On my mind...Good-bye, Summer.

•  Autumn is here.  And maybe winter.
• There was snow in the forecast for this week.  I shuddered a little bit!
• Luckily the ground is too warm for anything to stick, should some raindrops decide to turn to snow.
• I am on a soup kick.
• I made chicken stock and beef stock last week and shoved them into the freezer to be easily accessible as I plow through my list of soups to make.
• I've got a plan to loose weight this fall - it includes lots of veggie-heavy soups for lunch and lighter versions of my old favorites for dinner.
• Fall is when I typically fall off the wagon....pumpkin/apple/pecan pie and hearty hot dish (casseroles are for Southern folks.) and thick stews seem to float at the top of my menu ideas.
• It's like I'm a bear preparing to hibernate and I must bulk up!
• Finn and I have been trying to counter that sedentary feeling with some bike rides and walks.  
• They happen more in the middle of the day now, it's too chilly in the morning and too dark after dinner.
• It won't get much better when we turn the clocks back in November.
• I foresee a yoga class in my immediate future...if I can nail my husband down for just one evening to myself.
• Abby still dresses the complete opposite of the weather.
• I have no doubt that if it rains/sleets/spits snow this week, she will be wearing her flip-flops.
• I'm still trying to get used to this 4 day school week. 
• Fridays throw me off and I'm trying to ensure she has time for homework and still gets through some chores (since she's busy with volleyball/homework during the week I don't push the chores in the evening.).
• Finn has been sorting his seldom used toys for Baby Cousin (and by Finn, I mean me.).
• He did tell me that he'd share his cars and trucks, though.
• Planning a baby shower is fun...I've never done it before.  
• Turns out I have lots of ideas.  And when I say I, what I really mean is: Pinterest has a lot of really good ideas!
• There were two babies in church yesterday and it was all I could do not to ask their mamas if I could smell their wee new car smell.
• I'll (im)patiently wait until December, I guess.  And then I'll head south as fast as my lead foot will take me.
• After this baby shower business, I will put my energies into planning Sarah's wedding...she knew what she was getting into when she asked, after all!
• Things that I'm looking forward to: ECFE starting in a couple of weeks, our anniversary get-away, my birthday (obviously!) and a birthday get-away for me only, Finn's Halloween costume (something to rival last years!), Uriah making a Turducken for Thanksgiving, raking leaves, carving pumpkins.
• As much as I'm a little nervous for winter up here in the big, bad wilderness (because I do not drive in inclement weather, or even in the hint of inclement weather), I do love fall.  It's my most favorite season.

Would you believe I took these on Finn's 2nd birthday in July?  I don't think I've even blogged about his awesome party and how much fun he had.  I am behind...way, way behind!  But it was a crazy summer and I am so glad it's fall now so that I can catch up (yeah, right!).