We love tun-tins

1... I WANT TO GO TO A PUMPKIN PATCH THIS YEAR.
...AND TAKE ALL THE SUPER CUTE PICTURES THAT MAKES EVERYONE SAY "AWW"
...AND BUY ANOTHER PUMPKIN...(since Bennett has rolled, kicked, hugged, kissed, and snotted on the one on our front porch already, in spite of the "Pumpkin Rules" we discuss each time he asks to visit the "Tun-tin" outside)


Who's with me? And where do we go? And how does it work? Let's play date it :)


2. Have completed #1 and #2 on second trimester To-do list. Have also given myself a much deserved pat on the back. Am skipping to #8 in the near future (as in, hopefully this weekend, if husband and dad cooperate :) ).


3. For those of you who feel as scrambled and overwhelmed with decorating and being festive every year from September-January like I usually feel, I've come up with a solution for simplifying :)
I was brainstorming this summer about different ways we do things around our house and what things I could change, schedule, make more efficient, etc., (yes, I'm a dork) and one thing that kept popping up in my head was how much I LOVE this time of year (Fall thru the New Year) and I LOVE the decor and festivity of it all, but how I never end up really decorating our home to make it feel that way each year, because I give up when I begin to feel overwhelmed dragging multiple unlabeled boxes down from the attic, knowing I'll have to decorate 3-4 times over the next 3-4 months and clean and straighten in between each month, and then lug all the boxes back up to the attic when it's all finished. Yuck. It's enough to throw a big fat bucket of water over all that excitement.
So here's my solution: Instead of hodge-podge whatever decorations that fit in with that time of year (i.e. cornecopias and turkeys running out my ears in Nov., then quickly being stashed away to be replaced by Santas and Christmas trees the day after Thanksgiving), I am now doing....(drum roll please)....SEASONAL THEMES!!
I thought about my favorite decorations for fall that also apply to Halloween AND Thanksgiving, and decided on pumpkins and scarecrows. So that is ALL I am using, which means I don't feel scrambled at the store trying to decide what to buy, AND I don't have boxes and boxes for each month. Instead, I put up my "pumpkin patch" and my scarecrow display in September, and they're staying up until after Thanksgiving!! That's 2-3 months of decor that stays up :) Then for December and January, I'm decorating for both Christmas AND winter at the same time by using snowmen and penguins (and that's ALL!) That way it can go up the first of Dec. and stay up through January :) Of course, I also have a door hanging for each of these two seasons, and in December we'll have a Christmas tree that adds a bit more work, but I can't figure out why I didn't think of all this sooner! Frankly, seems like a touch of genius to me :)
So now I feel festive AND rested - I've de-cluttered and I've decided to buy one new decoration for each season each year so I don't blow my budget either (oh, and I buy a little penguin of some sort for Bennett's stocking each year, as well as a new ornament...this next little booger will probably get a snowman every year :) ).
Is all this clear as mud? Just wanted to offer it up to anyone else who's ever felt overwhelmed by their happy homemaking creativity this time of year :) My seasonal motto: SIMPLIFY!


4. A Bennett Pic-stravaganza, for your viewing pleasure...

first day of school (he goes once a week :) )

dirty, snotty, naked baby on top of my clean laundry. niiiice.

hugging the "tun-tin" on our porch (we do this everyday)

five generations...blurry, but the best picture we got
(Great Great Grandmother Imogene's 98th birthday)

5. Kudos to Karson, who picked a ROCKIN' Girls Night Out. It must be said that Pepe's Pottery is a stinkin' cool place to go, and I'm anticipating the return of my glazed and fired pumpkins! :) Sure do love hanging out with you girls!


6. I came home from Girls Night to find Michael towel drying our kitchen and living room floors that he'd just finished sweeping and mopping, and 7 or 8 HUGE bags of cereal on our kitchen table that he and Bennett found and bought while I was out, after I griped this weekend about our Neighborhood Market no longer carrying the healthier off-brand cereals. It must be said, that's nice to come home to. (plus, I'm pretty sure I won't have to budget cereal in on my grocery list for about 3 months!)


7. DON'T FORGET ABOUT #1. I still call for a Pumpkin Patch field trip, friends!