lovely rainy fall days!
Nora has been getting in the shower to attack us and ping pong balls in the mornings.
And Ivy rolls over in the tub . . . do we dare to rub that sweet soft belly?! YES! We dare!
Greg sets up balls in the bannister for the girls and they knock them down. Sometimes they sit in weird positions!
I made a feast! She requested a similar menu to what I made for the family fall feast a couple of weeks before.
Guacamole:
Fruit salad:
Lots of cupcakes! (We frosted them later, put candles in, and sang happy birthday to ourselves!)
Happy birthday to us!
I found some beautiful vintage stainless steel silverware on Marketplace recently because we were running out of some things, especially serving pieces and spoons, when we had people over.
This pattern attracted me because it has berries on it!
I cleaned out the silverware and serving ware drawers and got them all reorganized.
Very sturdy and new-looking, in spite of being over 50 years old!
I love the views from the windows when the leaves are changing!
Even the guest room has lovely views!
Lunch with Julie, my friend from college long ago!
Julie was in Minnesota from Alaska, and as always, it was great to see her. This time we got to chat for quite a while.
I have been delinquent keeping up with my blogging, so this seems very long ago already, but I'm happy to document our family trip to the pumpkin patch! This one is put on by my parents' real estate agent's company, and it's pretty fun. There are pumpkins, snacks, games, and this year there was a photo opportunity with a skeleton. My brother's dear wife, Jillian, has been traveling a lot for work, and she wasn't able to be there.
I tried to put the skeleton's arm around Cora and it broke off. Oops!
One day in October, Greg and I took Cora and Esme thrifting and for a little adventure in Stillwater.
We found a neat store with rocks and minerals:
A bookstore where some of the patrons were pumpkin!
We crossed the bridge into Wisconsin!
Greg read us the information about when the bridge goes up and down to let tall boats pass underneath.
I treasure these days!
There's the lift bridge in the background!
We poked around in some antiques shops, where Cora loved the old musty fascinating books but didn't like the pricing. Esme thought the antiques shops were creepy.
Cora also discovered a very old fur coat.
The girls thought it was funny that these cherubs would have their butts out in public.
We also stopped at one Goodwill (the one in Stillwater is typically very good). We found this cat circle, which is too small for Allistiar, but Nora and Ivy like it!
I found this wood vase with some of the bark still on.
And I got a huge stack of books - many of which have been on my list of books to check out from the library. This way I can read them at my leisure and keep them or put them in the little free library around the corner if I want to pass them on.
Later that evening, we carved our pumpkins!
It was a fun time, as always!
Here they all are together.
These are mine; I decided to to sideways faces this year, but it wasn't as easy as I thought!
Cora made a vampire!
Later in October (the 26th!), we celebrated my birthday with pizza out with my family (minus Jillian, who was travelling).
While we waited, the girls and I played with a teeny tiny SpotIt game I carry with me in my bag at all times for purposes such as this!
Just the girls:
There will be a lot of history learned this winter!
In November, we got the nicest display of the Aurora we've ever seen!
It was not as bright with our naked eyes, but through the camera's more sensitive lens, it was gorgeous!
The pond froze with cute little bubbles from our muskrat friends and gases.
And we cuddled a lot!
My sweet Aunt Cindy passed on these beautiful winter glasses to us, but I said NO to using them before it snowed. Now it's been snowing often, so we're using them for our orange juice or sparkling water!
Here is the beginning of the snow.
Ice reflecting the trees:
Litle ice chunks in the grass;
We saw a deer across the pond in the trees. We haven't seen many yet this year.
Allistair sleeping by the fire:
Nora sleeping in a heated blanket tent:
Ivy sleeping in her igloo!
On a 55-degree November day, I put up the outside Christmas lights. I didn't turn them on (except to test) until the day before Thanksgiving (early!)
On one of my last outside runs, I brought home a couple of milkweed pods from along the side on my running route and spread the seeds along the pond! I hope we get lots of milkweed growing for the pollinators in the spring!
Look how delicate and well-organized the seeds are!
Some days, the blue skies sparkle!
I love all the seasons (summer is my least favorite).
Fall is especially colorful, but it doesn't last long!
Nora watching with lack of enthusiasm.
The kids at church have been GREAT and hilarious and sweet. Our reach to kids with different developmental needs is growing, and so is the team of people who enjoy spending time with them! It's a blessing to be part of this important and delightful group.
This week, we had a conversation about things we are afraid of.
leeches
"a black hole with a black widow spider in it"
"too much polutoin" (pollution)
"my bed eating me" (!!!)
"the dark"
"spiders"
"ticks"
On Halloween, we handed out candy to a few cute kids and my friend Heather and her daughter Hannah came over for a bit to hang out. It is a fun tradition to see them and to admire Hannah's outfit! Greg likes to run around in his T-Rex suit.
I made window ghosties out of newspaper and packing paper, we lit our pumpkins, and Greg set up speakers to play spooky organ music. I'm not into scary, but these fun and simple traditions have made Halloween one of my favorite nights of the year!
It's also one of my favorite days of the year, because one of my favorite people was born on October 31st - my MOM!
Greg T-Rex and I took her some flowers and treats.
What fun!
I found a cute outfit for Halloween. This ghost sweatshirt is a high percentage of rayon and it shrunk up a bit after a few washings (even though I didn't wash on hot water or dry), so it was a bit shorter than I like. I put a cute black and white plaid shirt underneath it and I LOVED how it looked!
Earlier in the week, my Mom and I had gone shopping. We decided to bring a little picnic with us and enjoyed it in the sunny car!
I found these cute pants with sequins that I think I'll probably wear on special days. Christmas, maybe?Wearing dresses isn't as appealing as it used to be with snow and ice and COLD, so festive pants seem like a wise purchase.
They're a bit long, so I'll need a little heel.
The sunrises over the pond are often spectacular.
Enjoy this festive season, and tune in soon for our end-of-year update!
xo
