Inside & Outside

Inside  ::  playing chess, painting-by-number, setting up the Christmas village we were recently given, putting puzzles together, knotting friendship bracelets, reading The Wizard of Oz again, cuddling sleepy cats, drinking cider, drawing in journals, dreaming of Christmas!

Outside ::  raking leaves, splashing in puddles, carrying umbrellas on walks, driving RC toys all over the place, playing Panther and Mouse with all the neighbor kids, making muddy footprints, layering more each day, listening to the crows have their noisy meeting, collecting acorns, hoping we'll have one more nice day to make it to the pumpkin farm!

The Joy of Leaves

Playing in Fall

It seems that every other day is rainy this month, but when it's not raining we're trying to be outside.  The days of fall always seem like they go by in a blink unless we purpose to savor each one.  Our walks are fewer now but so very pretty.  The kids have been playing almost daily with the neighbors as they all converge in our backyard after school for hours at a time. 

And when it's just the three of us out here, I love watching Evan and Chloe 'being horses' together, practicing riding the next-size-up bikes, or playing in car city.  Evan has also been experimenting with his sling shot trying pine cones, acorns, clumps of grass, tree bark....  Acorns are his favorite, especially when they bounce off the stop signs.

We've done our best to stay positive this month with all the halloween yuk being displayed; it's our goal to look away and find something beautiful instead for our hearts to focus on.  (This is harder than ever with our next door neighbor's haunted graveyard display complete with murderous evil skeletons and such right beside our driveway.) 

The kids are counting the days till we can get to the pumpkin farm and to the last day of the month when we make the year's first pumpkin pie.  Fall really is our favorite time of year, even though it's short.

Wide Open Spaces

A Glimpse

In her mind are visions of flower fields, horse pastures, patchwork quilts, rainbows, red birds, playful puppies, cuddling kittens, colorful outfits, cloud-filled skies, feathers and all sorts of whimsical designs.  Out here in the yard she fills her doodling journal with her thoughts and pictures. Her mind spills out on paper and a glimpse of her visions are there in a notebook for all to see.

I Hope

Dear Evan and Chloe,
I hope someday you look at pictures like these and smile as your mind floods with memories of your childhood.  I hope you remember how it felt to imagine and play and tell the stories you told here in this backyard dirt patch.  I hope you can still feel what it feels like to sit so close to each other and whisper and laugh and work.  I hope you can recall the names you had for all the characters in your set-ups and what the games were and how important it all was to you.  I hope you have those jokes in your hearts that only the two of you will ever laugh at.  I hope you always know how much you meant to each other in your growing up years.  I hope you always say I Love You, always wrestle each other to the ground for fun, and are forever the best of friends.

Rope Swinging

climbing up, not falling down, as it appears