It seems like everyone and their mom can’t stop talking about how much they love Fall; changing leaves, pumpkin spice everything, and warm sweaters. What? Are you all nuts?! All Autumn is to me is the precursor to icy cold, bitter freezing, hate my life, six month long, winter.

Okay, now that I have gotten that out, let’s move on. I am doing my best to enjoy the time we can still spend outside, even if all it does is remind me that summer is gone and big bad winter is lurking, so a couple of weeks ago the kids and I visited our tiny town’s yearly fall celebration, The Binder Twine Festival. Yes, it was cold and even rainy, but I have to admit, we did have fun.

It was very small and we walked the entire thing in about an hour, but the kids enjoyed checking out all of the vendors, especially the vendors that had food. I let them each buy something small and they both chose these really cute hand carved wooden cars. (Children after my own heart. I love wooden toys.) And of course, we left the fest with an apple pie in hand.

You might notice that Rusty was missing and that’s because of paintball , of course. All summer long (and the beginning of fall) Rusty travels a ton because that is paintball’s busy season, which means there are clinics, tournaments, and other events that he must attend. I’ve talked before about how I have a love/hate relationship with paintball because I love the extra income it brings in, but I hate how it limits our time with our favorite guy. In all honestly though, this summer hasn’t been that bad. I think I am really getting into a parenting groove or something. It could be that the kids are getting older so they are a lot less hands-on work or it could be that 4 years into this parenting thing, I  finally feel like I am in control. I’m not sure, but either way, it’s getting easier.

After the fest, we went to dinner. I don’t usually go out to eat with the kids alone, but we were having fun on our little adventure and I didn’t want it to end just yet. We tried out a new restaurant and loved it. I also loved the opportunity to sit around the dinner table together, chat about what we enjoyed seeing at the fest, what they would like to do when we get home, and what we should do tomorrow. If you don’t regularly sit down for a family meal, I highly recommend it, I feel it really keeps our family connected.

After dinner, we headed home and by then it was time for bed. When Rusty is out of town, Carter gets to stay up late, eat a dessert with mommy in bed (we busted open the apple pie we bought earlier), and watch a movie. I really enjoy my special girl’s nights with my number one girl, another tradition in our family that I highly recommend you try.

And that is it, that is the story of how I am coping with fall, winter creeping around the corner, and the tale end of paintball season. I am really enjoying motherhood right now and although I am starting to feel a little panicked about winter, there is a bright blue sky outside, so I am going to enjoy it while it lasts.

Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.

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