Hi friends. Hope it’s been a great week for you.
Well, I caved this week and started to embrace fall. I bought a jar of pumpkin butternut squash sauce at ALDI and cooked my first fall-themed dinner. I also picked up some pumpkin-themed items from ALDI’s Special Buys section – how cute is the doormat? The mums and pumpkins will be making an appearance on my front porch before you know it! 🙂
In other domestic news, I MADE A CRAFT! One of my goals for this school year is to do more little things for Finn’s teachers and the school leadership to thank them for all that they do. It’s our fourth year at this school and what a blessing it has been to drop Finn off every day knowing he’s safe, nurtured and having a blast in a play-based learning environment. I will cry so many tears at the end of this TK year when I have to say goodbye to these incredible educators and the magical place they have created.
A Pinterest search for “back to school teacher gifts” led me to these fun “C” themed jars. I included a Chick-Fil-A gift card, Starbucks gift card, candy and brownies in each one and wrote a personal note on the back of each card.
Let’s keep going with this theme. Another goal that I have for this fall is to “make my house a home.” I want to focus on small, budget-friendly things that I can do to make my space cozier, warmer and feel more finished. I bought my house three years ago and did a big push of projects in the beginning but have lost steam the last couple of years. I’m focusing on things like getting art on the walls, printing and hanging family photos up the stairwell, hanging curtains in some rooms, switching out throw pillows, area rugs, etc.
I got started with area rugs during Labor Day sales. I added switched out the rug under my dining room table. I actually loved the rug that I had but it was beyond being able to be helped by vacuuming and carpet cleaning. I ordered the same rug but in a a darker color that hopefully won’t show as much dirt. This is a high-traffic area for the dogs. FYI: this is the salt and pepper color in the 7×9 size.
I also ordered a rug for my bedroom. I’ve never had a rug in here and I like the coziness it adds to the room. I’m also going to hang curtains.
When the rugs arrived, I couldn’t wait to get them down. Because I am stubborn, I figured out a way to get both down myself. The dining room rug required me sitting under the table and shoulder pressing the table off the ground to roll the rug out. The bedroom rug required some serious deadlifting to get the bed up enough to slide the rug under. DID IT!
(headboard, bedding set, rug)
I’m also in the process of fully decking Finn’s room out in Pokemon. Never thought I’d be into themed rooms like this but he loves it so much that I love it!
I’ll keep y’all posted on my house progress. 🙂
(tank, sports bra, shorts, socks, shoes)
In other exciting news, I’ve embarked on half marathon training! I did my first long run on Sunday and got 8 miles in. It was hard but overall it felt really, really good. I am very casually and conservatively training for the Charlotte Marathon half on November 4. I will see how my body tolerates the training and will pivot to the relay if it says no thank you.
Finn’s latest athletic endeavor is gymnastics! He has really enjoyed visiting this gym for open gym/tot time for a few years so I decided to enroll him in a formal weekly class. We’re loving it so far!
Park season is back and we are here for it! Our neighborhood pool closed for the season last weekend but fortunately the weather is cooling off enough to make afternoons at the park a thing again.
We met friends at the park this afternoon and stayed for almost three hours. Finn had a blast playing with other kids and I enjoyed connecting with other moms. We have a pretty awesome park in walking distance from our house and it just got a sweet equipment upgrade. We will be there a lot this fall, I’m sure!
And for an update on the furry creatures, they are sweet as ever. Finn told me tonight when I was putting him down that our house has “two boys and two girls.” Really looking forward to getting back to more regular long walks with them now that the temps are coming down. The last couple months of summer have been pretty brutal with heat and humidity. Excited to see some lows in the 50s coming soon! Morning and evening walks will be soooo nice!
Time to wind down for bed.
QUESTIONS
Have you started decorating for fall?
What’s on your home project list right now?
What extracurriculars are your kiddos doing this fall?
