Autumn is here!

Autumn is here!  Actually, yesterday was the first official day but I was too busy to blog.  I miss blogging regularly and it seems I have so many other blogs to read and catch up on.  Right now my daughter is playing games on my Mp3 player while watching one of her favorite shows and I decided to take a little break to type up this blog and sip my pumpkin spice coffee.  There is so much that needs done around the house but I'm allowing myself to have a lazy, relaxing morning before starting on the chaos.

I've been spending a few hours each day this week staining our backyard deck.  It's looking great.  My husband rebuilt the deck last year and now I'm finally getting around to putting the stain on.  A lot of people complain about painting but I actually enjoy it.  It's so relaxing.  I try to get a little done during nap time and after dinner before the sun goes down.  Now that it's fall the sun is going down earlier and the evenings are chillier.  So are the mornings.

Yesterday to welcome the new season I made a batch of pumpkin spice brownies and pumpkin flavored cookies.  That's just the start, I plan to do more baking and learning more recipes.  I also want to start cooking soups and other warm autumn-appropriate recipes.  As a family we are planning to go to a local orchard for apple and pumpkin picking.  We've done a little fall decorating around the house and it will only be a few months before the Christmas stuff comes out.  This is my favorite time of the year.  Story time at the library started back up again this week and that makes my daughter very happy.  My son seems to be doing excellent in school and is becoming a great reader.  However, today he had a tough time wanting to get out of bed.  He's usually the first one awake TOO early so this was rare.  Both of my kids are early risers.

I better get off.  My daughter is asking for a snack.  Hope autumn brings you a lot of happiness and cheer.