Of Festivals and Fall....

The vocabulary spewing out of my little people's mouths is just so entertaining these days. Last week I gave Ethan (3) some hand sanitizer after which he declared, "My hands are totally cleaner, Mom."

One morning my kindergartener, relating something to me about one of his friends from school, used the word apparently. And only a couple of hours later when I asked the little girl if she wanted to go to stores with me, she gave me the standard 2 year-old answer, "No." But she caught herself just in time, "actually, yes I do," she said. "Actually?" seriously girl, what is this Jr. High?

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I had a rare chance to go out for coffee with a friend last week. (We weren't exactly at a fine dining sort of place. We had to stick with something that was open during the night shift, after the munchkins were all tucked in.) I ordered a piece of chocolate cake that arrived at my table with a 'lovely' sculpted chocolate mouse on top. Is it just me or are chocolate rodents really not all that appetizing? If I ever start a restaurant where delectable chocolate cake is served please remind me to be careful what kind of fancy decorations I put on it. Once I got over the third grade giggles and the mental block it really was quite tasty, but the chat time/catching up with a friend/escaping the regular zoo routines was by far the 'selling point' not the mouse.

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We took some of the kids to this

last weekend. It was our first time there and we all enjoyed it.

Games and freebies for the kiddos.

 Music and jammin'.

Waiting in line for only an hour or two for an autograph a.k.a. scribble. Let's call this "11 year olds have different priorities than I do."

And perfectly gorgeous weather.

We usually make an effort to take the whole family when we do something like this, and believe me it is "an effort." But this time we decided to just take the ones we knew would love it. It made things so relaxing and easy for me.

 

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 We returned after 2 late nights and set out for church Sunday morning. Let's just say an exhausted Mommy and many whiny children don't do much for a meaningful worship service. And a kindergarten who doesn't make it to the bathroom on time is just the icing on the cake. Oh yes, cake, speaking of cake, we were supposed to be the guests of honor for a birthday dinner right after church. Yours truly chalked up another  year in the books. Someone please tell me what is the proper etiquette for taking small children soaked in pee into someone else' house. Going home in between wasn't an option...I stopped carrying extra clothes for him about 3 1/2 years ago.....Oh isn't this Mommy stuff fun!

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Time to add some Fall-Festiveness around the house. 

I'm a summer girl. I usually hang on to every last bit of summer and probably miss the best of fall while mourning the loss of summer but this year I'm welcoming the cooler temps, the baking everything apple and pumpkin, the cooking of real food instead of popsicles and watermelon dinners, even the sweatshirts and socks.

What is your favorite part of Fall??