Apple season and September days

September felt like a blur, and even as I'm typing this, I can't believe October is coming to a close. I'm a big backlogged with blog posts. And in a world where (often) the expectation is to create and post something in that moment, I often feel like maybe I shouldn't bother sharing if it's after the fact. But that's ridiculous (right?) and that type of thinking has never been the motivation behind this blog, anyway. Belated or not, there were some wonderful things in September that I wanted to share about, so that's what I'm going to do.

We started another year of homeschool, this time, an official start to kindergarten. Although we did some kindergarten material last year, much of what we covered fell under the realm of pre-k, so proper kindergarten felt like the best fit this year. It's going really well! Of course there moments where it doesn't always feel like the easiest thing, but then there are moments that are pure magic. Cooper is learning so much, and it's a gift to get to witness that as his teacher. Sometime soon, in another blog post, I can share a bit more about the homeschool curriculums I chose for this year.

We had some really stunning sunsets, and on a night when Nicholas had a late appointment, I made the decision to linger outside a bit later than usual to water the garden and allow some subsequent play with the hose. And these photos feel so nostalgic to me. Look at God's handiwork with that sky!

Our 3' x 4' raised bed was truly The Little Garden That Could. We picked dozens upon dozens of tomatoes, many of which I processed into salsa and canned, for a grand total of 28 jars of homemade salsa.

Arlo is growing and changing and melting our hearts, daily. He's on the move! Crawling, trying to pull up on everything, and highly motivated by the dishwasher or lids of any kind. He is laidback and so quick to smile, and I can't possibly imagine our family without him. To say Cooper and Finn adore him is massively understated.

The weekend after this year's family camping trip, we visited a local apple orchard as a family. We kept it simple – we took a tractor ride out to the orchards to pick honeycrisp apples, walked around a bit, and then we rode back to the big barn as it started to rain. We got a combination of their classic fall donuts (pumpkin glaze and apple cinnamon), and a small container of apple cider, per Cooper's request. The barn area was busy, but the orchards were great, it was a fun afternoon, and the boys were so proud of their apples.

The weekend before my birthday, we decided to do an impromptu family day in Chicago. We parked near where Nicholas worked to show the boys his office and then we did a lot of walking. Stopping by Millennium Park to show the boys the fountains and The Bean, we then walked several blocks further for lunch. It was a rather hot day, but the walk back to the parking garage brought some reprieve with a nice breeze and shade from all the buildings. We enjoy a city day every once in awhile.

The next day, Sunday, we went to a local Harvest show featuring antique tractors and farming equipment, a working saw mill, threshing demonstrations, and the like. My Father-in-law, Bob, came with us, too and it was neat to hear his stories from the farm he grew up on. We walked around for a long time, the boys inspecting the steam engines and tractors of all shapes, sizes, and antiques. My Grandpa Bob (my dad's dad) had a steam engine, and this show reminded me a lot of steam shows (like the Western MN Steam Threshers Reunion in Rollag, MN) that my family visited when I was a kid. We all really enjoyed it, and we will be back next year.

When we had our landscaping done last year, the designer included a lot of native plants, specifically, plants that attract pollinators. As such, we saw a lot of butterfly, bee, and other pollinator activity, and we had a front row seat to the life cycle of monarch butterflies. We monitored a few different chrysalises, and while we didn't see the butterflies emerge, we did see them as their wings were drying! So neat.

Other little happy September things:

• the asters put on a show with the brightest fuschia blooms
• math outside with sidewalk chalk
• morning light and baby toys on the floor
• scooter rides around our neighborhood
• coffee at a friends' home after getting caught in a downpour at a park
• a flower my friend's little girl picked for me, and flowers from their garden!
• reading fall picture books from the library. Our very favorites were The Scarecrow (it made both Nicholas and I cry), Too Many Pumpkins, and Ox-cart Man. I actually bought a copy of the latter for us, the boys loved it so much, and I abosolutely loved the illustrations.

And while that wasn't the whole of our September, I think that's all I can squeeze into this post. Thank you for reading these post about my life. All these bright spots of beauty in an ordinary life make it feel extraordinary sometimes. Thank you, God!