This week ushered in the first official day of fall. Fall is my one of my favorite times of year (I can’t forget Christmas time). I love the colors, the decorations, and the fact that the temperature (usually) starts to dip down a teeny bit. We kept ourselves quite busy this week.
Paul was working, obviously, but he also squeezed in time to finish putting together and installing the new little free library at the park. The old one had gotten worn down over time, so Paul started gathering supplies (a cabinet was donated by someone in the neighborhood and then he used bits of the old library and some other scrap pieces of wood…plus paint and varnish) and got a new one built. He did have a bit of help with some of the assembly as well as the installation, which was greatly appreciated.
Joseph and Abigail were busy at school. Joseph is enjoying GT and was excited to get to visit the Book Fair with his class. Abigail was just excited to go to school, period. We did have a little bit of a hiccup towards the end of the week (Thursday) when she developed a low-grade fever and some congestion. I discovered it in time to keep her home from school, but that meant that I needed to make her a doctor’s appointment (Friday) so that she could get a note and a covid test. Thankfully, the results were negative and her fever was gone the next day. She’s still a bit congested, but she’s getting better and she’s already acting normally again. She’ll be excited to be able to go back to school on Monday.
I’ve really enjoyed walking during this slightly cooler weather. It’s also nice to see the beautiful sunrises. What we’ve been doing is walking Joseph to school and then going on a longer walk with just me and Abigail. A few times, I even went on a second walk by myself after I walk Abigail to school (she starts in the late morning/early afternoon and then gets picked up at the same time as Joseph). It really is my favorite time of year!
We discovered this cool guy when we got home from one of our early morning walks.One of my friends told me it’s called a calleta silk moth. It was just sitting there, slowly flapping its wings. I think it might have just left its cocoon and was trying to let its wings dry, still.Cool sunrise.She loves gathering leaves and flowers on our walks. My only rule is that they need to be on the ground (no picking). The clouds and sun were so cool!The toads found a cool place to stay…in my flowerpot, haha.Pretty sunrise along with bumpy clouds. It was really breezy, which felt wonderful!I’m a sucker for a beautiful sunrise!I just couldn’t get over how cool the clouds looked.Fall evenings are so beautiful. There’s something kind of magical about that early evening sunshine peeking through the green leaves.Thursday morning was chilly enough to warrant wearing warmer clothes.For nine years, we’ve just stacked the bathtub toys along the ledge…and it was never a problem until I had one kid showering and one kid bathing. It’s inevitable during Thing One’s shower that at least one toy (and often more, in a domino-esque way) comes tumbling down. So I started my search for tub toy storage. I didn’t want one that had to be affixed to the tub surround in any way (suction cups, adhesive, etc.) because, well, I was worried about weight (imagining it waiting until the middle of the night to fall and make an atrocious noise) and residue. I also didn’t want one that didn’t drain on its own because I knew I would never remember to drain it…and what I would consequently eventually find doesn’t leave pleasant thoughts in my head, either. Then I stumbled onto this one. The mesh is made of PVC, so it’s less likely to mold/mildew, it simply snaps onto the side bar of the tub, and it even has a zipper along the bottom so that toys can be quickly dumped into the tub. I also like the two snaps that kind of keep the top stabilized so that it stays pretty balanced.Abigail noticed this guy sitting on the screen door. He was huge! Hopefully he moved along without munching on my plants first.The new post for the new little free library.The little free library.Stocked with some books (we rely on donations from the neighborhood for that).Paul even put on a light so that it’s easy to see at night (it’s motion-sensing and solar powered).I love Halloween in San Antonio. I have always loved Dia de Los Muertos. I love the vibrant colors, the symbolism, the focus on family bonds…it’s just wonderful. This was set up on an end cap at our local grocery store and I couldn’t help but snap a quick picture. It’s just a perfect representation of a San Antonio Halloween.Abigail fell in love with this little skeleton dog at the store. She even named it Zero. 😁 I’m such a sucker for Halloween that it came home with us.I found this cute bandana pumpkin (with a burlap stem) at the store and it ended up in my cart. It’s the perfect mix of “fall” and “Texas”. 😂I also found a little light-up Sally pumpkin for Abigail. She was pretty excited and had to go find her Sally doll so they could be together. I also got Joseph a light-up pumpkin (it looks like the poison-covered pumpkin from Disney’s Descendants), but he has it squirreled away in his room already.The annual cheesecake. I normally make it for Paul’s birthday, but we decided to wait a week and have it as dessert for our game night with friends.
