Up a Tree. . .

Kind of like up a creek. . .

That is the way this week started out for me. Too much to do in too little time. And, to be quite honest with you, I really do not like to be busy. I like to sip my coffee and smell the roses. I am not content in the rush, rush, hurry, hurry of life. I much prefer boring. Thus, I began this week stressed, frazzled, and downright unhappy. But, with a view like this out my living room window. .

combined with several rainy days, how could I not find peace amongst the chaotic.

I don't have to look much farther than the eyes of my sweet children to see peace in the midst of craziness. I don't know about other children, but mine don't worry much at all. They are quite content to trust my timetable which frees them up to find joy in the moment. They know that I (and their father) are in control, and they are submissive to that control (for the most part :-)). They trust us, and they are content to live freely within the boundaries set for them out of love. I could learn a lesson from them!

There is something about this time of year that is so peaceful, so good. Our backyard is not at all fancy. We rarely, if ever, weed our flower beds, and there is a lot of landscaping yet to be done. But, our land is "natural" pretty, to me, anyway, especially this time of year. And, I find myself wandering the yard while the boys play ~ listening to the crunching of leaves beneath my feet and looking at all the brightly colored trees. My backyard is my favorite retreat. It is peaceful country, my sweet home where my children laugh and run and play, and I love it.



I love the swing set in the fall. . .


We have almost enough leaves to rake into piles and play in, but not quite! There are still a few trees that have yet to turn. Won't be long. I love to watch them fall when the wind blows, but I mourn the day when they have all fallen. It always comes much too quickly.

Anyway, I digress. . . Amidst the craziness of our busy week, we had a lot of fun, too. Joshua learned to climb a new tree, and he was so proud of himself! Most of the trees in our yard either have branches too high to climb or the trees, themselves, are too small to climb. He took out several small limbs on his way up this one, so I fear Daddy may put an end to his tree climbing days! That is why I made sure to get a few good pictures!


We discovered that we could make a broom stand up on its own and an egg. I'm not sure why? Maybe it has something to do with the time change? Is it the Equinox? I am not sure, but it was fun! Thanks to Mrs. Donna for telling us to try it out!

In other news. . .

I scream! You scream! We all scream for ICING!!!!

We, also, had a fun visit with an old friend of Erik's, Drew. I really love it when Drew comes to visit! He is so easy to have in our home. He comes about once a year, and he just fits right in with all the fun of our happy household!! The boys adore him! They were all over him, and he was so sweet and playful with them! He has a boy and two girls, and it is easy to tell that he is a great Daddy! Three mornings a week I have only two little men to keep me company, and it is sweet time, yes, sweet, sweet time! I love doing baby things with them. Lijah loves the attention he receives from me on those mornings! I took this picture to remember these sweet days. Here are my little buddies eating lunch together! And, last night our family went to our church's fall festival! It was very fun! The boys loved the costumes Erik surprised them with!! Go SEC!!!!!
Miss Megan, our faithful and sweet babysitter, made these cute bags for the boys to put their Halloween candy in! She is so artsy! I wish I was!!!!


The week is winding down now. Only one party left! Hooray! I told Erik that I missed the quiet days of old when we didn't have to get up and go, go, go all day ~ when I sat and held Joshua and watched Veggie-tales or played with blocks for hours. He wasn't very sympathetic. He said, "Well, you better get used to it. It won't be that calm and quiet again until they are all in college." And, I am certainly not ready for that! But, seriously where has time gone?

This last picture is for Deana B. She knows why.