Fall

A Sure Sign of Fall

I can tell that Fall has arrived based on our laundry. I realized today that I have to do twice as many loads of wash to get all of the long-sleeved shirts and pants that the children have started wearing again clean! One pair of jeans doesn’t take up that much extra room in the washer, but when it’s five pairs of jeans (and that doesn’t even count Ryan’s and my clothes), it suddenly seems like the washer is running non-stop! It’s a small price to pay for this beautiful weather, though…

First Day of Fall

To celebrate the First Day of Fall today, Ladybug made a four seasons craft that Turkey and Bunny made when they were in kindergarten. I changed it up a little bit this time…older and wiser and all that. Anyway, she had fun doing it, and I think my changes made it look even better than the originals!

We also read a few fall-inspired books. We started with Why Do Leaves Change Color?, which is perfect for this time of year. We also read another book in that series, From Seed to Pumpkin,  which I’m sure we’ll read again before the end of the season. I’m thinking about getting a third book in this series, as well–How Do Apples Grow? I really like the way these books are written (we’ve read a few others on different topics, too), but I can’t decide if the pumpkin and apple books are too similar to use them both.

We recently read The Year at Maple Hill Farm and The Berenstain Bears’ Almanac (part of the Big Book of Science and Nature anthology), in school, so we got those out again and looked through them. The first day of any season is a good opportunity to talk not just about the new season, but the year as a whole, especially at the kindergarten level. It’s a great chance to look at how things change throughout the course of the year, how the same things happen every year, and the special days we mark as the year goes by!

We have some other fun crafts and activities (including some Autumn baking) to do in the coming weeks, and more books to read, and then our Fall adventures will culminate in Thanksgiving school in only two months!

Fall Fun Night

On Saturday, we went to our church’s “Fall Fun Night.” This is one of my favorite social events of the year. There are always tons of fun games, (not always played by conventional rules)–bocce ball, volleyball, and ladderball to name a few. It’s so much fun to watch the children and adults playing these games together, and a great opportunity from the smallest children and the oldest adults, and everyone in between, to interact with each other.

Of course, the children always manage to make their own fun, too–running races, climbing trees, playing kickball, and inventing other games of their own design that I don’t understand.

After everyone had worn themselves out, it was just about time to eat. Hot dogs and brats for roasting over a campfire, plus chili and all the fixin’s, either to be eaten on its own, or in combination as a chili dog. And when everyone had their fill, there were still the ingredients to make s’mores!

Just as it started to get dark, it was time for the hayride. A true hayride, too–not just hard benches in a wagon like we’re used to at the apple orchard and pumpkin farm, but a wagon filled with, (imagine it), hay! The children loved it, especially tossing the hay at each other.

The last event of the night, (which we missed, thanks to my allergies–maybe I should have skipped the hayride!), was a sing-along around the campfire. I wish we could have stayed for that part, because it had become the perfect amount of chilly outside for sitting near the fire, and there was still plenty of hot chocolate to drink!

God Likes Beautiful Things

I saw a cardinal in our backyard the other day (bird, not baseball player), and I was struck by how beautiful its bright red feathers looked against the green of the grass and trees outside. That got me remembering a conversation I had with Turkey a few years ago, in the Fall, when he was about four years old…

We were in the car, probably going to Target or something, and we were talking about how beautiful the trees looked with all of their different colored leaves. He was wondering why leaves change color–not in a scientific way, more of a philosophical way–and he immediately answered his own question: “Because God likes beautiful things!”

It sounds cute and sweet, but it’s also so very true. You only have to look around to realize how much God loves beauty–nature is full of it! Flowers, trees, birds–there is beauty all around us, but sometimes, it takes a four-year-old’s point of view to remind us of it!

Award-Winning Apple-Pumpkin Bread

Every Fall, I make at least one batch of my award-winning Harvest Apple-Pumpkin Bread, and it’s a huge hit with the whole family. Earlier this week, Turkey reminded me that I hadn’t baked any yet this year, so after we got home from the pumpkin patch today, I got to work.

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 3 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 can pumpkin
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup cinnamon applesauce
  • 1/2 cup apple cider
  • 1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and diced

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour two 9 x 5-inch loaf pans.

Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Combine sugar, pumpkin, eggs, applesauce, and apple cider in large bowl; beat until just blended. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moistened. Fold in apples. Spoon batter into prepared loaf pans.

Bake for 65 to 70 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Welcome, Fall!

I know, it’s not technically Fall yet. And we could have plenty of more hot days before Fall really arrives. It’s just that I look forward to the arrival of Fall with such excitement every year…

Most people want to use Labor Day for one last farewell to summer. The weather is usually right for one last dip in the pool, one more barbecue, another chance for a parade and picnics and playing outside. But I see Labor Day weekend as my “Welcome Fall” celebration.

Labor Day weekend (no matter how hot it may still be) marks the first pot of chili for the Fall and Winter seasons. I love making a big pot of my favorite chili recipe–available on AllRecipes–and there’s something especially delicious about that first batch. The children love to help make it, too–they love opening all the cans, helping me find all the spices from the rack, and smelling every spice that we use to compare and contrast their aromas.

Labor Day weekend is also the time when I start pulling out my favorite Fall baking recipes. I try to make a handful of them only during the Fall season, so that they don’t become too commonplace through the year. So, we look forward to having butterscotch haystacks, and pumpkin and apple bread, and apple cake, and all those delicious things that mean Fall.

Come September 1st, I always take off the light blanket and put the comforter back on the bed. Sure, there will be nights that I regret that decision before the really cool weather arrives, but I always think the bed looks so much nicer with a nice fluffy cover, as opposed to a thin blanket.

Pretty soon I’ll be digging out Fall decorations, too–a few wallhangings and a wreath mostly, but they’re all about fall. Leaves and pumpkins, some scarecrows, and colors all done in reds and oranges and yellows.

Time to start burning my favorite Yankee Candle again (Autumn Wreath), and soon we’ll be drinking apple cider. The windows will be open, with a nice crisp breeze blowing through the house, the evenings will be cool, and everything will feel more cozy. I just love Fall!