soaking up autumn

Our weekend started with pizza dinner at Pizza Luce in Hopkins Friday evening. Just the day before I had gotten braces for the second time in my life. The first time I was 13 or 14, and I'm now an adult in her 30s with ceramic clear braces. Lately I seem to notice, and have read articles, that now more than ever, adults are getting braces. Even with permanent retainers, my teeth have shifted, and so here I am again with the dreaded metal mouth. I had to take a lot of ibuprofen to help with my sore mouth over the weekend, but now they feel fine. I'm still getting used to having brackets on my teeth! Thankfully, I have them on my top 8 and bottom 8 only, so my back teeth are getting lots of use for chewing. Hopefully I only have to wear them for 8-10 months.

While dining, Grace observed a man with a huge red beard eating at another table and called him a lion. He was not within earshot, so I asked her quietly, "Where is the lion?" She pointed right at the guy and said, "Right there." Brett and I were dying!

After Stella's swimming lesson and Grace's determination to skip her nap, we decided to head out to Apple Jack Orchards. What a beautiful day for a visit to a great family-oriented orchard! Side note--Stella loves swimming lessons. She isn't afraid to try new skills, and the teacher informed us that she'll be ready to advance to the next level. Our "sunfish" will soon be a "pike".

Stella's favorite part of the outing was feeidng the animals. She was so patient and determined to get the goats and sheep to come to her.

The girls had a blast exploring the grounds and jumping on the haystacks.

Over the past week, I've had a nagging cold that wouldn't go away, and Sunday evening I felt much worse, and by Monday morning I knew I had to go to the doctor to see what was up. Turns out the antibiotics I had in September for a sinus infection apparently hadn't done the job, and so I have another one plus hay fever plus lots of inflammation in my sinuses, so she suggested a regimen of a steroid plus antibiotic plus Nasonex. The steroid and antibiotic combination has not been fun. My stomach feels queasy nearly all day. I take about 8 pills total throughout the day, and they're affecting my sleep in that I don't feel sleepy until after midnight, and then I wake up a few times throughout the night. Aah! I will be glad when the sixth day hits and I'll be done with these. I actually hate being on antibiotics, so I'm trying to take probiotics to help my gut heal. 

My worst days were Monday and Tuesday, and on Tuesday Brett kindly came home early to take the girls on a nice long walk so I could rest. He had to work from home the rest of the afternoon, but just having him around and available was so nice. Also--a shoutout to my dear friend Laura for coming by and bringing me my BSF lesson and notes that I missed Tuesday. You are a peach!

Lastly, here is what fall looks around our house--probably pretty similar to your decor. :) I love getting our mums for the deck, decorating the fireplace mantel, and gathering our autumn and Halloween-related books for the girls' book basket. 

The little wreath on our mantel is a little craft Stella and I worked on this week. When Brett took them on a walk, they gathered beautiful leaves, and when they got home, she and I attached them to a holed-out paper plate. Thank you for the inspiration, Pinterest. 

A couple Sundays ago, we enjoyed a bonfire in our backyard, and Stella and Grace were so thrilled roasting and eating hotdogs outside. I hope we can have a few more fires outside before autumn bows out.

Making pumpkin bread!

From the looks of my Instagram feed, many of you are taking advantage of all the fun and beauty the fall season gives us. It's a bummer how short this season passes, so hopefully we can all make the most of it while it lasts!