TGIF (Thank Goodness It's Fall)

Fall is the best season ever. It's long-sleeves-only in the day, an extra blanket at night, crunchy leaves in the yard, and most importantly, it's candy corn season. I bought my first bag today. My teeth feel like wool sweaters, but let's just say it's not by chance that my dentist appointments are scheduled every November and May (after Halloween and Easter). Here are a few other reasons I love fall.

1. Jonathan apples. They're small and sweet and don't need caramel dipping sauce to enhance the flavor like most apples do.

2. Apple attire suits me just fine too.

As you can imagine, Marissa looks super cute in this outfit despite not allowing me do a thing with her hair. It was well worth the bundle I spent on it.
Private note to Ryan: By "bundle" I mean something very tiny, small, and minuscule.

3. Pumpkin bread, cookies, cake, seeds, and the newly discovered waffles out of Simple and Delicious magazine. I just made a double batch of these last night and YUM! They were better than I thought they'd be.

Pumpkin Waffles
1 cup plus 2 T. flour
2 T. brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
2 T. butter, melted

In a large bowl, combine the first 6 ingredients. In another bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients; stir into dry mixture just until combined. Bake in preheated waffle iron until golden brown.

4.It will soon to be too cold to play in the sandbox.
The Great Offender
I have no problem admitting when I'm wrong and boy was I wrong about this. I thought the sandbox would be a great opportunity for the kids to play by themselves while I took care of things in the house. But as it turned out, for every minute they played out there I spent a minimum of 10 minutes on damage control. So much for a break.

Initially the sandbox was filled with 15 bags of sand.

Four of those bags were washed down the bathtub drain.
Three were dumped into the kiddie pool or on the grass.
Two went through the washing machine.
Three were thrown at playmates/siblings, and usually at their faces.
Two were vacuumed or swept up and thrown away.

That leaves one bag of sand remaining in the sandbox, and it's filled with spiders, ants, dead leaves, and more than likely, cat poop.

What do you love about fall?

What do you do when your lawnmower won't start?

First, try starting it again. Then, check to make sure it has gas. Twist the cap off and peer inside. Finally, shriek out loud because the entire gas tank is filled with dirt and grass.

To Ryan's credit, he was quite calm about the whole matter. Much more calm than I would have been if, say, I had discovered my washing machine filled with dirt.

It's a fact that kids wreck stuff. It's just what they do. They don't grasp the concept of choice and consequence-- that the lawnmower won't run if it's filled with dirt. As a mother of 3 little people, I understand this. Nevertheless, there is a 3 year old up for sale today. If you come this morning we'll throw in his sister for half price.