I'm not impressed

This last ditch effort by Summer to bring forth it's hottest weather does NOT impress me.

The 97 degree weather and humidity we had this past week was not cool.

You will NEVER find me saying,  "Gee, I wish it would get hot and humid tomorrow!"


I am a fall girl through and through.

Mother Nature finally got her act together this weekend when it started to cool down.  Our grass looks like a field of straw due to the lack of rain over the last month, but the cooler, crisper temperatures are fabulous.

I thought I'd share with you, just some things that remind me of  the up and coming season.  Things that get me in the spirit of long sleeves, crisp nights, football games, and campfires.

Things like decorating my house for fall.  I have ALOT of Christmas decorations, but the number of fall decorations in my collection are catching up.

 

  

 

 Every year, I need inspiration to decorate the front porch...

 and new ways to "rearrange" the decorations I already have.

My wardrobe obviously changes, and these are good pictures to inspire me.

Aren't they divine???

And this picture just about sums up all my feelings about fall...

What would  your favorite season be?

Is it bad to shoot guns at a Church function?

So, is it?  Bad to shoot guns at a Church function that is?

No, really.  It's all innocent fun and games...AND it happened at our fall Sunday School party.

At our house.

With our guns.  BB guns to be exact!

Saturday we had our annual fall party.  We go all out. 

First a carry-in meal, then games (sometimes Strongman competitions...), a hayride, and a campfire to end the evening.

Our good friends help us plan it, and pull it off.

We had it all planned out...start earlier than usual, eat, have a barrel rolling contest for the kids, archery, and a BB gun target contest.  For the adults...strongman...pulling the haywagons with all the kids in them.

Yeah, it never works out how you plan it...

Sure, the BB guns were a hit!

Our friends Ross and Amy provided all the gun safety we needed!

The barrel roll...well...this is what happened all night instead...

The kids couldn't leave the barrels alone.  They jumped off of them, rolled INSIDE them, and just couldn't plain get enough of them!

The archery never got much use, and there was no strong man pulling wagons. 

But we had an AWESOME time.

Rudy didn't know what to do with himself what with all the kids and new people!

After supper we took our hayride.  It was pretty nice weather, and not too cold.

By the time we got back, it was getting dark.  The kids got the barrels out AGAIN, and the adults sat around the fire and talked.

And the kids ate every bit of the smores ingredients that were brought, plus the extra I had stashed away.

It was fun as usual.  It was Great. 

Now we need another year to plan the next one!

My favorite time of year....well, one of them.

I swear I could smell warm apple cider in the office today, but someone told me it was just the air freshner in the bathroom.

Bummer.

I'm ready for the real deal though.

I LOVE this season...apart from the flowers dying and the looking depressing part.

I love decorating for fall...

Inside
and
out...

 I love the crispness to the air, and the fact that we don't have to run the air conditioning, OR the heat yet.

I love the clothing layers, and the fact that Fall eases you into the colder weather.

I am seeing more and more changing leaves on my daily trips to work.

Even the creepy bugs are coming out of the wood work... (almost stepped on him as I came out the front door.)

Anyone else enjoying this season?

**Check my etsy shop tomorrow for some new items! **

The last Hurrah...

You know how you feel when a big event is coming up....

anxious
scared
excited
overwhelmed
giddy
or even ho hum...

Our big event is that school starts back up tomorrow, and this is the first time in 5 years that I will not be working at the same school as the kids.

I have a new job, which I've already started, and which I LOVE...but I won't have my eyes on the kiddos anymore.  (I have to let that go...I know...)

AND, to top it all off...Grace moves over to the high school tomorrow for her first year of Junior High.

She's very excited, and I, (being the person that I am...) is nervous.  Nervous about her getting to each class on time.  Nervous for volleyball practice/tryouts to start this week, and nervous, well, just in general.

Evan, however, is the big man on campus this year.  A sixth grader.  He is thrilled.

He got the teacher he wanted, and the status of being a sixth grader, at a school, for once, without his sister.

They are growing up.

It's hard, but exciting as a parent to see it.

So, for the last night before school, they went outside with dad for some smores.

I was working on my first batch of canned pizza sauce, so I opted out this time.

When we do smores, we like them with Reese's peanut butter cups in them instead of Hershey's.  They are beyond delicious!

(A hastily made fire pit in the area which will soon become my concrete patio...)

A cool summer night, a fire, smores, and the heroic, totally devoted dog, Rudy.

Could it get any better?

Scenes from a Farm

A couple weeks ago we brought the sheep home.  I don't know what it is, but it just always makes me feel better to know they are on our land.  Right out past the back yard.

All summer they were down the road grazing on another man's property.  It helps to keep our pasture from getting too sparse, and it's nice that we're able to do that.

The sheep crack me up whenever we go out to see them.

They stand perfectly still as if we're gonna run at them any minute.

They are much more used to Brent, though, because he's the man always giving them new pasture.  It really is true that sheep are followers.

I did get close enough to Lily and her baby today though,

and the ewe the kids aptly named "Licorice" because of her black lips.

