The Great Pumpkin Harvest

my mom planted lots of pumpkins this year. they wrapped their tendrils around all the nearby bushes and erupted in big orange blossoms, which evolved into bright, round pumpkins. watching those pumpkins swell, i could feel my soul ripening for autumn. sunday evening a chilly wind blew in. gray clouds settled over the valley. the sky's been spitting rain for 2 days. it seems our weekend pumpkin harvest opened the door for fall and welcomed her right in. we had soup and cornbread for dinner last night. it was cozy. the kids and i read stories by the fireplace this afternoon. nate's been wearing his woolies (socks). our "cider web" (best flavor ever) candles are burning round the clock. i love it. so do the kids.

also...
we loved conference. of course.

i watched the last half of henry's karate class today. i love him so much. he was so cute in there doing his moves - kicks and punches and "Ay-yas!" he is so bright and eager.

lily wandered out into the dim light of the front room a few mornings ago when i was finishing up my time on the treadmill and i couldn't hold back a tickled laugh. she was so sweet and slight and soft in her pink pajamas. and her wild bed head and puffy eyes. and then her feather voice squeaked out a request to "watch a little bit of a show while you do your exercising, mommy?" little sack of sugar, that one. it is so nice to have a little person around.

i don't have much else to say tonight. there is so much going on in life that just can't be blogged about. sometimes i feel like this is just a caricature of real life. but it does help preserve the joy. and we have that in spades...so that's real. and good.

really good.