Tree of Many Colors

I walked past this little tree. It called my name. I thought about going back another day, but I felt like tomorrow would be too late. Even another hour was too much to ask, so I turned around and spent some time hanging out with it.

Time well spent, if you ask me.

How can so much color come from something so small?

Trick or Treat

Abby spent a good portion of her weekend parading around as a cat. She loved having her face painted and I loved running into the other kiddos around town.

Bringing the Outdoors Inside

I’m always amazed by how many things Abby picks up on our short walks to the library. We may soon be making centerpieces from the treasures we find in her pockets.

Finding Fall

This appears to be the rainiest season of all time and we’re trying to make the most of it. Warm clothes, colorful boots, pecan hunting, and coffee house dates have kept us from going completely crazy inside the house. This Fall may not be the leaf-crunching, crisp weather of my dreams, but I’m determined to enjoy it.

Overboard

This morning Abby declared, “It’s not too summery” and went to get herself dressed. She came back prepared for winter instead of fall. I’m not a cold weather person myself, so I know she comes by it naturally, but she does seem to have an extreme reaction to the first brisk morning of the season. (In case you don’t remember, click here to see how she dressed herself last year.)

Serenity

Even in the heat, autumn is appearing. Days are getting shorter. Evening is a little cooler. Our walks last longer now that there are leaves on the sidewalks for crunching.

Fall is the quiet season. It’s not filled with the giggles of spring. The loud shouts of summer are gone. It isn’t silent the way that winter is.

Fall is gentler. Softer. Like a slow dance in your living room. Or a car ride at night with the windows down and the wind whipping through your hair.

It’s a time for gardening. There are seeds of freedom and hope to be planted. Things to be left in the dirt until they are strong enough to break through.

I am ready to sit and listen. To read and reflect. I am anxious to not be anxious.

My heart is longing for autumn and the calmness that it brings.

Trying to Focus

I think I have a disorder that has yet to be recognized by the medical community. I’d like it to be diagnosed as S.I.A.D.D. (Sharpie Induced Attention Deficit Disorder).

I blame it all on school supplies.

See, what happens is that each August I get a million creative ideas, start a thousand new projects, and only complete about ten of them.

And I think it’s all because when I walk into the stores and see those unopened packages of sharpened crayons, not-yet-gummy glue bottles, and oh so beautiful Sharpies in every color of the rainbow, I simply lose my mind.

Honestly, the school supply aisle fills me with longing and brings all my hidden dreams to the forefront of my mind.

I look at a blank calendar and imagine covering all the empty little calendar squares with important notes- each written in a different color, of course- and being more aware of my time than ever before.

Colored pencils make me think that maybe, just maybe, I have an unhidden talent and I can actually sit and sketch something other than lopsided stick figures.

I long to buy spiral notebooks and fill them with random- but interesting- thoughts and stories and poems that I will keep until I’m old.

Every year I battle this disease. Every year I decide that, “This will be the year I …”. And every year I end up trying to do too many things, to use too many supplies.

So this year I’m going to focus. I’m going to pick just one of those lovely items on the school supply list and I’m going to concentrate on actually using it.

Not just using it, but wearing it out with use.

I’m talking about running a sharpie dry type of use. A filling the margins type of use. A needing to sharpen the scissors type of use.

I’m motivated.

But how do I pick just one item?

To me it feels like picking a favorite child. How do you do that?

I’m thinking of drawing from a hat.

Two Seasons In One

This morning it was autumn, so our little family headed to the Flower Mound pumpkin patch. It was a busy morning and Abby split her time between running through the pumpkins, jumping in a bounce house, going on a hay ride, and meeting all her favorite animated friends in the form of cutout shapes!

But this afternoon, it felt more like spring. So Abby, baby Triceratops (the favorite toy of the week), and I spent some time playing outside.

A person for every pumpkin

We went to the Dallas Arboretum yesterday with a bunch of friends… all I’m saying is that there are a lot of stay at home moms in the metroplex, and apparently all of us are willing to sacrifice our sanity to let our children look at pumpkins.

I didn’t take many pictures… the 80+ degree weather kind of ruined my fall mood. But, here are a few to hold us over until it’s cool enough for an outdoor photo shoot.

Abby tried picking up most of the pumpkins… I feel sorry for whoever has to restack them each night!

Abby and Miller were both thrilled by the water fountains. Aren’t those little blonde heads cute?

Let me just say that trying to get three 2 year olds to pose for a picture is impossible. Unless you want photos of their little bottoms.

Crazy Kid

This morning when I told Abby it was cold outside, she immediately ran to her room and put on her hat and mittens. She didn’t seem to care that she was missing a shirt, and socks, and shoes. She did remember to grab the duck whistle on her way out the door though.

Oh, and this is apparently her “super kick” which I have no idea when or where she learned: