No more mum hating

Ok, so fall is so here in NY. It's beautiful and totally tantalizing to the fall taste buds:) For those of you who have an issue with mums, I hate to break it to you...but mums do return year after year. My mom has a mum (as pictured) that has grown five feet in diameter and has returned every year. (haha..."my mom has a mum"...that was oddly funny to me) ANYWAY, so in defense of hearty fall mums, they are pretty, they do return the next season and this was way too much time spent on discussing a plant!

Anyone else gotta an issue?

Fall....

Upstate New York is near perfect during the fall. The weather is in the 70’s, its sunny, skies are blue and the leaves are just starting to change. If fall didn’t lead right into winter, it would be my favorite season. However, it’s just a pretty prelude to the devastatingly horrible cold that is just waiting to consume me. Despite the fact that snow and ice are just around the corner, I do love the fall. I LOVE the pumpkins and the dorky scarecrows that popup (sorry mom) and the fresh apples. We have five huge apple trees along our road, so we’ve already picked and made applesauce. (How completely domestic of me) I completely enjoy pulling out the "fall clothes". I like my jeans and sweaters, so it is a nice change of pace.
Up until yesterday, I even liked mums. You know, those pretty plants that sprout up at all of the farm stands and people place them every so strategically on their doorsteps or windowsills. I thought mums were the perfect fall flowers. I am not so sure anymore. As I was having a conversation with my JV girls’ soccer coach, I realized that not everyone approves of mums. In fact, she despises them, passionately. Why? You ask. Simply, put, "They serve no purpose, they don’t grow back and they just die. Mums are stupid." She emphatically insisted that it makes more sense to go with tulips. "Tulips at least grow back." That’s right, I held an entire conversation on why tulips were better than mums. So, now every time I see those pretty Hearty Mums ( which I was told, if they are so hearty…they should survive a frost. But they don’t….thus…mums are stupid) and I think how pretty they look…and then the bad thoughts come about how stupid mums are. So, tragically, my whole "embracing the fall" has been somewhat tainted by all the mum-hating.

Just Because...

I took this picture just because. Then I posted it just because. And since it's my blog, I can do that:) The picture slightly hinders how pretty it really was, but you get the idea.

Confession...

Isn't that the theme to a very well- known Josh Groban song? Well, yes I think it is. However, this is not THAT kind of confession....though it would be a juicy blog for sure if it was.
No. Just minor confessions that should be known...then you can decide if you still want to be my friend or love me anyway:)
1. Saturday night I ate an entire bag of cotton candy all by myself. I didn't share. Not one bite.

2. A friend called me to invite me to a bbq three days ago, I still have not called her back...yikes. I am an all-around horrible caller-backer person.

3. I use caller ID ALL THE TIME. If you call and I don't answer...well...take that how you will. I am probably just not home...suuuuuure.

4. I groan ever so slightly with every birthday invitation that comes home from school for Andrew to attend yet another party. However, EVERYONE better come to my kids party!!!

5. I got the movie "Enchanted" for selfish reasons, but said my kids really wanted to see it. Andrew wondered why Robert plays a doctor on TV...haha. (If you have never seen Enchanted or Grey's Anatomy - Confession #5 will make no sense to you whatsoever).

6. I hide from people on Facebook. Sometimes I just don't want to chat...sorry. Though I am sure your life is as interesting as mine...

7. One time, when I was IMing...my friend used a word I didn't know. So I had to quickly use a thesaurus before I could respond.

8. I am ever so subtle when I tell my friends that they should talk about me on their blogs.

9. I HAVE used my kids as an excuse to not attend an event I REALLY didn't want to go to.

10. Ok, here's a biggie: Yes, I have sent text messages while working in the nursery at church....to someone who was sitting out front in the service!! I KNOW...baaaaaaad.
Ok, I'm done. If I go beyond 10...well that could just get crazy.

First Day

Andrew left this morning for Kindergarten. It’s a milestone for every child and inevitable change in the day-to-day life at home. Andrew seemed weepy last night and said he had decided he didn’t need to go to school. The tug at my heart began and there was a slight nudge in me that said, "You are right, you don’t need school. Let’s just stay home and play together forever." Of course, that is not reality. So, this morning I braced myself for a teary-eyed Andrew not wanting to leave home. Instead, he bounded out of bed, found his new school shirt and even smiled willingly for the classic "back-to-school-on-the-first-day" picture. There were no tears, no begging to stay not even one last wave as he raced out the door.
That was all good. I mean, he could have maybe begged just even a little, but God probably knew that the mom in me wouldn’t want to resist any begging.
Now, it’s just Austin and me and surprisingly Austin is pretty quiet and self-amused. He asked for big brother a couple of times, but has been content to just play the morning away. I have realized that the baby-stage of these two crazy boys has begun to quickly fade. Though some days have felt like eternity, altogether, the past two and half years since there was an infant in my arms have passed quickly. Like any mom, there may some nostalgia for cute-baby days, but I welcome this stage as it is now. Diapers have become almost obsolete, sleeping through the night is a mainstay, words have replaced crying, and energetic playtime is much more entertaining than trying to soothe an upset baby.
So, today was the first full day of Kindergarten and I will probably look back at what I have written and cry my eyes out as I look at college tuition costs. Until then, I’ll focus on the fact that Monday, is Green day, milk for snack time is 40 cents and Andrew has to bring snack for his class on the last Friday of the month.

Home Decor? Beauty Routine? .....Reality.

I think it is so incredibly easy to indulge in magazines. I love to get Home magazine or House Beautiful and even a few parenting magazines once in awhile. I admit, I’ll even pick up a random entertainment magazine if the line gets too long at the grocery store. Seeing as how my spare time is limited, so is my superfluous reading. I love new ideas on home décor or grabbing a quick look at the newest (and way too expensive) innovative beauty product that will ensure perfect skin and ravishing locks of hair.
Early on, I tossed any subscription that tagged "fashion" on its pages. Realizing how quickly and easily it was to compare the beautiful (and air-brushed) faces of the magazines to the one looking back from the mirror. Seriously, unless someone is going to come and airbrush me in the morning, I’d rather stick to reality….which is…happy to be hair-brushed, teeth-brushed, clothes on while doting on two boys who want to "help" me get ready to go anywhere. Someday, when mornings are little quieter, I’ll give that whole make up, hair and body routine a go… For now, I’ll make it presentable and avoid the sweats or "mom" jeans and ragged t-shirt in public, but hey, I am not making any promises.
On the home front, I’ve decided to accept normalcy. Home magazine is great to flip through and garner a few creative ideas that might spawn an afternoon of painting or rearranging. But I would love to see how long a fancy candle display on glass rocks sitting in the middle of my living room would last. The white plush carpet draped across a hardwood floor of some fancy Cottage Living display page, in my house, it would look fancy with some chocolate milk spilled on it.
My house isn’t made for a magazine that’s ok. I don’t really subscribe to house magazines anymore for the simple fact that I realize I get critical of my own. That’s silly, who wouldn’t want matchbox cars across the living room floor? The black and red pillows matched well with the rest of the furniture, but the color scheme was interrupted by a forest green blanket that was given to me by my soccer team last year. Each of their names were stitched into it with the school name at the top. So, sentimental value over-ruled the home décor trend. The same goes for the miscellaneous toys that litter a corner of the living room and the random hand-scribbled drawing on the fridge. It’s no magazine issue, but its real and its all mine!