Excuse me

Didn't I JUST post about how beautiful fall is?  And now THIS????

I want to know who all the department stores payed off so the weather would match the Christmas merchandise they all seem to have out! It is NOT supposed to snow before Halloween!!

This is why...

...I can't imagine living anywhere besides New England.  The leaves are past peak, many have fallen to the ground, yet I am still in awe of the beauty I see on a gorgeous fall day like today. My photography "skills" don't do it justice.

The sun shines through the trees and lights up the yellow leaves.

This is the extent of my Halloween decorating to date.  Well, except for the window clings the boys put up. I carved the one pumpkin at a party recently. We'll do the others closer to the big day.

Plenty of fallen leaves just waiting to be raked up made into a pile and jumped in.

The view down our street, with some vibrant color still peaking through.

Maple leaves still hanging on, blowing in the wind.

A touch of color amid the green grass and mostly brown leaves.

Obligatory picture of cute kid.  This IS a Mommy blog, after all!

When Big Brother is Away...

....Andrew will play...

With his trains...

All day long!

Whether we're inside and he's using one of his track sets, or outside in the sandbox or driveway or by the stream, he's got those trains (or others!) with him.  To say the boy is obsessed is an understatement.  Just a few minutes ago I barely averted a minor meltdown when I informed that we could not go see Thomas because Thomas was back home on Sodor, not at the train station where we saw - and Rode! - him this summer and last summer.  He will also request to watch any number of Thomas DVD's we have.  I tell ya, it's all Thomas, all the time around here!

Fallish Days

Today is one of the first real "Fallish" days we've had this year.  We woke up to temps in the 40's, and it's been sunny and breezy all day.  It's not even quite 60 out there yet.  Andrew and I spent quite a bit of time outside this morning.  He immediately headed to the sandbox with his trains, where he occupied himself for a good half hour, while I sat nearby shivering in the shade, despite wearing my favorite fall jacket.  It's quite breezy out there, so you really need that sun to keep warm. (James even announced this morning that maybe he should have worn mittens!) But I just LOVE this time of year!  I can't wait for the leaves to change color.  We even got our first small pumpkins from the CSA already a few weeks ago.

I also harvested a nice bunch of veggies from the garden this morning. Andrew helped by picking broccoli leaves and eating them. This is one of the rare instances where my kids like a real food (i.e. not a processed "kid food") that I just do not!  I enjoy broccoli, but those leaves I can just do without!  However, after a little googling I read that the small, young leaves can be compared to collard greens, which I do like when cooked, so maybe I'll give them a try. But back to my harvest.  I was happy to pick quite a few tomatoes (I only have six plants because we get quite a few from the CSA), some broccoli florets, a couple pickling cukes and some green beans.  Enough to fill a Zappos box about the size of 2 shoe boxes.

There used to be a lot more green beans, but Andrew ate quite a few of them while we sat on the front steps.  I'm not complaining!  We're having some family over for James' birthday tomorrow, so I'll make good use of those tomatoes.  When I don't have immediate use for the tomatoes, I've been making big batches of sauce in my 8 quart slow cooker.  In addition to the tomatoes, I add in any zucchini (shhhh...that's my little secret) and peppers we haven't eaten, plus usually a couple cans of crushed tomatoes.  And of course there are some herbs and garlic to round out the flavor. If I have onions on hand, I'll slice up one or two and put those in as well.  And some times I add a touch sugar depending on how sweet the vegetables are.  Since my boys (all three!) don't like chunky vegetables in their sauce, I just whip out my immersion blender after it's been in the crock pot all day and blend it up.  You'd really never know the zucchini is in there.  Currently I have about 8 quarts of the sauce in my freezer!

All this talk of veggies and sauce is making me HUNGRY!  So time to go whip up some lunch for Andrew and myself!

My "Little" Preschooler

Andrew started preschool this week - two mornings (3 hours each) per week.  Today was his second day.  This is his first experience with any on-going time away from me.  He'd been to drop-in day care a handful of times last year, and this past summer he did 2 weeks of  "summer enrichment" classes.   But now, he gets to go for the whole school year!  And let me tell ya - he is READY!  He's been so sad that he doesn't get to go to school, or ride the bus, with James, but when I remind he gets to go to his own school, he perks right up!  And when I drop him off, he barely even stops what he's doing to say good bye.

So here he is on Tuesday morning, all set to go!

Washing his hands when we got to school:

He immediately went for the cars they had set out:

And playing well with another little boy:

This is the same preschool James went to for 3 years.  I'm actually a little sad that Andrew will only get to go for two (James "missed" the cutoff for kindergarten when he was 5, so he did preK here as well).  We absolutely love this school, which is run by a church but is not a religious education.  Andrew is doing quite well there so far - even seems to be listening to the teachers and sitting for circle time!  So, I guess our little boy really is growing up.  And on that note, I will leave you with the BRILLIANT knock-knock joke he told me yesterday!

Knock, Knock!

Who's there?

Banana!

Banana who?

Bed!

(at which time he proceeded to giggle with delight at his own humor! don't you just LOVE 3 year-olds?  I certainly do!)