On Falling Leaves

Is it just me or is anyone else longing for Autumn? I love the crisper cooler weather that brings with it trips to the apple orchard, picking out pumpkins, sweatshirts and apple cider. I even loved it as a kid as it meant new school clothes and sharpened pencils. Really, even as an adult, that is still what I think of as the days get a bit shorter everyday and the school bells get closer to ringing. In fact, I had to go to the mall yesterday for a birthday gift, and couldn't resist purchasing a cute little fall outfit for the peanut. The shirt is a terrific bright orange and the pants a crazy mix of all fall hues. It just screams, "Jump in the leaves please!!" to me.

Now, don't get me wrong, I really like a lot of things about summer. I love to swim, although I don't get as many chances as I did when I was younger and pools and lakes abounded. I love the summer festivals where we visit the farm animals and shamelessly walk away with $3 plastic hammers from the falsy duck ponds. I love to drive around the country and see the tall corn, a beautiful shade of green, tenderly moving with the wind.

But, I am an autumn girl through and through, and am desperately looking forward to my favorite harvest season. Now, if only we could stop it from turning into winter....

Autumn Photo Shoot

Today the peanut and I had a little photoshoot in our backyard. There were a lot of pictures taken but let me just tell you how there were few smiles. She was definitely not in the mood for it. I think this is going to be the last day warm enough to do one in this dress, and I've waited over a year for her to wear this dress, so I just had to get it done today. However, there were a couple of random smiles so I think I got 2 or 3 good ones out of the bunch...what do you think?

I think she's pretty darn tooting cute if I do say so myself. You know, not that I'm biased or anything like that! :)

Guess how I got her to finally stay seated and smile?

God love Ellie Mae!

All the leaves are brown...

So it seems that Autumn may finally be coming to the Midwest. It was cold enough to wear a long sleeve t-shirt yesterday. OK, I did see some people wearing shorts and t-shirts but I'm so ready, I just sweated it out! :) You know, it's not like I don't like summer, I love it. And, I will dearly miss my flip flops, I'm just ready for the heat to end. Plus, I love fall weather. All cuddled up with a hot cup of cider and my old sweatshirts...what's not to love?!?! So, today it was supposed to be like 80 but it's going down to the 50's by the middle of the week. Weird, I know, but that's our part of the country for you!

Yesterday we made finally got around to taking the peanut to her first pumpkin patch. And, let me tell you how my husband was kicking and screaming the whole way, and then he had so much fun. Now, let me state, he's not a fit thrower by nature but we are broke and it did cost per person. However, the peanut was free and then our pumpkin was only 38 cents. I'm so not kidding. They are by the pound and we let the peanut pick out which one she wanted and here it is...

Here are some pics of our family at the patch. Unfortunately the peanut wasn't really feeling good yesterday (I've been sick for days and am afraid I gave her it too!) so we didn't get too many smiles out of her. We never get pictures of our whole family as I'm always the one behind the camera so that was fun!

Oh, and the peanut went on her first hayride...

...yeah, it was really THAT messy!! She had a good time though so we didn't mind at all. We've come to learn that she is very tactile so it was fun for her to get her hands in it.

Speaking of getting her hands in it...last week the peanut also made her first mudpies. Yep, you heard that right...MUD PIES!! We were walking around our yard when she spotted a big bunch of mud and just couldn't resist sticking her hands down in it. My first reaction was...NOOOO!! But before I could say it I remembered how that never would have been allowed in my family and how I would have loved it as a child! Well, the peanut would too so I just let her do it. I mean, it's just mud, it washes. Of course she had a new shirt on and the mud didn't all come out, but I just rationalize that it was a $2.50 shirt from Wal-Mart and you can't put a price tag on a childhood. And boy did she have fun! My only regret is that I didn't have my camera. Oh well, I'll just save that memory in my heart!

Have a good week all!