Goals were the last thing on my mind in September. I honestly don’t think I looked at them all month long. There were many beautiful moments like the one above, and a lot of chaos! One day I even took Johnny and Lily to preschool half an hour late, because my mind magically moved the preschool start time half an hour later. I had wondered how we had managed to get ready with so much time to spare…
Other than the forgetting what time school starts incident, everyone is settling into school nicely. We walked Emma to school nearly every day, and this past week we even got to enjoy the beginnings of New England’s brilliant fall leaves:
Every autumn, I fall in love with New England a little bit more.
With the kids, we’ve gone through a full cycle of “Baby Anna is wonderful” to “What can we do with (to) Baby Anna” to “Put Baby Anna away please?” and back to “Baby Anna is wonderful!” I imagine we’ll go through this cycle many more times, as Anna grows and gains new talents, such as wanting to eat their toys… Now that the kids have gotten used to how to properly play with a baby, Anna is enjoying her time with them more and more, frequently greeting them with smiles and giggling at their antics. Last night Lily entertained her for half an hour while I cleaned up the kitchen – we’ll ignore that Lily was supposed to be in bed…
I’m babywearing more and more, which makes everyone happy:
The sling Anna is in in the above photo was sent to me by Jennifer, who used it for her own baby. It’s beautiful, and perfect for Anna! Thank you, Jennifer!
I did manage to get a start on decluttering. I’m still working on getting my children to happily donate some of their toys. Clothes, they are open to donating or passing on to siblings or friends with some discussion, and food they are thrilled to donate. Toys continue to be a struggle.
We sort of did an activity for Lois Ehlert month in the Virtual Book Club. Amy Krouse Rosenthal is the author for October. Do you have a favorite book by her?
Goals for October:
- Collect and press, and laminate fall leaves so they’ll last forever! Target Areas: education and gratitude
- Continue decluttering and organizing. Target Areas: peace, health, and gratitude
- Focus on moments that truly matter. Target Areas: peace, health, and gratitude
How was September in your house? What are you hoping to accomplish in October?
MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
Absolutely stunning photo of you and Anna gazing into each other’s eyes… magical moments. Glad you’re savoring the more important things in this season of life.
That first photo is so beautiful of you and Anna! That is too funny that you thought school started a half an hour later. :) Oh, how I miss those New England days in the Fall. Sigh…
What a beautiful baby!
Thank you, Heather!
Fall colors are amazing. Almost enough to help me cope with the idea that winter is around the corner. Not quite. Here in Colorado, the fall leaves are a downright tourist attraction, but first snow is usually only a couple weeks behind.
That’s hilarious that your kids asked you to “put the baby away”. Lol! I’m not sure how I would’ve responded to that one.
On the Amy Krouse Rosenthal topic, I liked “The OK book” and “Little Pea”. They were both really cute and original. And short enough to be a “one more book before bed”.
Thanks for the book recommendations! We’ll have to look for both “The OK Book” and “Little Pea”!
Donating toys is a struggle here too. The toys that Anna chooses to donate are the ones we don’t want to part with and vice versa :) I want to get hold of Wumbers for October club – I just love the name!
That’s the problem we have with toys! I love the name Wumbers, too, and haven’t read it (yet)!
The pictures are enchanting, especially the first. I would also love to live in New England just for the sake of this season – I love Fall!
Your daily walking is inspiring me to do more walking again. On Sat. Audrey wanted to finally learn to ride the bike and after about 15 min. there she was riding it up and down the gravel driveway! I couldn’t believe my eyes but I owe it to her eager use of the balance bike the last two years. Tomorrow I am aiming to do the half hour one-way walk to pick Quinn up from school with Audrey riding the bike. Wish me luck!
Good luck!!! We have yet to get any of our children successfully riding a bike – that’s high on our to-do list for next spring!
I do think the lack of leaves is my one dislike of fall here in Texas, we don’t really get those pretty fall leaves all that often. Sigh………
I need to think through my October goals, that probably won’t happen until halfway through the month though…….
The photo of the fall tree is stunning – I really miss Pennsylvania falls and I imagine the colors in New England are even more spectacular. So sweet to hear how your kids are dealing with their new sister. I love that they have asked you to put her away and that you have had many special moments with Anna like in the first picture. That photo of the two of you is really gorgeous. I could see myself doing the same thing with the preschool start time. So funny.
love love love love super-love that shot down at anna in the baby wrap!!
Great pics! I love Fall too! The weather and pretty leaves are so fun.
I like your saving leaves idea–there are so many beautiful ones right now! I just decided that I want to create a fall swag for our front door. In my head it’s really pretty…we’ll see how the reality works out. Hopefully we’ll at least have fun gathering fall treasures.
Also, I’m still giggling about your delayed start for school–that is SO something I’d do, and be so proud for being ultra-efficient!
I love the picture of Anna with you.
I feel the same way about fall.