Ten on Tuesday.

1. Fall is here, and I know this because it was barely thirty degrees when I came back from my run this morning.

2. There are several good things about fall, such as soup. We made one of our favorites, Lentil Soup, over the weekend. Thankfully, there are enough leftovers for Fisher and I to eat for lunch.

3. Another good thing: books. Lots of new releases, and of course, they all came in for me at the library at the same time. The kids and I plowed through Neil Gaiman's new one, Fortunately the Milk, over the weekend, and I am refusing to return it to the library until I read it again. Delightful.

4. We are now onto The Year of Billy Miller, and are then moving onto Flora and Ulysses.

5. Might as well celebrate new releases in music, while we're at it - John Mayer, Jack Johnson, and The Avett Brothers, yay!

6. This past weekend was a 4-day for every student in the state of Minnesota, and we did it up right by having a child come down with a terrible cold, thus cancelling both a birthday party he was supposed to attend, and a date night his parents were supposed to attend.

7. We really enjoy date nights in, though, so we got ourselves some Chipotle and Redbox and made the best of it!

8. Since we had extra time this weekend, with gloomy cold weather, and more gloomy cold weather on tap for the week, we broke down and got out the winter clothes. Which is more or less how I spent my entire Sunday. And that was just for mine and the kids clothes. Still have the coat closet to do.

9. Saturday is Alla's half birthday, so that equals Date with Daddy. I think she wants to go to the Science Museum, but so far neither of our children has chosen for a date to go to a restaurant other than Red Robin.

10. Friday is the Fall Parade at the school. Should be mighty chilly.

Picture Day.

Back when it was still warm, oh, less than two weeks ago, the kids had picture day at school. Everything is significant this year, because it's the first "real" picture day for Fisher, at "real" school with big sister. I hope he didn't smile like this in his official picture, or it might be the first year we utilize the re-take day.

I realize that I am indeed a photographer, and therefore have a gazillion photos of my kiddos, but, yes, I do order school pictures. One goes in their School Days books, so they can easily flip through and see what they looked like each year, and I frame an 8x10 to display until next year's picture. There's just something traditional about having school pictures, like a rite of passage, and I'm nothing if not a sucker for traditions.

But I am indeed a photographer, so, yes, I do grab a few snapshots on their way out the door when they're all snazzed up, especially because I know the school photographers are not going to capture my daughter like this.

Reading in a box.

I'll bet there's a witty Dr. Seuss quote somewhere about all the places you can read! In a box, with a fox, while you have the chicken pox!

No?

Well, around here we read any chance we get. Reading outside in the fresh air is best, but if there's a slight chill, however too slight to warrant a blanket because the rest of the kids are wearing short sleeves, then just find a box big enough for your eight-year-old body and finish your book right there.

Here's to reading wherever, however, whenever you can!

Ten on Tuesday.

1. Oh, happy day! A week from today we are getting our very own Trader Joe's!

2. Had our annual allergy appointment yesterday and skin-tested Fisher for almonds and pistachios, and what do you know, he just may be able to eat the latter (after a food challenge in November). Ron's mind went immediately to one of our all-time favorite desserts, Lime Squares with Pistachio Graham Cracker Crust. I immediately started considering how I could Paleo-ize it.

3. If you're local and haven't heard about The Chickadee, here's a link to the cozy boutique, and the gallery of images on the photo blog.

4. When we came home from The Chickadee on this past rainy Saturday, Alla made a soup she's been thinking about for a few weeks. It was delicious and fed us for three dinners! Tons of beans, ground beef, canned tomatoes, tons of vegetables, a spice mixture she whipped up herself, and two different kinds of broth. I'm so happy my family loves soup.

5. Especially because it appears to be Soup Week around here. Before Alla's soup, I had already planned for Tortilla Soup and Carrot Soup with the meatballs I am so thankful I froze back in August.

6. That girl has also, without my asking, taken on making her own lunches this year. I really cannot tell you how I managed that, only that I am so thankful, because making lunches is not one of my favorite things in life.

7. After a weekend of cool weather, we are back to 70s, which of course means shorts and t-shirts for Fisher.

8. Alla has made no secret of her dislike of sweet potatoes, except for maybe a whole baked sweet potato if she has free reign over the amount of honey she can pour on it. But somehow, chopping them into fries with oil and a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon has made them one of her favorite veggies. Prepared that way, of course.

9. Only three more weeks of our Farmer's Market.

10. I am eagerly waiting on several new chapter books for bedtime read-aloud time, most especially Kate DiCamillo's newest. Ron has gladly suffered through the A to Z Mysteries series for his nights to read to the kids, and they are up to N. I think a library trip is in order!

Ten on Tuesday.

1. Yes, I'm aware it's Wednesday.

2. I must get my hands on some apple cider. I was reading an article yesterday about cooking with it - using it instead of water in your steel cut oats, or replacing half the water with cider in a pot of beans. Sounds delish.

3. We have been in the 70s for a long time now, even 85 last Friday. Consequently, Fisher has been in shorts and a t-shirt since about June, and I'm pretty sure that, due to him being 5 and therefore not having a ton of long-term memories, he figures he'll just go on with that uniform, as it's become.

4. According to our local paper, my son is in for a big shock when the rain and cold come dashing in this weekend.

5. I mentioned Fisher using all of my clips to give me a hairstyle at bedtime, so I thought proof was in order. All the great hairstylists had to start somewhere. You can all say you knew him when.

6. This past weekend, on the only cool rainy day in ages, a day sandwiched between two gorgeous warm days, the kids participated in the Kid Garage Sale at our community center. They sold books, toys they'd grown out of - basically all the stuff they cleared out of their room and toy boxes over the summer. It was a huge success and I would be surprised if they didn't do it again next year!

7. This is the stack of books we returned last week.

8. I am currently reading Golden Boy, which is about an albino boy being hunted in Tanzania. Fascinating.

 

9. Alla is reading all of the Maud Hart Lovelace books for school. Out of the three she's read so far, her favorite has been  Out of My Mind.

 

10. I have a package of chicken somewhat defrosted. Must think of a dinner recipe...