October.

Hello blog world. It's October now...7 days in. This is the month where I'm always undecided in whether I like it or not. I love October for many reasons. One of them being it's my husband's birth month. Another being that it's SO gorgeous here in Saint Paul with the leaves changing, contrasted by a brilliant blue sky and the usual dark green grass. After our dry Summer months, it's a nice change to see healthy grass again. But October is also when it starts to get cold here. The days are shorter and the temps are cooler. Sometimes there's even snow. Gasp. Thankfully we only had rain this past week, non of that icky white stuff that our neighboring states saw. Last week was a pretty depressing week weather-wise. It was much chillier, the sun played hooky and the skies drizzled and poured rain down upon us. Again, I'm grateful that it wasn't snow. But still. It made me realize that Summer is truly over with and Winter is just around the corner. BUT! There is hope for this upcoming week. Looks like we're back to sunshine and 70's. Maybe last week was just a silly little prank?

In honor of Fall, the berries outside our kitchen window started to turn a happy yellow. The birds are happy.

This morning, I met up with a few other women and their kids who live in our neighborhood for a playdate. It was a gorgeous morning - a bit nippy at first, but totally bearable with a couple of layers, a scarf and hat and warm boots. Add a tumbler of hot tea and warm sunshine and I was a happy momma. It was truly wonderful meeting up with other moms who not only have kids my kid's age, but they also live in the neighborhood! Since moving here 2.5 years ago, it's been slow-going getting to know our neighbors. This was a great ice-breaker, for sure! Facebook is such a wonderful tool in connecting people. We only have one car, so going to mom events at church and with friends usually doesn't work out for us during the week. I miss the fellowship. So this was perfect for me. Just an easy walk to a park where the boys can get their energy out and I can have some adult conversation and make new friends. I'm only bummed that I found the group so late in the season. Hopefully God will smile down on our fair city and allow us a mild fall/early winter.  A girl and dream and pray.

Miles finally wore a hat this morning. He NEVER wears hats. I found him so stinkin' cute with his daddy's hat on his little head, that I just had to snap a few pictures. 

 

One of the great things about summer being over is that our Sunday School classes start up again at church. Simon is LOVING being back in class. A kindergarten class at that! Once again, I'm overwhelmed with gratitude towards our church - they take such great care of our children, teaching them and loving on them. I'm loving being able to take notes again during the main service, sitting closer to the front and having all of my attention on the sermon. Such a gift.

Peter's 30th birthday was last Thursday.

I wanted it to be super special and something that he would never forget. But sometimes my most well-intentioned wishes don't always meet up with reality. Even though it wasn't what I wished for, it still ended up being special because we were all together. That was what counts, right? The boys were on their best behavior and I made birthday treats for my husband making him feel loved and special. His cake was delicious (came in at a close second to this one) - word of advice though: if your cake calls for homemade caramel inbetween the layers of your cake, do not refrigerate your cake or your caramel will harden and be near impossible to cut through - yeah. At least it was tasty and easier to cut after thawing. ;)

100 Grand Cake. The inside layer was so pretty.

I made a 6" cake due to the fact that we just didn't need to eat a huge 9" layered cake. This was plenty for our little family.

I also scored big points on the present department, which is a huge win for me (and him - lol) as I'm a horrible gift-giver...and he's a hard person to buy for. It's the little things. Simon was completely adorable and made the sweetest card for his dad. He was pretty excited about it.

Two things I am looking forward to this month are going to an apple orchard (or two) and visiting Duluth. Two things we try to do late September/October. We have yet to do either thanks to the rain and a busy schedule. But we WILL. We must!!