and on the first official day of fall….

I thought I’d share all the fall things around my house. Nothing crazy…. Not much new this year other than a nod to Hocus Pocus 2 coming out here shortly and no real pumpkins inside, only faux! But decorating gave me something to do on those first few days when the kids left for school…. And now here it is! And yes, my reading room is still a playroom…

life lately…

Oh these first few weeks of school have just been flying! We are on our third week already…. And the days are short! Every single night of the week has us at some sort of sport. Dom decided he too wanted to play ball! That’s been the biggest shocker and he has been loving it! So theres that. Baseball and field hockey take our evenings and weekends… during the week I have been working as often as I can and when I can’t I have some mom lunches of course! I decorated for fall inside and out (more on that later)…. Lots of good eats and hanging with old friends…. A tie dye sleepover and of course lots of ice cream! Friends who watch my kids while I work at the truck and friends who take the boys to baseball…. What a life lately but I wouldn’t change it for the world!

matt’s first fortieth birthday celebration

When asked what Matt wanted to do to celebrate his fortieth turn around the sun all he said was that he wanted a regular Friday night with who we have started referring to as “the Philly group.” And being that his birthday isn’t for a few weeks I figured he would never ever guess that last Friday was going to be that Friday. I got empanadas and Spanish rice…. Margaritas and balloons….an ice cream cake! Friends brought all the taco things and buffalo chicken and delicious goodies from an Italian bakery… the kids swam a little… hung out inside a little…. And it was just what the birthday man wanted! So it begins, the first of many! Thank you to our friends for their generosity and all of the things!

harrison is five!

Oh so hard to believe this boy is five! I feel like he has been a part of our lives forever and can’t imagine a time when he wasn’t around! This little sweetie requested a boys day for his birthday so prior to his party all the men in our family went bowling and played arcade games at Decades. This kid just living the boy dream! And well done Poppop on the documenting!!

a basement refresh

So I was decorating for fall and smattering pumpkins all over and I realized I had never shared our new and improved basement that was finished like… before Christmas?My brother and his wife had sort of recently finished theirs and I loved how bright it was and the fun accent walls so I brought it up to Matt, matte dark blue walls be gone! It is amazing what some paint and trim can do! The “art” work, which I use that term loosely, I did myself with a sharpie and some paint… the rest of the wall decor was from Amazon except the macrame piece on the stairs which is by Letty…and all shelf decor was from a local home decor warehouse which takes a lot of my money hence why I stay away…. I love it so much more down here! And do you notice what is missing? No more toys!!! Gasp! Some day I foresee a round table and chairs in that big wide open area… someday!

Previously basement updates here. Always changing things up!

our final weeks of summer….

I feel like I say “all the things!” all of the time. Because that is what I try to do for the kids… days full of all the things, all the people, all the traditions, all the making of memories with family and friends. No opportunity missed and all that! Our last few weeks of summer were just chock full of them! Corn freezing and pool swims… day and night! Ice cream trucks and farm flowers…a playground on the bucket list, a new loft bed in the making and a Bulls lunch! Starbies and a final day at Nonna’s! A final library run and another Twisted Sister run! The schools had their open houses and more time with friends! Hersheypark and grill time and pool time oh my! Summer of 2022? You were long and lovely and I miss you already!

the first day of school!

How did this happen? Didn’t we just have our last day of school with a fourth grade graduation? Weren’t we just in the Outerbanks? And somehow despite all my protestations, the first day of school arrived. Everything was prepped the night before… outfits laid out and lunches packed… I hate packing lunches and I haven’t had to since march of 2020 as our district provided free hot lunches…. This is a trigger for me. But they were ready. One of three excited…. But all three of three ready. I hope that this fifth, sixth and second grade year is a good one. A safe one. A normal one. I hope that each kid wants to go and has good day after good day. Dom has never been to public school on a normal year…. David is at the middle school….and Letty is just such a little lady, mothering her siblings along the way. My ears were ringing from the silence…. I decorated for fall and Matt and I went out for burgers all to pass the time till they came home…. And then ice cream! 

I know it has to happen. But I hate the passing of time. The changing of the seasons. Another year older… and a new one just begun…

labor day

Otherwise known as the final day of summer vacation!!! Insert tears!! That must have been why it rained so much because the weather felt our mood. The end. And what a summer we have had! So on the final day our family came over and we swam while we could and ate all the good foods and huddled under umbrellas and ate more good foods before calling it an early night…. For tomorrow was school!

apple picking

I know traditionally this is a fall activity but I also know our weekends will be full of all things sports so I wanted to squeeze this in as a family…. Making those memories! Matt even decided to come along! My sister and her kids came as well and we picked all the honeycrisp! And then I went home to find a use for said apples!

maverick!

Matt has been waiting to watch this movie for so so long! Like Covid long! It finally came out on prime and we planned to watch it as a family but then our friends heard and so a Maverick night had to be! But first swimming! And pizza! Then the movie and it was just so so good! All sorts of nostalgia! And of course aviators!

a trovato swim

My brother and his wife had a pool put in this summer and we had ourselves a big ole swim at the end of August! Great food and drinks, pool hangs and sand table hangs…. Letty had herself a little buddy the entire day! And then we ended the night with a movie outside under the stars!

a final water park run

The water park closes it’s doors on Labor Day so when my sister asked if we wanted to visit one more time for the summer I jumped on it. They got on some rides… the lazy river and then the big wave pool! It was a perfect little afternoon! No regular rides needed, just water!

mini golfing

I have quite a lot of catching up to do on this space as of late…. The past few weeks have been chock full of all the things and getting all the fun in before school starts…. And oh that list was mini golfing! The kids participated in the library’s summer reading program and got free passes for a local place so off we went, with friends!!! I’m fairly certain there was a lot of cheating going on where my boys were concerned…. I had so many photos of my chin and no idea why! Ha! It was hot and the course was hard so we rewarded the kids with some ice cream!!!!