Autumn Falls

Today we put away the trampoliine.
We woke up to icy snow pellets, a pale gray sky, and a sharp breeze.
The baby wore his winter coat.

This cold came on so fast, I never had time to take good tree pictures.
These were taken this morning, in the snow.

We made brownies, the house felt cozy, and Julia has a long weekend at home.
But I was sad to see my zinnias frozen dead, and leaves whipped off the trees just at their prettiest.

Only last week we were enjoying a glorious day outside,
a day so perfect that a visitor might have decided to live here forever.

And so it begins. I am never ready for a Minnesota winter. If the days are sunny, the cold outside isn't so bad. We stay in and drink hot cocoa and play games. Last night we played Scrabble. That was an adventure. I was up chasing Malachi, getting him into his jammies, and trying to put him to bed. While playing what we've decided works for us, "Iffy-Word Scrabble." If we can agree to use non-standard words, the game goes much more quickly. 

Trying to play a game reminded me of the old days when our big boys were little. We were so young. We weren't ready to give up on having our free time. I remember once, we decided to throw the football outside (not something I usually long to do, but I wanted to play). The boys were supposed to be asleep, but they must have heard us outside, laughing. They cried in their cribs. For about an hour. While we played in the yard. Without them. It sounds so sad now, but believe me, no harm done.

I hope this finds you with a warm house and a warm heart. Next blog post, I'll give directions on how to make heat socks. They're not socks, they're more like big bean bags, but I love them. They get toasty-hot in the microwave, and they keep winter feet warm and happy.