~24~

Happy Halloween, everyone! (Scott will probably tell me that I should have at least fixed the one ear before taking the picture, but it was this morning, and my bare feet were too cold to do anything but take the shot. Sorry, Honey)

~23~

Coming up to this tree was such a delight. It was just so full of these bright red berries. I mean look at how many there are on just this one branch! I'm not sure what kind of tree it is (any ideas?) but it is just beautiful and brilliantly red.

The leaves are starting to fill up the ground, my friends! Oh, the smell, the crunch. Take it all in before we are forced inside for the cold, cold winter!

~22~

For those of us who love Fall for it's color, there is the Sweet Gum tree. This tree is like the grand finale in fireworks. It has so many colors on one tree, even on one branch. This picture here is just the end of one branch and it has green, red, yellow, orange, and purple. If you enlarge the picture, you can see the seed balls at the end, too. My niece used to have nightmares about these prickly guys when she was just a few years old. They sure can hurt if you step on them in your bare feet.

Only 8 pictures to go! Have you enjoyed this as much as I have?

~21~

I started this post at about 8:00 this morning, got sidetracked, and didn't realize that I forgot to finish it until now. Sorry=)

Anyway, I love this picture because most ones like it have random brilliant red or orange or yellow leaves, but this one is as green as can be! It took me by suprise. I just took it the other day, too, so it's not even from early in the season.

What has taken you by suprise this fall?

~20~ (and some)

Above many other things, Fall means LEAVES!!!! And lots of them, unless you live in a tree-less city, I guess. Around here, though, there are leaves in the grass, in the street, falling and flowing over your car as you drive, in the water, in the drains, in your gutters, anyplace you can imagine, there will most likely be leaves there. And what do you do with leaves?

You run through them (especially when your friends are trying to put them all in a pile, that little stinker)...

you jump in them...

you grab the biggest handfuls of them that you possibly can...

and then you throw them up in the air!!

Oh, the fun that can be had with just a small pile of leaves. Our walk got cut short yesterday because we came up on a space with a bunch of leaves, and we just couldn't leave them unhandled. We left with itchy, scratchy, crunched up leaves all over us, carrying home the earthy smell of fall. We will miss this when the snow comes.

~19~

While we're talking about jammies, here's Hudson in his this morning. It's not a great photo, because he's sitting on his potty and I could only get his upper half, but I didn't think to take a photo until I was putting him on the potty and I changed his clothes afterwards because he had wet through his diaper. The thing I love about him in these jammies is how it thins out around his, well, chubbiness. If you click on the picture and look around his arms you can see how the material thins out and looks whiter than the rest. It especially does this around his thighs, and his belly when it is all zipped up. You've gotta love healthy chubby babies (and, yes, there are unhealthy chubby babies)!

~18~

Who doesn't love these footy jammies? By the time the really cool weather comes, the novelty of them sort of wears off, but those first several times they wear them it just makes me giggle because they are so darn cute! It has to be fairly chilly at night before I can even put night clothes on my hot blodded babies. In the warm weather they don't wear any clothes to bed. I guess maybe that's why these jammies look so cute to me.

Anyone else love these?

~17~

It frosted for the, I think, 2nd time last night. I caught these frosted flowers just before the sun got to them (it was coming in behind me). It's always funny to me to look outside as the sun comes up and see the yard in part shade and part sun, the shaded parts still frosted and the sunny parts melted. It has been typical Fall weather here, frosted at night and in the low-to-mid 60s during the day.
It has been said that you know you live in the Mid-Ohio Valley when you have to turn on your heater and air conditioner in the same day. For us, that applies mostly to when we're in the car. Is it like that where you live (if you live outside of the Mid-Ohio Valley)?

~16~

This is one major thing that Fall means for me. Getting older! This birthday day brings the end of a warmish week, and the beginning of a chilly chilly weekend. Bundle up! The cozy Fall days are running out!

Have a great weekend, everyone =)

~15~

Speaking of red and orange. Almost as bright as the leaves outside, check out this boy! Look at that orange hair! All offset by those blue eyes.
My good friend Leslie and I went walking the other morning with our crew (5 all together between the two of us). Walking down the bike trail in town with the leaves crunching under our feet, were were reminded of last year, where we were doing the very same thing, both of our bellies great with baby, and less two babies in our slings. To us, Fall meant nesting, and now means wandering babies.
Does Fall bring any specific memories for you?

~14~

Here is a sneek peek at that huge beautiful tree that I was talking about. The poison ivy is starting to turn, and there are just so many things growing up through. It is truly a sight when it has all turned.

~13~

Goodbye loud honkers. Enjoy the warmth and sunshine. See (and hear) you again next year!

Does anyone else have children who must stop what they are doing and look to the sky to find these flocks and they fly by? Hmm, that rhymed and I didn't even mean for it to =)

~12~

My azalea bush out back. Beautiful in Spring....way beautiful in Fall. I am just realizing in the last few years how we get to enjoy these things twice!

