Everything Fall

It really has felt like fall these last few days. It has gotten so cold suddenly that our house is about 65 degrees in the morning when we wake up. Jim got our swamp cooler winterized today so we can use our heater. It's amazing how it has been only a few days since we had to have the cooler on. I really miss seeing a lot of reds and yellows and oranges on the trees, but, thankfully, we have some bushes outside of our front window that have leaves that are turning red some. It makes it feel very fall now.

Fall is my absolute favorite time of the year. I love everything about it. I love the colors, the cool air, getting to wear sweaters, drinking hot chocolate, the fall food, perserving things from the garden . . . everything! The only problem is that with how cold it has been, everybody has gotten a nasty cold and cough and we just can't seem to get over it. The girls have been esepcially miserable. Hopefully we are coming to the end of it. I know Violatte misses going to preschool and we are all so ready to get back to normal.

This past weekend was a great weekend for all of us. We did some fun fall things. We got a pumpkin and Jim and girls cleaned it all out. We cut it all up and put most of the pumpkin in the freezer. Then, Violatte and I made some pumpkin pie. It turned out delicious! We also made a fire in our fireplace and roasted marshmallows. Annalee didn't like the marshmallows, but Violatte loved them! Mostly, though, we've just relaxed and spent a lot of time together. I wish it could be like this all of the time. It was especially nice today because Jim had work off because of the holiday. It's always nice having everybody home and relaxed and enjoying being together.

I have also gotten really crafty lately. The girls and I spent a lot of time this past weekend working on scrapbook pages. Violatte especially loves to help me with that and is always so proud of the finished product. (I have to admit that I feel proud, too -- it's a big accomplishment for me to be creative!)The other thing that I am absolutely proud of is that I sewed this nightgown for Violatte. Now, I have to admit that sewing is something that I'm not only terrible at -- I don't like to do it. It is so discouraging for me and I can never get it to look good. I had decided to sew the girls some nightgowns for Christmas and decided to get started on them. Halfway through making this one I realized that it looked really really bad and I decided to give it to her now and try to do a better one for Christmas. So, if you notice, it is big because I thought it would be a few months until she would be wearing it. She loves it, though. It sure made me feel good how happy she was to wear it.She loved the big sleeves a lot. She said that she is a "mortician" (she means a magician) and she kept going around casting spells on Jim and Annalee. I think we have found a Halloween costume! Now, all I need to do is make her a sorcerer's hat. I can't wait to see the faces of people when she tells them she is a mortician. I don't think I'll even correct her. It's too cute!