It's Fall Ya'All.

It's fall!  It's my favorite season.  I love the warm days and the cool nights.  I love the changing color of the leaves.  I LOVE the smell in the air.  That smell is earthy and spicy and just magical to me.

I love fall!

I'm not going to think about what happens next (I'm not a fan of old man winter).  But I love fall.

The older I get though, the more melancholy I get at the end of summer.  Summer is warm and full of fun, sun, and precious memories.  It's the most time we get to spend with the kids.  Whether it's vacation or just carting them back and forth to sports, it's OUR time with these wonderful boys.  During the school year, they are not ours.  They belong to school, sports, friends, etc.  But during summer, they are all ours.

In the fall, they go back to all those things that take then away from us. It's their time.  It's them growing and moving forward.  And that's the way it's supposed to be, even if it makes me sad.

But even though I feel a bit melancholy, it's still my favorite time of year.

I have my candles ready.  I have some new ones this year.  I've only stuck with fall scents so far.

Dried Lavendar & Oak is my favorite so far.

I bought Farmstand Festival but I haven't lit it yet.

Spireside Ghostly Castle is my Halloween scent.  I really like it.

South candle Campfire reminds of fireplace or an outdoor campfire.  It's a really nice scent.

I did not buy this one (YET!) but today I came across Root Candle Tabacco Vanilla  It's such a nice, relaxing scent (I'm sure I will buy this one before he season is done).


I have also bought some Lori Mitchell figurines for Halloween.  I have a few for each holiday.  They are too cute.  But we thought we had the candy corn kids and it turns out we did not.  So of course we HAD to stop into our favorite store Chagrin Valley Antiques to pick them up.  And we ended up picking up those AND a few more.  And finding some that I just have to have for Christmas.

Chagrin Valley Antiques is one of my favorite stores.  I have been going there for almost 20 years.  The owners are amazing people.  I had not had the opportunity to go there for a few months.  And I really missed it.  Sadly, I found out that Tom, one of the owners passed away unexpectedly.  Please keep his wife in your prayers.  She is an amazing lady and they have been a part of our lives for so long.  I'm heartbroken for her and for our community.  We lost an amazing person.

The boys also went to homecoming.  At least the big two did.  The seven year old is still my baby.  They both had a great time.  I'd post pictures, but they asked that I NOT do that so you'll just have to take my word on how handsome they looked.

The oldest is playing football this fall and the middle is playing fall baseball.  Sports have kept us busy.

Last week we hosted Senior Football Dinner.  22 senior boys descended upon my house.  THOSE KIDS CAN EAT.  Luckily, the weather was good enough for me to set them up on the patio.  And luckily we did not run out of food.  They are 22 special young men and it was a pleasure to have them. I used That Hawiian Guy's BBQ for the food and it was delicious.  If you are local, please check them out.  Not only is the food amazing, but so is the owner.

And that's my update for now.  I know more has gone on but this is the major high lights.  We do not have Halloween costumes yet.  But we planted mums. College applications are in the works and FAFSA is completed. Hopefully I can get on here more often and update with minor coming and goings.  But for now, this is the crux of it.

So happy fall ya'all.  Enjoy every moment, every scent, every color, and every second.

A Thankful Month

 I can't believe we are moving into mid-November.  I feel like Christmas is right around the corner (and I am SO trying not to stress about it...  I will not be stressed this Christmas.  I will be a bucket of  peace and calmness...).

This is also the month for Catholics to remember the ones that we've lost (All Souls Day is in the beginning of the month, but we can carry this through all month long).  We currently have a bowl on the kitchen counter with any prayer cards of friends and family that we have lost and a list of names for those we have lost but don't have cards for.  It's a reminder to keep praying for them and to keep praying for the Holy Souls in Purgatory.

I sat down this morning and wrote out my Thanksgiving menu and my grocery list.  I usually start cooking the Tuesday before (making the cranberries and the gluten free bread for the stuffing).  Pie, sweet potato casserole, and green bean casserole are done on Wednesday.  And I save the Brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes, and turkey for Thursday.  I feel less stressed doing this in steps and with a plan.  All of this needs to be free of wheat, rye, barley, oat, egg, peanut, and tree nut.  I've been doing it for so many years that it's not a problem, but when I first started out, things came out not so well but everyone was kind enough to not complain.  My biggest issue is usually the gluten free, egg free pie crust.  There was one year where it took me 3 hours to get the pie to a point that it would be edible.  And then I accidentally dropped it on the floor while taking it out of the oven.  It was a sad, sad day.  So I had to start all over again at 9 pm making a whole new pie.  Thankfully the movie Gone With The Wind was on that night to help get me through.

Christmas music started on Sirius XM November 1st.  While I have been thankful for that, it has taken my kids a few weeks to come around.  But they are into it now too.  I'm considering putting up one of our Christmas trees this week too.  I know it's a tad early, but I am SO READY!!  I've been watching Hallmark Christmas movies since they started also.  Being the only female in the house, I can honestly say that I truly am the only one thankful for the Hallmark Christmas movies.  But we have enough TV's in the house that it all works out fine.

Last week, I started to buy a few things for Christmas.  Just for the boys.  I have a list, but they change their minds on things so frequently, that I don't want to do too much yet.

I also bought a few new Christmas-y smelling candles last week.  I LOVE scented candles and I usually buy my candles from Yankee Candle, but this year I thought I had a gift card to Bath and Body Works (turned out it was for Bed, Bath and Beyond... I should learn to read better) so I went there and am going to try their 3 wick candles which I have not tried before.  They were on sale, so I hope I like them and that they have good "throw".

I still have to do the family Christmas card.  I usually make it on one of those "online photo sharing sites".  But I'm not sure exactly what I want to do yet.  I was thinking that if I put up the small tree, maybe I could gather the boys around it and take a photo and use that.  I usually use ones that we took throughout the year, but I feel like it's gotten old and maybe we need to mix it up a bit.  Whatever I'm going to do, I better figure it out soon because I usually send out the cards the first week of December.

So that's the current happenings in a nut shell.  I'm just trying to remember to be thankful for everything this month.  I hope it becomes more of habit and I will remember all the things to be thankful for EVERY month.

Links:

My Pinterest Thanksgiving Recipe Board

Bath and Body Works 3 wick candle page

Hallmark Countdown to Christmas 2018

My favorite turkey roaster from Granite Ware (Walmart link)  I have a small version of this that I use for roasting chicken too.  They are great and they clean up very well.

More about November and the month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory from CatholicCulture.org

(these are NOT affiliate links and I get no compensation for sharing them. I'm just sharing some things that I like)