When she was a baby, her lips were totally black, and the kids and I joked that she was our "Goth" sheep!

The trees around us have all lost their leaves, and the barn stands large against the blue sky.

Our hens are settling in with the 8 new birds we got about a month ago,

And I realize fall is quickly coming to a close, and we're getting ready to tuck the animals in for the winter.

The ewe's boyfriend "Rambo" will be coming to visit soon, and we'll have to get out the heated water dish for the chickens.

I'm feeling a little sad about the close of this time of year, but anxious for all the new babies in the spring.

Have you tucked in your animals yet?

Linking up to Verde Farm's linky party tonight.

Tradition

I'm not quite sure how it all started, but about 4 or 5 years ago it did.

Brent and I had a Sunday School fall party at our house.

Word got around that Brent had a tractor, and there would be a hayride.  And for those of you who know my husband...well, him and tractors, they go hand in hand.  There is nothing that gives him quite as much excitement as a tractor.

The hayride the first year, was, well, a LITTLE LONG.  It was absolutely ridiculous, but everyone rolled with it, and Brent's smile covered his whole face from ear to ear.

So, each year we've hosted this little party, it's gotten more and more over the top.  Last year we had a "strongman" competition, farmer style.  There was tractor tire flipping, and pulling of the hay wagons with all the kids inside.

This year, there will be a little chicken and sheep catching/chasing.

I took the day off today to clean my house top to bottom.

This is a big deal.  We're taking about 50-60 people show up each year.

We provide soup and sandwiches, and everyone else brings food to share.  You know the Mennonites, any reason to have a carry-in...

After the hayride, there is a fire and smores and hot chocolate.

It's a blast.

It really is.  The kids play volleyball/football/basketball, and the adults actually get to carry on a conversation.

God is providing us with weather in the upper 50's tomorrow, with lots of sun.

It should be good.

Even Rudy is ready.  He doesn't know what to do with himself with all the attention he gets from all the kids.  He takes a nap the whole next day!

So while the rest of you are enjoying your Saturday, we'll be livin' it up down on the farm.

I'm already thinkin' about the nap I'll have to take Sunday afternoon!

Feeling "Homey"

Except for the unseasonably warm weather we've been having in October...(try 80 degrees and above for the last week!) I've been feeling like it finally is Fall.
And every time Fall hits, like it or not, I feel the urge to start cooking.
It's not like I don't usually cook quite a bit, but the urge to fill the freezer with Christmas cookies or pumpkin bread or just anything overtakes me.
Last night I was in the kitchen till late.  I was cleaning up from supper, and then made our supper for tonight last night knowing after school today the kids and I were going to my grandparent's to rake their leaves for them.
It's the least we can do.
And they gave us frozen fresh hamburger as payment.  (I'll take that as payment anytime!)
So, while I was in the kitchen, I decided I'd make some granola as well.  It's good as cereal in the morning, or on top of yogurt.

(Doesn't everyone take pictures of things in the oven?...)

It's the easiest recipe I've ever used, and it is really good.

Granola
6 c rolled oats (old fashioned oats)
1c wheat germ
1/2 c flaxseed
1 c coconut, shredded (optional)
1c vegetable oil
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c honey
1 t vanilla
1/2 t salt


Combine oil, sugar, honey, vanilla, and salt and microwave about 50 seconds till slightly warm.  Add all dry ingredients and mix well.  Bake on parchment paper on jelly roll pan at 275 degrees for 30 minutes.  Let cool, and break up, and store in airtight container.


I've also added things like almonds, etc.  You can add whatever you like to this.

It makes the kitchen smell "homey" and makes me feel like I made something good for my family.
I store mine in this old pickle jar I found at a garage sale, and then painted the lid my favorite aqua color.

I can't wait to eat more tomorrow.
Just try it, you'll like it.  (Hey, wasn't that an old Life cereal slogan?)

Fall Craft Time

So, I bought this window frame at the swoony garage sale I went to last Saturday.
I braved the 41 degree weather and went, cause I heard it was the "place to be."
Really. It was.
I tried to run around as fast as I could, snatching up the goodies before someone else spotted them.
My eyes swung around the garage, and spotted this.

Now, you've seen window frames posted on my blog in numerous ways before. However, this window frame is much smaller than any I currently own, and it was only $5.

I tossed around some ideas of what I wanted to do with it, where I wanted to hang it, etc.
I've seen different DIYcrafts done with vinyl, and I wanted to try that.

So, I got out the dark brown vinyl I had to use with my Cricut, and printed out the word Fall.
I then remembered, long ago I had made some adorable owls on the Cricut too, so I got one of them out. The vinyl, obviously stuck right to the glass. I just put the owl on with clear sticky dots.

I printed out some of my favorite pictures of the kids from our summer photo shoot and added them with clear sticky dots.
The final result now hangs in the foyer by the steps. I added some red and white striped material to hang it, and some berries to the top. I'd like to make a little material banner as well, but haven't got to that yet.



I know I can change it up for each season, just by printing a new vinyl word. Easy peasy.

I'm hooking up to DIY by Design's Fall into Fall linky party. Come see the other really cool ideas already listed!