Monday Morning Coffee

Good Monday morning! I hope you had a lovely weekend, wherever you were and whatever you did. I am really fixated on all the fall things lately. I want to make sure I am taking it all in and appreciating it because these few days of vibrant, colorful leaves glistening in the sun, slowly drifting downward, their job almost done, are gone too soon. Each season has its crowning achievement for me, and these few days are just that for autumn. We have taken it all these past few days. Let me show you.

It was beautiful and cozy, and I felt like we were in Stars Hallow ~ for all the Gilmore Girls people out there! Afterward, I was happy in my cozy place. 

Thanks to the magic of technology, we can stay in constant touch with Peyton and Chris. Here are the pumpkins she grew from last year's pumpkin seeds!

And, of course, my momma. My sister Margie makes sure I get to share in all their fun. Saturday was Trick-or-Treat night in my tiny hometown, and they passed out all their candy!

Well, it's time to get this last week of October underway! I plan to watch some of my favorite Halloween movies, enjoy festive food, turn off the lights, and watch a Halloween Ambiance YouTube video. This cozy, spooky, time won't return for another year!

Billie Jo

 

Monday Morning Coffee And Ghosts Of Halloween Past

 

Good Monday morning! There are only ten days until Halloween. I have loved this holiday since I was a kid, wearing the plastic costume that came in the box with the mask that made breathing impossible. I loved Halloween party day when I was a teacher. I loved the little seven-year-olds laughing when I couldn't tell who they were in their costumes. I loved the simple but festive cupcakes with orange icing and the cups of orange Kool-Aid sitting on their little wooden desks when they returned from the costume parade. 

I loved Halloween with my little ones, who started thinking about their costumes in July when the magazines began arriving in the mail. I loved planning Halloween night dinner and rushing to put costumes on before loading up in the van with plastic pumpkin buckets waiting to be filled with candy. Steve drove, and I organized, sorting wands, capes, coats, and masks. Each year, the kids grew older and taller, and the costumes changed - except my little Cinderella, who made an appearance several years in a row - and I remember vividly sitting in the van watching them go house to house, thinking that one Halloween night would be the last time for dress up and candy. I need not have worried.

We still celebrate Halloween here. The kids still dress up, and now we have a Halloween party complete with a costume contest, games, prizes, and festive food. Someday, I know, this too will end. Someday, my four will have families of their own, and while I will miss this fun, spooky time with them, I have so many happy memories of Halloweens past to look back on and smile.

Happy Almost Halloween. my friends!

Billie Jo

Monday Morning Coffee

 

Good Monday morning, my friends! Welcome to the middle of October. I love this time of year, as you no doubt already know. These next few weeks, however, are some of my favorites. Slowly, almost unnoticeably, the shift occurs. For me, the pumpkin spice obsessions, bright afternoons, and vibrant leaf-covered trees that define early autumn are replaced with cloudy days and earlier nights, chilly enough for the heat to kick on afternoons and spooky movies on TV at night.

I plan on intentionally enjoying these next two weeks and promise to live in the now, the time of cozy, spooky fun. Come November 1, I can shift into all things Christmas. (No matter how tempted I am by the Target and Home Goods Christmas placemats, ornaments, and throw blankets they shove at me.)

That being said, do you prefer

Reese Peanut Butter Pumpkins or colorful candy corn?

It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown or Michael Myers Halloween?

Colorful leaves on trees or crunchy leaves on the sidewalk?

Pumpkin patches or Haunted houses?

Whatever you enjoy, savor it. These next two weeks will pass before we know it, and we will be knocking on the door of Christmas. (Which I also love, by the way.) Today is a homeschool day for us, and that is about it. We have some groceries to pick up, and  I can finally pull on some of my Halloween sweaters and sweatshirts!!!! 

Thanks for visiting, my friends. And if you want to get even more in the spirit, search YouTube for Halloween ambiance. It takes enjoying this time of year to a whole new level!

BillieJo

P. S. 

My answers are Peanut butter pumpkins, Halloween, Crunchy leaves, and Pumpkin patches.

Monday Morning Coffee

 

Good Monday morning! I hope today finds you cozy, healthy and rested. Or at least one of the three! Well, yesterday was the first day I finally felt fall. The air was cool, and the leaves were falling a bit, and it just looked like fall. I just love that feeling. I wish I could put into words the happiness and contentment I feel when I step outside and feel the crisp air, smell the familiar scent of leaves, acorns, and tree nuts in the air, and see the trees shake off their leaves and watch them swirl to the ground. It is nostalgic, cozy, and home to me. That feeling is me, back in my childhood home, after dinner with my family in the TV room where my dad started a fire in the big stone fireplace as the night stretched before us. That is why I love fall. 

Our first fall weekend here looked a bit different than at home, but it was no less wonderful. Friday night, Rhett, Kyrstin, Flynn, and I went to the movies to see The Creator. I knew nothing about it except it is a science fiction film about the future on Earth, but it was really good! Very suspenseful. 

Saturday morning, Steve and I went to the farmer's market and got apples, potatoes, carrots, garlic, onions, eggs, and delicious Amish bread. I am looking forward to roasting the vegetables tonight! Then, we did a quick clean of the house. I did the bathrooms, Flynn swiffered the floors, and Steve unloaded the dishwasher and tidied the kitchen. I threw in a few loads of laundry and folded them before we headed to the beach for the night. The condo is only ten minutes from the house, so we dropped Mocha off and went to a beautiful mass. We went to dinner at a new-to-us Italian restaurant before heading in for the night. 

Yesterday was a cozy day. Steve and Rhett headed to an antique car show, while I did not. When they returned, we watched in shock as our Steelers somehow managed to win a game that, to quote my dear father, "They had no business winning!" After the game, Steve and I took a couple chairs down and sat on the beach like the old married couple we are. The beach in October fits me perfectly. It is cool, not hot. Quiet, not crowded. But still so beautiful and calming. As we sat there, I remembered the days back when we had three and then four children with us. Some splashed in the waves, while others happily stayed with me, playing with our Sesame Street sand toys and making "cake" for me to eat. (Any guess who that was?!) I remembered thinking back then, when I saw an older couple alone on that beach, that someday that would be us. It was not imaginable at that busy, blessed, fun time in my life thinking that these little ones would not always be mine and mine alone. I knew in my heart they would grow up, as that is what they are supposed to do, but it seemed so far in the distance I couldn't even catch a glimpse. Suddenly, we are here. Sitting alone on the beach on a late Sunday afternoon. Thankfully, God blessed us with Flynn, who, at almost fourteen, is the best child ever and allows us to continue the very best vocation ever. And although no longer the little guy with the silly grin, Rhett, at 21, also enjoys spending time with us, and we are so thankful. Madison and Peyton are hours away right now, but they are always in my heart and on my speed dial. Through the magic of cell phones, we get pictures of each of their days. Like Madison and Nicolas making dinner...

And Peyton with her beautiful dog Jenny and the perfect pumpkins she grew!

Our weekend here summed up in a few too many photos:

Well, it's time for me to get going. Today, Flynn and I will homeschool. I plan on making chicken and vegetables for dinner and working on some laundry. I hope you have a cozy Monday, my friends. Thanks for reading!

BillieJo