Nature Walk To School

I had to walk to go get the kids from school the other day. I decided to take my camera and try to capture some of the beautiful Fall scenery. I am by no means a great photographer with my cheap digi camera but i did manage to get a few really nice shots.

Just one of the many things i love about the fall. The colors are so warm and bright. The sky can be so dull at times and then so bright at other times. The cool crisp air just adds to the feel.

We have been eating a lot of soup for the last few weeks. It is just that kind of weather. Last night we had clam chowder with salad. It was so yummy and although the kids were not very into the soup they did devour 2 plates of salad a piece lol.

Just as a pregnancy up date for those who care, i am writing this as i have contractions. Not very frequent or strong but i am hoping that maybe this is it and not just more random false labor contractions. I guess we will see with time.

I am ready for my Fall boy to make his appearance and today would be a great day lol. Please pray for me that if this is the beginning of labor i can be strong and make this journey. I will try to keep you all in the loop and update again later so you will know what is going on.

Fall, Autumn, Harvest, Autumnal Equinox...

What ever you call it, it means the same thing. I personally like the word Autumn just because it makes me feel all warm inside! It tis my favorite season!

When i think of Fall a lot of memories pop out in my head from my childhood.

One of my favorite parts of Autumn is the food. It is all centered around keeping us full and warm. It provides us with comfort when days can become drawn out and dreary.

I have distinct memories of my Mom filling our house with the smell of yummy, stomach stretching meals. Usually followed by some sort of warm dessert.

One of my favorites has to be beef roast (always done in the oven cause that is how my Mama rolled {and it kept the lower level of our house warm lol}) with potatoes, carrots, onions, and a thick brown gravy always made from the drippings. Usually by the end of summer/beginning of fall there was some kind of cobbler to be made and served to already stuffed tummies. My favorite will always and forever be my Mom's peach cobbler.

I would have walked (and still would) a mile in knee high snow for this meal. There was something about it that just made me feel at home and comforted. Of all the things my mom cooked, these dishes are ones i wish i would have paid more attention to, and learned how to cook them for myself.

Autumn to me also means family. One of the biggest and most family oriented holidays fall in the Autumn. That's right people i speak of Turkey Day/Thanksgiving!

Although when most people think of this specific holiday they think mostly about food I always loved the family aspect of it. I love that the food is just what brings us all together. I could go into why we celebrate this holiday and why we gather together for it but i wont. I am sure we all went to school at some point and time and remember the story of the Pilgrims and the Indians. I am sure we all recognize the the Autumn season is the season of harvests. Hence the food and the gathering together to be thankful for a crop.

As i have said before i married into a large family. Holidays are always crazy for us. Thanksgiving is especially crazy. Usually i cook a small meal for the kids, Marcus, and I in the early afternoon because we don't eat with his family till evening. It is a day where we are well fed and much loved.

There is always a football game on that needs to be watched as well as the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (that i think only stands to remind us that Christmas is now just around the corner). There is usually a mid day nap taken because you must digest all this food before pigging out again. Then comes the big family gathering. Thirty plus people usually shoved into a small house or building chowing down and filling themselves with warm food and good fellowship.

This Fall brings a new joy for us. This Autumn will not be like any other Autumn. This year we will be adding a new member to our family. We will have one more thing to warm our hearts and fill our souls with joy.

Little Sione' is due to arrive 15 days before Thanksgiving, 3 days before our 5th wedding anniversary. Although i know that he may not attend his first large family gathering, and i know i will miss being there for it, i also know that nothing could be more joyful and make me more thankful than adding this beautiful baby boy to our family.

Yes Fall is my favorite season for many, many reasons. Food, Football, Friends, Fellowship, and most of all Family! The 5 F's of Fall!!!

Winter Is Upon Us

This is the first snow of the season and it is cold. Now i dont like cold weather at all but i love snow which presents a problems since it has to be cold to snow. Oh well it is beautiful and that is all i care about. It only lasted about 3 hours last night and melted mostly today. We had flurries all day but it didnt amount to anything even though it is like 29 degrees outside. I just am getting the feeling of Christmas now.

West Virginia Fall

So fall is upon us here in the good ole WV. This is one of my favorite times of year. Now don't mistake the for my favorite season or holiday. I specifically like the month (usually October) when the leaves turn beautiful shades of gold, red, maroon, orange, and yellow. I love the smell in the air as the brisk breeze flows over my face. I love these few days. I took a few pictures yesterday as we drove home from McDonald's. They are all taken from the car and some as we were moving lol. I tried to clean most of them up a bit but some just didn't participate. So without further hesitation here are my shots from yesterday of the beautiful fall terrain in Charleston, WV!

I think i like fall so much because it means all the family holidays are coming up. Christmas is my favorite because it was my mom's favorite. Christmas was always the time of year that we spent the most time together. We decorated and cooked and spent a lot time of just talking. It brings back a lot of wonderful memories. So here is to the leaves falling and the cold weather heading in. I am so looking forward to the holidays even if we are broke!

Wordless Wednesday

So as i said in a previous post, when my husband is not home i walk Phabian to school. On our way their are a bunch of huge Oak trees. So today i snapped a few shots. Fall is so beautiful!

I love this one especially since you can see the small Church in the corner!

I never said my photography was good lol!

Last but not least my fave shot today!

Yesterday

So yesterday was an easy day. I did a load or two of laundry and picked up the living room a little but besides that i rested. I have had a horrible cough for about a week now and it will not give way. So about 1:30 the kids laid down for a nap and so did i. We slept til 4 when someone rang the door bell. Turned out it was my MIL and my niece Curtava. They had come over to play and see what we were into. We talked for awhile before venturing out to the back yard. Once outside my MIL starts cleaning my backyard. This is her MO lol. She always comes over an cleans something. I love her for that but i hate that she has to do it. I have been asking Marcus for weeks to clean the yard but he has yet to do so. He got home about 2 mins after his mom got here and then precedes to run outside (literally without even changing out of his work clothes first) after i told him that his mom was here and she was cleaning our yard. He helped her in total clean the backyard, the back porch, and the front porch. I must say i was happy it got don't, but why did it take his mother doing it before he would start it. GRRRRRRRR.

Anyways i got a few cute snap shots of MJ and Phabian yesterday. Here they go...

So MJ got a pair of gloves that they were using to pick up trash and leaves and had a blast playing with them. Amazing what little things kids will entertain themselves with.

I told Phabian after dinner that he could call and talk to his Nenaw in Fla (this is my mom's sister). He got real comfy on the couch and talked to her about school and reading. Even at one point telling her if she went blind he would read to her lol. Kids really do say the darnedest things.

So we had a fun day. They jumped on the trampoline and played on the swings. It was a warm but not hot day. Only about 75 or so. Nice breeze. Good pumpkin weather as me and Chels were talking about. I hope it keeps this way for awhile. The Pumpkin Festival starts Oct. 2 -5 and i am hoping to get to take the kids. It will be fun and they will enjoy it. For $5 they give them a small pumpkin and some paint and let them paint pumpkins. That should be interesting lol. I just am trying to feel better and enjoy the nice weather before it gets too cold. Spring and fall our my faves. Hopefully i will be able to go to my dad's and get some beautiful shots of the changing leaves. I will post them when i do.