Day 24: 3 Things

Three things I love about Fall are:

 

Pumpkins: I love the color, I love to cut them open and I love eating them; this year we are growing our own, but they have not yet turned orange, I am a bit worried. 

 

 Apples: I love to pick them, eat them and I especially love the smell of them baking in the oven.

Leaves (disclaimer: this picture is from last year, our leaves have not peaked yet): I love how they look, I love the sound of them crunching under my feet as I run through the woods and I love jumping in them. 

That is not all, I love apple cider - hot and cold, I love the crisp cool weather, I love squash, I love the smell of wood stoves burning and just about every other aspect of Fall. 

Day 23: Before Bedtime

I typically have a cup of tea or hot chocolate before bedtime; however, in the fall I am more inclined to eat a crisp apple from the counter that we picked from one of the local orchards.  I love fall!

Day 22:UP

 Mommy I want that apple way up there!That pretty much sums up our apple picking trip this weekend. Instead of ladders, they had a basket on the end of pole this year; much more fun than the ladders. 

Day 21: Sometimes

Sometimes I wish there was a fire pit in my backyard that I could enjoy on cool Autumn (almost) nights like tonight.

Day 20: Man-Made

Cairn: A man-made pile of rocks

 

Since late spring I have seen random cairns on the side of hiking trails (not as a guide to where the trail leads), in large groupings by the river, and in random fields.  I am beginning to think I missed the memo about "building a cairn in a random spot to make people ask questions" day. 

 

Day 19: Underneath

We have lived in our house for over four years now and I still have not figured out what to do with the space underneath the stairs.   I tried a reading corner, but it is by the back door and gets cold in the winter.  Then we tried a play corner; it was never used because Little Man does not want to be where he can not see people.  Now it is just an empty space under the stairs.  Does anyone have any suggestions? 

 

Day 18: Price

The price of my own insanity; about $30.  I registered for the Santa Race again this year.  Anyone want to join me?

Day 17: In My Fridge

Yep, that pretty much sums up what it looks like just about every week.

Day 16 Strange

Does any one else find it strange that one of the kids' games at a local harvest festival put on by a church looks an awful lot like beer pong?

 

Day 15: First Thing You See

The first thing I see when I come downstairs every morning is the bunny in her cage waiting to be fed.  Unlike the little person who is responsible for her hay every morning, she knows that I am a reliable source of grain and the occasional treat (don't worry, I put hay in later when I realized Little Man is sleeping on the job again).  She is a loving greeting to wake up to every morning.  Unlike the Little One who crawls deep under the covers when he hears me walk into his room. 

 

Day 14: Favorite

I have had knee problems since I was in college, however, it has not kept me from running (at least not permanently).  The shoe below is the first one I have had that has not left me in throbbing pain (only the occasional achy feeling now and then) and I am terrified to use any other shoe; I just keep buying the updated version of this one.  It is so bad that the shoe store has this one listed as the only shoe I buy. If it's working, why change?

Day 13: Table

This past week Andy stayed home to paint the house and discovered that our next door neighbors have someone who comes and cleans their house during the week (no wonder they have so much time to make the outside of their house look great).  I am officially making an argument for someone to come to our house.  Can you imagine how much time I would actually have.  The table, for example, is cleaned off every night after Little Man goes to bed; the next evening when I come out of his room after putting him to bed, this is what I see (some nights it is much worse).  Seriously, I need someone to come and clean my house!

 

Day 12: Together

In our house, we subscribe to the "no TV belief", which means when grandma and grandpa come to visit we actually spend time together playing games, enjoying each other's company and making memories that will last. 

 

(The real goal is to totally destroy Cari in the Marble Game. Mommy must lose!)

Day 11: Hero

I am not a big fan of the word "Hero"since is spurs thoughts of idol worship.  I prefer the word "Inspiration." I have several people in my life who inspire me to do better in one area of my life or another.  My friend Kasie is one of those.  She is an amazing runner, hence the reason she is on the cover of a running magazine and the type of person who pushes others to strive to be the best they can be.  She is the type of person that inspires you to try just a little harder each time. I have always believed that if you want to get better at something, hang out with people who inspire you to do just that.

 

Day 10: Black and White

Black and White: The color of Little Man's new hockey equipment.

 

Days 7-9: I'm Totally Slacking

 Day 7: Natural (It also happens to be what I would love my garden to look like.)

 

Day 8: At Night:  We found instructions on how to make these glow in the dark bugs made out of plastic easter eggs on Pintrest.  Little Man now sleeps with them on in his room every night.

 Day 9: Somethng You Do Most Weekends (and sometimes every day): Watch the little pirate run around the house.  A freind came to visit one day and told me I needed to take a picture of Little Man doing this.  I told her that we have a million pictures that look like that; it is a normal occurance in our house. 

Day 6:Every Day

Ever since I found the recipe for Overnight, Refrigerator Oatmeal on pinterest, I get up every day, wander to the fridge and pop open a mason jar with yummy stuff inside. 

 

Day 5: Bright

Seriously?

Of course, just as we finally managed to make a significant difference in our electric bill, something would come along to jack it right back up again.  I have been washing everything in cold water and hanging laundry out on the line as much as I possibly can and it made a an 80kWh (less) difference in our electric bill.  It was wonderful, and then I take Little Man to the allergist......

 

For those who do not know, Little Man suffers from chronic ear infections.  He has had four sets of tubes and his adenoids removed.  We were ready to try something different, so at the urging of our ENT, we took Little Man to the allergist.  Come to find out he is allergic to dust mites.  I believe the allergist referred to it as "pretty significant" for his age.  Of course that would explain why he is always stuffed up; I had been blaming it on his ears. 

 

So why you might ask would this have any effect on our electric bill?  Well you see, now I have to wash everything that is cloth in his room in hot water once a week and run it through the dryer.  While it is a small price to pay for Little Man's health, I am slightly annoyed that we have worked so hard to bring down the electric bill, just to watch it creep back up again.  Guess I need another silver bullet.  Any ideas?

Day 4: In My Mail Box

I have tried and tried to get rid of junk mail in my mail box.  Just when I think I am getting close, I get something in the mail that has no relevance to our lives what so ever.

Splurge

Since we do not eat out a whole lot, Andy announced that this weekend we were going to splurge and get burgers for lunch.  Not only were we having burgers for lunch, we were going to travel 45 minutes to get them. 

 

The Burger Barn is a food truck located between here and my parents' house that we pass every time we head in that direction.  We have also heard great things about the local grassfed burgers, so we have been wanting to stop anyway.  So off the crew headed to the Burger Barn.

 

 The boys waiting patiently.

 My burger: The Tuscany: (beef patty, artichoke hearts, capicola, and other stuff)--Worth every bite and calorie consumed.

Day 3: Far Away

There are days I wish I could hop in a space ship and sail far away.  Today we'll just pretend.

 

Day 2: Father

The father and son duo that I share my life with.

You, Now

I've been completely sucked in; thank you Katrina and Becky!  I am going to try this photo a day challenge for the month and see what happens. 

You, Now...RUN!......... what I will say a million times today and every Saturday from now until November.