It's AUGUST!!!

Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's August. (As Chris reminded me when he checked this blog earlier today, "You haven't even posted in August!") What does this mean? FALL IS ALMOST HERE!! We're a tad-bit excited about that here in our household, because fall is practically our favorite season. What are some of the things we are looking forward to?? I will tell you!

1. The Cooler Weather. Yesterday was a sweltering 91 degrees and humid beyond belief. It was one of those days where we wouldn't leave the house unless we really had to (which we did). One stop we made was to our favorite kids' store which was on it's last day of a summer sale. My only goal was to buy fall jackets for the kids. We found some great ones---reversible and fleece-lined---and I was happy to see that the kids loved them so much that they wanted to wear them around the house when we got home. They ended up wearing them for HOURS, taking them off when we left the house later, and putting them back on when we got home. Caleb even went as far as to TALK to his jacket (like it was an imaginary friend or something) and bring it up to his room to "introduce it" to all the toys up there. Later, when I didn't see Caleb with the jacket, I asked him where it was. "Oh, he's sleeping upstairs," Caleb told me. Apparently, "he" (the jacket) is a great addition to our family and Caleb's imaginary world!

2. Pumpkins and Apples. One of our favorite places to go during the fall months is the apple orchard. We have one near our house that is the BEST and one that we also fell in love with that is way on the other side of the Cities. (The one that is farther away has the BEST bakery items, so we've gotta stock up when we go there!) We also can't wait to go to our favorite plant nursery and pick out pumpkins for carving in October. However, I was thinking the kids might be at great ages to go and PICK our own pumpkins this year. If anyone has done this in the Twin Cities area, let me know where you go!

3. Halloween. I posted earlier about the kids picking out their own Halloween costumes this year, and let me tell you that their selections have changed quite a few times since then. Caleb has long forgotten about wanting to be The Hulk and Hannah has decided to be some sort of pink fairy princess instead of Hello Kitty. We've been getting all sorts of catalogs advertising Halloween costumes in the mail so the kids have been looking through them every day. Hannah even SCREAMED with delight when she saw a particular fairy costume, so I think we've gotta go with that!

4. School Starting and New Schedules. Fall is not only the beginning of preschool, once again, but also the beginning of new playgroups and my MOPS group meetings. It's always a nice change from our care-free days of summer. Although, since we've been letting the kids stay up past their bedtimes for about two months now, it's going to be a little hard to get them back on a "school routine". :) Oh....this reminds me that we still need get a Batman backpack for a certain preschooler this year. Another find in a catalog that has been circled with a pen and left open on the kitchen counter for the parents to find!

5. The Baby's Birthday. While we're not due until later in the year, fall just means we are that much closer to meeting this new little bundle of joy! I am HUGE (will post a picture soon) and am already having trouble bending down to pick up toys or even leaning over the side of the tub to wash the kids' hair. It's going to be a looooong 17 weeks until my due date!

6. Fall Colors and Decorations. A trait that I inherited from my mother is decorating for each season and holiday. I haven't been too good about putting up fun summer decorations (I even had my Easter stuff up until about a week ago), but I will never forget to put out our fall decorations. Pumpkins, fake fall leaves and a big fall wreath on our front door really help to get us in the spirit of the season. Caleb has also been talking about scarecrows lately, so I might even go out and get one for our garden this year. Ugh....thinking about this makes me want to pull all of that stuff out now! :)

Okay, so that's only six reasons why we love fall, and I'm sure there are so many more. We're just ready to get away from this sweltering heat and have some comfier days outside. Hope you're staying cool this summer!!