autumn: sunshine and slaughter

In our little town, there is a corn maze. There may also be a barn full of animals, including piglets. If you ask the farmer a generally friendly question, he may use the word "slaughter" and give you more details than anyone attending a petting zoo would ever want to be told. I'm sparing you the video of the piglets, so you won't be emotionally attached to these animals who may become bacon in the near future. On the flip side though, I do love bacon.

put a bonnet on it

Pretty little bonnet you've got there, you little bust you. Sometimes we can resist the urge to buy something we both love, but most of the time, not so much. Maybe it's our Little House on the Prairie upbringing, or possibly it was just her innocent face, but we had to have her. In fact, we loved her so much that after leaving her in the antique store, we drove back out to buy her because we couldn't get her pretty face off our minds. I imagine she will end up in our girl's room, but for now I'm happy for her to abide in the living room, greeting our guests.

I feel like almost everything I love in my home could belong in a child's room, but maybe that's part of my style. Childish Adult stuff? Or maybe Adultish Child stuff? The world may never know.

mr. tot

This kitten is precious. Today, I am sick. No details necessary, but the nasty kind of sick that no one wants to be. So, I am home from school and work, washing saltine crackers down with water, and enjoying a kitten who completely understands that I need to be snuggled with today.

He's part of our little family. We got him a collar which (after we removed the bell that terrified him) he wears quite dashingly. Remember when Lady gets her collar in Lady and the Tramp? It's one of Tater's favorite movies, so we got him a blue one just like her. Yes, Tater Tot does like certain movies better than others. Most movies we watch he just sleeps through, but he was glued to the screen for Lady and the Tramp. Might have had something to do with all the barking. :)

Also, he loved How to Train Your Dragon. Tater Tot kinda reminds us of Toothless, so we were tickled when it caught his attention. During one of the final end scenes, he left his place on Matthew's swivel chair and climbed up onto my desk to be closer to the movie. His eyes flickered around the scene, and we felt like he was genuinely worried about the well-being of the characters. That one's a nail biter. Eh, Tater? :) So cute.

Today I am thanking the Lord for feline nurses, cozy blankets, and a husband who can't wait to get home to me. Even in sickness, I'm super blessed.

decorations

We still have our homemade birthday streamers up (cut from plastic tablecloths) since it's still Matthew's birthday month. Also, we finally got a pumpkin to help us celebrate the season. I'm already looking forward to pureeing it for our cranberry pumpkin bread. The sunlight on our front porch makes me happy. I'm thinking maybe we'll buy a glass house to live in so we can have well-lit, happy rooms. Except that it could get awkward if we had neighbors, or guests, or children to fingerprint up the windows. Well, Matthew is a window washer. It's settled. Glass house in the country (fifteen minutes from Va Beach) it is. In case you were wondering, there is no country fifteen minutes from Va Beach.

octobers

Me too, Anne. Me too. The trees seem to be on fire lately, and the air smells like bonfires. Speaking of bonfires, Matt's birthday went swimmingly. I enjoyed having Matt's family here almost as much as I enjoyed finishing my last set of midterms. All "A"s so far. Going out with a bang. Fall has always been my favorite season.

midterm week

Oh, how I despise you. You're not only littered with abnormally difficult tests, you're also cold and rainy. No one should have to remember two months worth of classes at seven o'clock in the morning. On the flip side, this is the last time I'll ever have to wade through you, and that is completely delicious.

Matthew's birthday plans are in full swing, and I'm pretty excited about some of his gifts. :) Not that I bought them for me or anything, because that would be just like me, but still something I didn't do. The pinata is made, the presents are {mostly} wrapped, and I'm actually keeping some secrets from him until the end of this week. Normally I don't tell him what I purchased for him, I just force him into a game of twenty questions and feed him good questions to ask until he figures it out. Not this time. No, siree Bob. My lips are zipped, and I've made Matthew promise not to enter into a new game of twenty qs, no matter how hard I beg before the week is up. That is hard-core secret keeping right there.

In other news, this hand embroidered top is gorgeous, and I'm wearing my first scarf of the season. I love the colors and smells of fall, except for the smell of school before the sun rises. Yes, it has a smell. Sick nasty.

streamers and cake

In case you've forgotten, we celebrate entire months for birthdays around here. October began with me leaving my husband a little note with two of his favorite boxes of candy. I'm super excited for Matt's upcoming birthday party, and I have a head stuffed full of ideas that I'm hoping to make a reality before the 13th. It isn't that I don't have the supplies necessary, but more the time when Matt isn't around to accomplish it all. Not that I'm complaining about him being around. I love me some Matthew Gabriel time. Here's hoping I get it all done {and that someone with a camera shows up at the party to take a couple pictures and prove we treat adult parties just like kid parties}.

Here are a couple of the links I'm using for inspiration:

My inspiration for tassle streamers.

My inspiration to make my own pinata.

I'm patterning my pinata after this free bike print. 


What are some of your birthday traditions? A couple of our traditions are to tell the birthday boy everything he is getting before he opens it and to serve him breakfast in bed. ;) I'm a bad secret keeper.