Signs that Fall is Near

Even though it has been pretty warm all week (80's with 90's forecasted for the weekend) there are definite signs that Fall is near. First and foremost are the kids back in school (will post first day pics at the end of this post). Other signs that Fall is near:

1. Cooler nights making sleeping upstairs, where it can get hot even with A/C running all day, much easier


2. Leaves already starting to change and even fall. One tree in our neighborhood has just a few branches of the brightest red leaves that are so pretty.


3. Sweatshirts and pants are starting to replace t-shirts and shorts--at least before this little heat wave.


4. Soccer began with Hannah and Justin's first practices yesterday.


5. New Fall shows are beginning on tv.


6. Over abundance of ZUCHINI! I've really enjoyed cutting it into bitesize pieces and sauteing it with julienned carrots and chopped sweet onion and then wrapping in a tortilla with hummus. I got this idea from my friend, Melanie.


7. I no longer want to bbq for dinner and am ready for soups and stews.


8. Stores are filled with Halloween costumes and decor. I really want to dress Owen in this monkey costume they have at Old Navy, but we already have plenty of costumes to choose from.


9. Christmas stuff is already hitting stores--actually I haven't seen that yet, but I'm sure it's near. If I remember last year, we hadn't even made it through Halloween when Christmas stuff came out.


10. And my favorite sign that Fall is near: Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes are back!!!! I am a happy girl.

I do love Fall. Especially when we have Indian Summer type weather with lots of sun. I hope this fall is filled with lots of clear, crisp days and not a lot of rain. That will come soon enough with winter and on into Spring.

So here are the back to school pics for Hannah and Justin. They both finish up their first full weeks of school tomorrow and are doing really well. We're still trying to get back into the new schedule, but we're getting there. They both have extremely nice teachers and seem to be making lots of friends. Hannah has a few kids from her class last year. Unfortunately, her best friend from last year moved to Ohio at the end of the summer, but she seems to have moved past that easily. They are both doing soccer again and Hannah is going to join a Brownies troop that meets in a couple weeks. She has been wanting to do that since the beginning of last year, but there weren't any open troops until now. She is taking her best friend's spot. I think she will have a lot of fun with that.

Justin would not wear the nice shirt I wanted him to.

Justin did not go until Hannah's 2nd day of school

I can't believe they walk to school together now!