I will not go gently .... !

So yesterday Audrey had another dentist appointment at 10am. She had not one but TWO cavities so she needed TWO fillings and they didn't want to do both in one day so they split it up across two appointments. Anyway, after the appt I dragged the kids to Kroger as we were running out of all sorts of things. OH how I so VERY MUCH dislike dragging all three kids to the grocery store BUT sometimes it just has to be ....

Anyway - as we were standing in the checkout I was gazing outside and to my horror - there they were ---- pots and pots and pots of ...... fall mums!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

It canNOT be time for mums!!!! No, no, no! If the mums are here then that means Fall is coming. And if Fall is coming then that means Winter is next.

Now don't get me wrong - Fall here is very pretty. The leaves actually change colors. There are cornfield mazes and you get to get pumpkins from a real pumpkin patch or at the very least from an actual farm. Fall also means it is football season and I love my football. It's just that .... Fall here is not an anticipated and welcomed respite from the grueling summer heat. Fall here is more like the last enjoyable days before the dark and dreary winter kicks in.

So my plan of attack this year is to make the absolute MOST of the fall. I hear it is tons of fun to go apple picking and we have yet to try that out. There is an orchard near here and I am going to do my best to get us up there one weekend. And I am also going to try my darndest to get a picture of my darlings playing at the park when the leaves are turning. And then there's this one room school house down the road from us where I also want to try and get a picture of the kids. (surely one of these pictures will turn out good enough that I can actually order Christmas cards EARLY this year!) We are going to hit the farmers market whenever we can. We are going to live outdoors as much as possible. And then maybe, just maybe, when the cold weather hits and then the snow and ice come, I'll be so tired and worn out, I won't mind staying indoors .... all day ... every day .... for weeks on end .....

Oh who am I kidding?!?!? I am still going to be miserable! And you know what will happen don't you? I will be cold and lonely and bored and I will turn to baking. There will be cakes and cookies and muffins and breads galore and unless I find someone to pawn all that yumminess off on, I will be bigger and rounder .... At least all 3 kids will be in school this year. And Allison is in pre-school so that means she'll have TWO teachers. Allison's 2 + Amy's 1 + Audrey's 1 = 4 teachers. And then there are secretaries and directors ..... Hmmmm, maybe I will be able to escape the extra pounds this year .....

Summer just isn't long enough here. We've had rain off and on the last few days and it looks like that rain is bringing cooler temps. According to the forecast from Weather.com - our high today is 79, tomorrow it's 78 and Saturday ... only 71 ........ How am I supposed to take the kids swimming in 71 degree weather?!?!?! Don't get me wrong - It's not like I miss the 100+ temps and endless drought ....but I do miss being able to be outdoors pretty much 365 days a year ......