Welcoming Fall

I had a great weekend--just doing "nothing." That is, getting a lot done because I had "nothing" planned. I love just bumming around the house on weekends, doing the things that I don't have the time or energy for on weeknights.

I had a long to-do list, and got most of it done. Things like decorating for fall! I love fall, and so I decorate for it almost as much as I do for Christmas. I got this autumnal garland at a yard sale last spring, and I just love it! It looks like I meticulously placed leaves, flowers, pine cones, and berries across the mantle, but really it's all one big piece!

Grocery shopping with Kate is practically a Saturday ritual, and after having five nights of "what on earth should we have for dinner?" last week, I decided to be more intentional about meal-planning for this week. I looked through some cookbooks and thought about classic favorites, so we've been eating pretty well since Saturday night! I made this Greek pasta casserole on Saturday (great if you like artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, and feta cheese), Sunday we had Swiss Chicken (chicken breasts with stuffing, cream of chicken soup, and swiss cheese), and Monday we had a classic spaghetti dinner.

With the change of seasons, several items on my to-do list had to do with sorting the summer clothes from the fall. I barely touched my own closet, but I did box up a bunch of Kate's clothes to put in the attic. I keep a box in the corner of her room in which to put things she's outgrown, and I hadn't sorted it since winter turned to spring, so I had one box of last year's cool-weather clothes and then another box with the summer things that she's just now leaving behind. (One day I'll sell or give them away, but until we're done having kids, I plan to keep most everything for a little sister, should Kate get one!)

I got a pumpkin and some hard squash to set out on the front porch. Kate thought the small green squash made a great ball, and kept throwing it into the grass...

One of Kate's favorite outdoor activities is looking for puppies. There's a little dog that is sometimes out in the front yard across the street, and if we're in the back yard, Kate will ask to go around front to look for the dog. I love her little toddler gibberish, peppered with words she knows: "Aca beca ala a-puppy?" And if the dog is not outside, I'll ask rhetorically "Where's the puppy?" And she'll shrug her shoulders and respond, "Eta bela aba don'-know!"

After ten minutes of squash-tossing on Saturday, we went looking for puppies. The dog across the street wasn't there, so we went walking down the street toward the other houses that have dogs. We got to one where two little dogs hang out in a side-yard with a chain link fence. The two dogs were there as well as two little girls, who yakked my ear off for a half hour while demonstrating their cartwheeling and frisbee-tossing skills. Man, six-year-old girls can talk! "I'm Allie, this is Annie, we're cousins. I'm six, she's six and a half. I still cry sometimes but I'm in first grade. My little brother just got borned. I wanna be [some tween idol I'd never heard of] for Halloween, but her hair is orange and my hair is blond, and I don't have a dress like hers..." and on, and on, and on. Whew!

Kate capped off the weekend by giving herself a bubble bath in the kitchen sink. She loves to stand on the stool and play in the water, but has not mastered the whole keeping-the-water-in-the-sink thing. So, she gets wet enough accidentally...

... and even more so when she decides to rub bubbles all over her face and hair! Crazy girl!

I hope you had a leaf-and-pumpkin-filled, wet-and-wild first weekend of fall as well!