Well, it’s still hot here in these St. Louis parts despite my readiness for all things fall! It seems like the moment Labor Day is over, all I can think about is my favorite season. I’m ready for sweaters and jeans, long dresses and boots… but that will be here soon enough. For now, I add a few fall-inspired pieces to my summer staples: here, a dark denim vest I’ve had for several years over a lighter denim jumpsuit.
I do look forward to bundling up a bit, how about you?
How was your Labor Day weekend? We had a really nice time, from a Friday night Ghost Walk with our hilarious friends Maggie and Alex (who are, by the way, quite possibly the best people to go out on the town with) to some lovely friends in our neighborhood inviting us to their family pool for the entire morning. On the same day we dragged the wagon to the playground for a neighborhood birthday celebration and dragged three very dirty, very tired, slightly sunburned little boys home for bed! 
There were apple-cheddar hand pies and 31 pounds of apples juiced for our first batch of hard cider… and our fruit and vegetable drawers are stick chock full of apples! There was banjo playing and book reading, as well as plenty of garden and yard work. We got lettuces in the ground and began a major early fall clean-up. 
We also have four big orange pumpkins growing and growing amidst the kale, tomatoes, beets, and carrots. I have no idea how to keep ’em coming til October! 
Milo, Oliver, and Emil were hard at work all weekend too. They have started doing jobs around the house for extra money in addition to the few chores they are responsible for. And in the spirit of things, we encourage them to save up their money and to ask us for jobs if they want to earn extra. Now they ask for jobs several times a day and let’s just say their money pile grows while ours shrinks… even when only doling out 50 cents here and a dollar there… they are ambitious (especially Oliver)!
And speaking of Oliver, he has been fighting off quite a nasty cold so will likely be staying home from school an extra day, poor little guy. 
I hope your Tuesday is a beautiful one!
Yesterday was Emil & Oliver’s first day of Montessori! Milo has been going all week and loving it, but it was really something special to see all of them marching up to their classrooms (the school is on large wooded grounds and has many house-like buildings; each building is a classroom) hand-in-hand, giving kisses and hugs good-bye, and disappearing into these magical places…
Also, they look sad above because I asked them to stop exploring the fallen tree in our side yard to sit for a picture. A quick storm had blown through on Wednesday evening, leaving this destruction: 
The tree is actually in our neighbor’s yard, but happened to fall into ours, and because so many trees and huge limbs fell in our neighborhood that evening, workers are pretty backlogged trying to clear it all away… so I think the boys will be happy to see that the fallen tree remains when they get home from school again today. 
Yesterday was also Andrew’s birthday, but I’m afraid this whole school thing overshadowed his special day. That and the fact that we had our first Trapeze II class last night, so it was a rush to get dinner for the boys and get out the door for the class. Poor Andrew! I promise to make it up to you, darlin’! 
All three boys are adjusting really well to school, and Andrew and I feel such a peace with our decision to send them here. Oliver and Emil just talk and talk and talk about everything the whole way home from school while Milo immediately picks up his Magic Tree House book and starts right where he left off that morning. He is quite a bookworm these days; it is the first thing he does when he wakes up in the morning and the last thing he does before falling asleep at night: read, read, read!
Thank you for all of your kind and encouraging comments, as well as the challenging ones. I appreciate and read them all! Have a beautiful Labor Day weekend!
Yes, this skirt again! I imagine Dress That Mama gets a little dull for some of you out there, as many of my clothes are on repeat around here with little variations on the same theme. But I feel that I should be honest here. I actually feel quite unsettled when I happen upon those fashion blogs where one woman wears a different outfit every day of the week and posts them every single day — a completely different, brand new outfit. I find my mind traveling to a crazy place… a place of excess. Where does one keep all those clothes and shoes? What is it like to open a closet, heck, an entire room full of clothing to get dressed in the morning? For me it would feel like panic. And a bit of shame. And maybe dissatisfaction?
So yes, it’s boring around here. I wear this skirt twice a week at least — to dinners and breakfasts, birthday parties and pool parties. And jean shorts another two days. And maybe a dress, or jeans or jumpsuit if it’s cool enough. But if you are still getting anything out of these posts, let me know. I hate to beat a dead horse…
How about you? What’s the one thing you find yourself putting on over and over again these days?
Over at The Washington Post today for a little piece I wrote on mindful parenting. Check it out if you’re up for more!
And have a wonderful day…