Fall...

Fall is my favorite season. The air is cool and crisp. The sky is often a brilliant blue with lots of sunshine. And like spring, fall is often fleeting. Last year was an amazing fall. It seemed like the trees were turning for weeks on end. I don't think we will be as fortunate this year to enjoy the leaves for as long but while it is fall I will enjoy it! 

Last night I went for a walk around the neighborhood and admired the trees while I listened to This American Life on my phone. The Maple trees always seem to be the start of the fall symphony and they are my favorite for their blazing colors.

Fall is also the season for all things pumpkin! Here is a delish pumpkin cream cheese roll I made for girls night last week. (I'm not balding it's just the light reflecting off my shiny hair and forehead!) 

I have a pile of recipes of other things I want to bake this fall and given I'm only working two days a week right now I have plenty of time on my hands! 

First grade is going well for Owen. He has been somewhat frustrated that they aren't doing more learning yet. They've been spending a lot of time working on establishing their routine and expectations and reviewing skills and concepts. I think he's mostly bummed that more math hasn't been taking place. He loves math. And while he wants to know how to read I think he's not so keen on learning to read. I think he's come to the conclusion that learning to read is going to be hard and he tends to be reluctant to do hard things! The benefit of learning to read in Spanish before English is that Spanish is a very phonetic language and once you know how the letters sound they always sound that way. There are very few special rules or surprises like in English. He has most of the letters and sounds down but when he's tired or frustrated he has a harder time remembering. It is difficult for me to not get all bent out of shape that he's not working harder at it and hasn't learned how to read yet. He will learn in his own time and at his own pace and I have to honor and accept that. I want him to enjoy school and learning and if my inner teacher is always bombarding him with things he won't enjoy it. I suppose I can focus on learning something myself! 

My exercise everyday goal is going well. Not everyday is a hard core workout but I do get some kind of  intentional workout in. Except for last Thursday I forgot. Our new schedule is a little bit crazy on the days that I work. O and I have to be out the door by 7:30am so we can get to the bus stop. Then I go to work. I pick him up at the bus stop and then we get home about 5pm. That evening I had to be back out of the house by 6 to go to a parenting class and I wasn't home until close to 9pm. I was so tired by then that I didn't realize I didn't get a workout in until the next morning. I made up for it with a weight class and a bike ride though on Friday! I have also started doing Pilates on the Reformer at our Y. It is a great workout and focuses on smaller muscles and core muscles which is something I've been missing from my routine.

And I will end with a quote from Morgan, "Wow, that was riveting!" Which is what he often says to me when I tell him about my day or something that happened that wasn't all that interesting. I for one am thankful to have a rather boring, drama free life!