Oh How I Love the Fall

Fall is absolutely one of my favorite times of year. Don't get me wrong about summer, but I absolutely love the cool fall breezes, the smell of the air, and the food! When I went to the store last night they had organic fall squash on sale for dirt cheap so I could not resist. For lunch today I made baked acorn squash with Earth Balance and brown sugar. Mmmmm.





While I was sure L would love it (he didn't), A ate almost an entire half on her own (along with some banana pieces) and loved every bite. Her top two teeth have broken through the gums and I am excited about what new foods she'll be able to handle better since she wants what ever I am eating.

Government Woes

I am not sure what to think about the bailout bill not passing. A huge part of me is relieved, as I cringe at the thought of us borrowing more money from China and becoming more indebted to them as a nation. On the other hand, it scares the heck out of me to hear that just minutes after the vote was read the Dow dropped almost 800 points, a record drop. What are we doing as a country a nation that is supposed to lead and set example for the rest of the world? That seems like a pipe dream now. Don't get me wrong, I haven't given up on our country. Just the people that run it and a lot of the people in it.

I worry that I put too much hope in our next president. Will he be able to get our country back on the path to a healthy economy and world relations? We've strayed so far from those things as a nation. I worry what life will be like for my kids as they grow. Once upon a time a worry like that would have sounded silly, today it just sounds like reality. I know a lot of moms who share those fears and thoughts. God help us.

Fall Harvest (and a new blog)

I realized at some point last week that good fall apple picking would soon be coming to an end, and that we hadn't been yet! That was a sad realization, one that I knew needed to be remedied quickly if we wanted any good apples. Learned out lesson last year and waited until early October only to find many orchards were completely picked out.

I found a most awesome family owned place just about 30 minutes from us called Heinz Orchard. My husband had a few things that he had to get done today, so the three kids and I decided to trek off on our own. What was I thinking?! No, honestly it was all good and fine and lots of fun. L of course had to pee within minutes of arrival and there were no bathrooms or port-o-pottys around. But that was our only crisis miraculously. This place was as basic as it could get, a little table where they took your cash and gave you a bag. Honestly I'll go again and again, it's totally worth it if you are in the area. No gimmicks that will cost you a fortune and leave your kids begging for even more rides, just good old fashioned apple picking fun.

L and D had a blast trying to work the apple picking sticks (the long things with the bag and loop at the end to get the really high up ones), A sat in the stroller and munched on tiny apple bits that I broke off for her and I supervised and picked a few. The time flew far too quickly and we left with a peck of apples that included Golden Delicious, a lunchbox favorite at our house, and Empire for all my baking needs. I also found that they had a few pear trees on the property that they were more than happy to have picked so we got a half peck of pears as well!

L tends to enjoy his apples all the way down to the seeds and D ate her fair share as well. No worries though, I think we'll have enough to last for at least a week!