settling in . . .

After the long, busy go-go-go days of summer, it takes me a month or so to find a new rhythm and routine. I am sad for a few weeks as the colder days come and I find myself wondering, "What in the world am I going to do all day long inside with these kids?"

And just about now, I finally settle in and I crave shutting everything off, trading the on-the-go schedule for quiet ones and it feels right. And somehow the days still fill up, just in different ways than they did in the summer. And while I still enjoy the thrill and the challenge of juggling activities and opportunities, I smile with the knowledge that the last months of the year bring togetherness and reflection.

Since we have been HOME so much, our biggest excitement lately was when they chopped the field of corn across the road . . . Vince watched out the window for a long time, and then Tom came home and took them on the 4-wheeler out to the field to get a better look.

Of course Tom had to come peeling in the driveway and give them a little scare . . .

Still watching . . .

Really???? Herding a chicken with a 4-wheeler? Only Tom. BEES! Any of our time spent outside comes with a lot of running away from these buggers.

LEAVES!