Obviously, if you're a follower, you'll have noticed that it's been awhile since I've posted. It's just been a hectic time in our household. Hectic, busy, whirlwind even--but good. I've been loving every moment of it. (Okay, that's not entirely true--I could do without the hospital visits or the teething, but everything else? Bring it on.)Fall has always been the start of the new year for me. I never got out of the school mindset after university and now that I'm a mom (and a mom calendar devotee!), I can't help but still think that way. Time has been slipping past and fall with it. I feel like I blinked and September has already zipped by me, without so much as a how-do-you-do.
It looks like someone came by overnight and haphazardly brushstroked paint onto all of our trees, then shook them to dry. The rich reds and mossy browns surround our house in the woods, leaves clinging to branches or floating atop the puddles in the yard. Clearly, fall has settled in.
It really did seem to happen all of a sudden. One minute, I'm photographing Avie against the vibrant greens of our lawn, and the next minute, I'm planning an outfit for her to wear to match the flaming golds and oranges of the trees. One moment, I'm pulling out a sundress from the 'summer box' that I've been packing up, the next moment, I'm rifling through the hall closet looking for a warm jacket that still fits Brooke.
One day, we're enjoying a sunny bbq on the back deck, sipping icy lemonade, the next, we've got a pot roast simmering in the crockpot while homemade spice cake is baking in the oven and the whole house smells of homey goodness.
We've had so much going on lately that it would be difficult to get it all out here--and just when I attempt it, someone wakes up. Always seems like someone is waking up around here--and usually it's me in the middle of the night! (I shouldn't say that. Really, Avie only wakes up at night maybe once or twice tops every week. And, it's always easy to get her back to sleep. I have it pretty good. I just like to whine.)
Tangent aside, I'll just write what we've been up to in the last couple of weeks as the thoughts come to me.
...Labour Day weekend spent devouring roasted pork among friends and marvelling at a fireworks display that rivals the Hill's Canada Day spectacle (another amazing day, Hendriks clan!), followed by apple-picking with family at Cannamore Orchards....
...recovering from a nasty cold that hit all of us girls in time for our much-anticipated Princess Tea with Jax and Gracie. (By the way, our two beauties were the only children photographed with the Royal Court for the local newspaper.)....
...harvesting countless numbers of tomatoes and green peppers, then canning them to fill our pantry full of homegrown goods....
...planning, cleaning and preparing for numerous back-to-back October parties and get-togethers, including B's 3rd birthday this weekend, Thanksgiving at the Jolimond compound, our Fall Family Photo Fete, and Hunter's surprise Halloween party....
...prepping the blind for duck-hunting opener last weekend....
...coming together for a family photo shoot at the beach and the chaos that ensues when Grants and Jolicoeurs collide....
...finding time to attend a firetruck-themed birthday party (and getting a tour of the firestation! What an awesome idea--thanks for the party, Donaldsons!) at a friends' house and a house-warming/tree-planting shindig at my brothers'....
...preparing the house and yard for winter--tree-trimming, grass-cutting, pumpkin-collecting, chicken-plumping, flower planting....
...deciding to take on the task of sewing the whole family's halloween costumes for a change (what the hell was I thinking?!?)....
...hockey season resumes....
...football season begins anew....
...PVR new sitcoms and old favourites (welcome back, GLEEks)....
...buying B her first pair of skates and hearing Hubby delight in his describing how he watched her wonderment as she walked up to the wall of skates and pointed to the ones she wanted (I'm certain it comes as no surprise that the skateboots are pink)....
...embarking on a weight-loss challenge with my husband, sister and brother-in-law, in which my husband has been relentlessly working toward his goal, while I...well, I do what I do--and it ain't much. Meanwhile, I am still in the lead, I believe. Take that, treadmill. ;)....
...supporting cancer-related events, such as Hubby's Participation in the Run for the Cure this Sunday, and my taking part in a 12-hour scrapbooking crop for Elgin's Fund for Childhood Cancer last weekend....
...getting the whole driveway paved at a moment's notice....
...Avie hitting two milestones in one week: she learned to sit up and popped both bottom front teeth....
...CT scans, ECGs and echograms, blood tests and chemo treatments for Brooke, all of which she takes in stride and has come to accept as part of her weekly routine. Hopefully, Peanut, this will no longer be the case come January!
...the usual everyday events: laundry, dishes, tea party with Brooke, itsy-bitsy-spider with Avie, colouring books, playdoh, stuffed animal parades, groceries, baths, party plans, clean toliets, vaccum up cat hair, dig up potatoes and carrots, make apple pies, repeat....
And oddly, amidst all this chaos--simplicity. Time at home, rare as it might be, doing nothing.
Curling up on the couch with the dog at my feet and the cat atop a freshly laundered fleece blanket in my lap, while the two girls play quietly on the floor beside me, the fading light of the sun setting their reddish blonde hairs ablaze. A fire dancing merrily in front of me, taking the chill out of the air. The flames licking over wood split by my Hubby's own hands. Homemade chicken pot pie bubbling in the oven, the aroma wafting throughout the living room. Hot chocolate steaming in a mug in my hand, marshmallows melting into chocolatey oblivion. Hubby hovering over a pot of soup, watching as the vegetables we grew bounce to the surface and listening to the sportscasters muttering football stats in the background.
Cozy and picturesque, no? Add some Bublé and some knitting needles and it could be categorized as damn right quaint.
These simple moments are the ones I live for. And, although I love the vigor and vibrancy of spring and summer, I find that these comfortable at-home family moments only ever seem to take place when the world is winding down, settling in for the long and dark winter months.
It always seems a little sad to me that the world is at its prettiest, the people at their warmest and the earth at its most generous just before everything turns dark and cold and quiet. And yet, it's a comfort to know that everything will start up again once spring returns.
Regardless, I look forward to this time of year from the minute the last leaf drops from its perch, but must remind myself each year to actually take the time to appreciate it. Soak it in. Enjoy it.
And, now that the girls have finally gone down for another nap, I'm going to do just that. I have a kettle boiling in the kitchen and a new magazine that needs perusing. So, even though there is a bucket of freshly dug potatoes that need washing, dinner that needs defrosting and a mermaid tail that still requires a few stitches, I'm going on the porch to just revel in autumn.
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