S'mores & Stuff

The previous owners of our house cleared out a fire pit area in one corner of the backyard. We kind of let it go (weeds galore) and were planning to tear it out and put down grass, but this past week Doug got it cleaned out and we tested it by having Doug's sister and her family come over for a s'mores night. The kids had so much fun, and I think we are keeping the fire pit now. Hahaha! We just need to clean it up a bit more, and then we can have a few more fall fires before the snow gets here.

Here's a couple pictures I snagged off Snapchat. It's so fun that Nicole has two cousins close in age; Claire is only 7 months older than her! Austin and Alex are both too young to join the frolicking, but just give it a few months.

In other news...

Nicole is taking dance this school year, and she LOVES it. She gets to be introduced to tap, jazz, ballet, and then they do a little creative movement segment at the end of each class. She was hesitant on the first day, but now she goes striding into her class with a loud "BYE, MOM!" and a wave. She mentions dance class throughout the week and tells me she wants to go. It's kind of sad that it's only once a week. She loves her "noise shoes" (tap shoes).

Here she is on her first day with her little bag that she carries her shoes in. Look at that huge smile! Dang, she's growing up. Staaaaaahp.

As for me, I'm just giddy that fall is here. My enthusiasm is rubbing off on Nicole because she is suddenly obsessed with pumpkins. I scored a "10 Little Pumpkins" book from the dollar section at Target and Nicole had me read it at least a dozen times in a row that afternoon. I'm not exaggerating. I look forward to letting her pick out a pumpkin later in the season.

Ah, fall. My kids get to wear long sleeve shirts/sweaters when we go to play in the early mornings now! The all-together playground is probably Nicole's most requested venue, although she enjoys going up in the canyon a lot too (which is even colder!). Austin is game for anything, of course, but especially if it means he gets to go on a swing. The kid loves swinging.

We have lots of fun plans on our radar for the autumn season, from family coming to visit us...to Cornbelly's...to a vacation that has been in the works for months and I think Nicole will be ecstatic about. I'M certainly excited!

Oh, and I made my first pumpkin-flavored dish of the season. Pumpkin & sausage soup with homemade bread. YUM. Perfect to eat on that rainy Friday last week. I'm making a butternut pasta with pumpkin sauce later this week. Cookies are on my list after that. Can't stop, won't stop!

Happy fall, ya'll!