~11~

Beautiful, strong sunflower, you have done your job. You can rest now. But would you mind picking up all of the seed shells that litter the driveway, or shoud I ask the squirrels?

~10~

Well, I had the chance. It was sitting there, waiting to become picture number 10. It was a huge orange leaf with a little puddle of water in it, laying on the ground of the very same park where I took this picture. It's almost like it looked at me and said, "Well, where's your camera?" Sorry friends, I dropped the ball. I will try to make it up to you here...

I cannot point the camera at Hudson now without him making this face...

I tried again...
Finally I had to distract him by looking around the side of the camera. Then I got this goofy grin. I guess it's better than "the face."
And just wait, my dear friends. The biggest, fullest tree I have ever seen is in the alley behind my house. It's the kind of tree that had me peeking out the back window every day or so during our first Fall here. It has thick poison ivy twisting and wrapping it's fingers all the way up and througout the tree. It's starting. In a few more weeks, it will be a glorious display of color that will be the picture of all pictures, here in 30 Days of Fall land.

Are you giddy with anticipation? You should be. It will be worth it.

~9~

This is one thing that I love about Fall. Randomly placed little gifts, like this vibrant leaf in the middle of the mulch at the playground, or a leaf laying on the ground with a small puddle of water in it. During this season my eyes are constantly roaming the land for beautiful leaves, both on the trees and off. My favorite colors are the oranges and reds.

Which colors of Fall do you like the best?

~8~

We were in the car today heading to the park, and Libby started sqealing with laughter. I turned around to see this. The windows were down, the air was cool, and she was loving it.

On a side note, you may notice that she is still rear facing and in a car seat with a 5-point harness. She can safely rear face in her car seat until she reaches 33lb. and can forward face in a 5-point harness until 80 lb (there are also height limits on those, but she is unlikely to reach the height before weight). Please check out the two videos linked above (especially if you have young children) to see why that is so important to her safety.

You will have to excuse the bad quality of this picture. I wanted to post it anyway because of the look on her face. Sheer joy!

National Midwifery Week

This week is National Midwifery Week. This was the most useable picture of my dear midwife, Sandra, from Hudson's birth that I could find. In all of the other pictures I was naked because, well, I was giving birth, and my pictures from Libby's birth aren't on my computer. In the bottom left of the picture is my aunt, Miriam, who used to be a midwife. I don't have enough words to say about Sandra. She is the most caring, knowledgeable, calm, sweet woman I know. She is more than our midwife, and I hope that the friendship that we have formed since we met her 3 years ago continues forever. She has helped me as I delivered my two babies, and she has been a calm presence during my two high energy labors. Thank you, San, for all you have done. I love you and love the role you play in our family.

If you have a midwife, make it a point to show her some love this week.

Edited to add: I guess this is actually National Nurse-midwifery Week. A nurse-midwife is different from a midwife. Nurse-midwives are licensed to practice in the realm of a hospital, and midwives (both CPMs and direct entry midwives) attend births in the woman's home (among many other differences).

~7~

The cooling weather of Fall just demands that you cuddle, doesn't it? I hope everyone has someone to cuddle with this season.

More of outside and a funny face

As you can see, the brewer's yeast is Libby's favorite part, too. She's running her finger through it and putting it in her mouth.

And I thought I would share Hudson's favorite face to make. It's his I-want-that-pick-me-up-I'm-excited face. He makes it for everything. Mouth open, arms and legs straight out and stiff as a board.

And just to show my point, here are more...

Enjoy your day!

~ 5 & 6~

I thought I'd give you two pictures since I had to take a little break. That guy got caught after a full day of running from the police. He's now behind bars, thank God. Yesterday we finally felt safe enough to wander outside, though the wind was a little chilly! This first picture you will have to enlarge to see. Back under the marigolds sits the mama rabbit. I haven't seen any sign of the babies yet, but she's been under there for quite some time. After I took this picture, Libby tried to get a look and scared her off. On another note, I told you my marigolds were crazy! Plus, the rabbit has them all smashed down.One day I will be good enough to knit a hat like this one. It came with a matching sweater, and I just can't wait to see them on her together. Adorable! And the little strings tie together under her chin. We were outside snacking on our favorite snack of popcorn (I know, choking hazard) with brewer's yeast on it. If you haven't tried it, you must.

Pause

Sorry, no picture so far for today. We have stayed indoors with locked doors and windows today. Earlier in the day, a man abducted a woman in Columbus (2 hours away) and then stopped for gas at a station right down the road. The woman escaped the car and ran in and called the police, causing the man to flee on foot straight into our neighborhood. The last we heard he had made his way across town, but we've not had any updates as to whether he has been captured or not. If we make it out later today, I'll share pics. If not, you'll have to wait until tomorrow.

While I take this pause, I would like to ask something of you. If you take the time to check out my blog, I would like to know about you. Could you take a second to tell me who you are, where you live, and what you fill your day with? My inquiring mind wants to meet you. Thanks!