Fall

I am so excited that fall is here. The cool, crisp air, apples ready for picking, but most important - the memories to be made with my kids.

When I became pregnant with Lyla, fall was the time of year I had envisioned; little knitted hats and sweaters, being pulled in a wooden wagon through the apple fields, and arriving home to have Mommy bake a homemade pie. Well, that wasn't exactly the way it went these past few years, but I think we're finally there. Maybe it's my happiness and the fact that I'm practicing staying present, maybe it's Lyla's age and watching her excitement each time she finds an apple in the tree like it's the first one she's seen, or maybe it's the fact that for the first time in my life I've actually opened a cook book and feel capable of baking. Whatever the reason, this year feels more special than those before.

I've embarked on my new cooking adventure with Lyla by my side. She's helped me prepare and cook each meal and dessert for the last week. When we arrived home from the Keith's Farm with our bag full of apples on Saturday, Lyla helped me wash and slice each one, and poured and mixed all of our ingredients together for our crisp. I remember doing things like this with my mother - the house smelling deliciously like fall desserts. Now it's my turn to pass on this tradition with my girls.

We spent yesterday making fall decorations of leaves, apples and pumpkins. I couldn't help but get excited for another trip to Keith's for a hayride to the pumpkin patch. I'm so looking forward to painting and carving them with my big girl :) Perhaps I'll even be brave enough to make my own pie with one :-X but in the meantime, the Pumpkin Pie Yankee Candle my fabulous mother in law gave me will have to.

I'm going to make this fall season last as long as possible, cherishing each crisp-sweater-wearing day, because before I know it, it will be I-can't-put-my-arms-down coat and snow season, where I will more than likely go stir crazy in this apartment. So I'll surely be making the most of everyday; jumping in leaf piles, baking up a storm, dressing my girls in to-die-for little outfits - all the things I envisioned nearly 4 years ago are coming true. No better feeling :)