just in case you were thinkin otherwise

kat asked a while back to see our 'stuff,' and i've heard tell that some think i am gettting it all done with style. here is the couch/living room on the day we got the winter clothes out. we had a friend over that day. she said, 'wow! your house is messy!' yup. sentaku no yama (that's mount laundry to y'all) had definitely done some major vocanic action that day. it is down to a mere one basket peak today, thank goodness. here's wishing everyone out there, especially the supermamas a day of little laundry and lots of laughs.

10 things to love right now

(soulemama asked....)

1. unabashed enthusiasm for halloween in the form of asking several times daily when i will have a chance to start working on costumes. (i think the cutting will happen tonight)
2. as always, the oranges and reds of fall, such as these:3. the japanese maple in our front yard

4. fall food, and its colors, such as the carmelized cippolini onion and chard empanadas we had for supper with acorn squash rings.
5. this boy and his many disguises and occupations

6. Eleanor's new habit of taking up her knitting when we get home as a way of calming down.
7. Listening to Robert father the children gently when he knows I am tired.
8. Hanging out at my local farm as a 'will work for foodie' and experiencing vegetable therapy as i work off my tomato debt.
9. Eating fresh salsa and enjoying the sight of jars of sauce in freezer and on shelves.
10. The friendship of my children, and our ability to be with each other, even the waxing and waning of it in this wild life.

and you, out there in the blogosphere... what about you?

oh and the tomodachi factor

that's buddies...

there is happiness in the air

i think it's a pretty good day when you can run out of gas and burn dinner, and still end up feeling like things are good. that was today. of course, an angel came and rescued us with a gas can AND a ride back to our car. and dinner, well if i flipped the fritatta over, it just seemed like a crusty part, not like i had cremated it under the broiler while searching for a cassette tape so gus could make spooky noises for a 'haunted room' effect.
here is some of what i am loving today:

toothy toothless grins
colorful fall art
leaves
hikes in the woods

Many Days are Bright in October.....

Red and yellow leaves on the Autumn trees are floating everywhere.

It is raining, I am knitting and sewing and being my crafty fall self. I don't have any photos of it though. We went camping, finally. To the redwoods. I have some photos of that but I'm not going to put them in this post, because I need to go to bed early and it's already 11:00.

We have been never-at-homeschoolers lately. I have a dream of staying home and just knitting with the kids for a few days straight. it hasn't happened yet. we have 3 days for sure in town a week this year. violin, ballet, cello, gymnastics and german, park day and now a new gym day.... when do we get to just chill at the homestead, ma? ma does not know.

ma does not seem to ever loose her cool. did you notice that, too when you were reading the Little House books? "Charles!" is about as hot under the collar as she ever gets. and she didn't even have whiskey or tranquilizers. or at least not that laura ever remembered. well, neither do i, but i definitely get more ruffled than ma. tonight a friend was over and the kids were playing little house, and at dinner all 3 girls did not talk unless the adults talked to them. Gus was Pa so he got to talk. It was great! That was a good idea those folks had. I am in major noise overload lately and wonder why it is that all of the kids seem to have gotten my resonance gene and not the softspoken dad gene? why? when we were in the woods it took the whole time we were there to quiet down a bit. now the volume has been turned back up to eleven. ah well, a lesson to this ma to chill and speak softly and calmly and lead by example.

more soon with photos.