Back to "Normal"

Things have settled down a bit now!  We are officially moved into the new place and I love it, love it, love it!  Because  we're on the second floor, the surrounding trees add greenery and privacy to my every day view.  I used to be all about the nighttime, but I have officially fallen in love with mid-morning thanks to the way the sunlight filters through the foliage.  It faces the north, so I get amazing cross breezes blowing through.  And since the weather has cooled off, I haven't had the AC turned on AT ALL for the last week.  If only I had a second bedroom and some quieter neighbors upstairs, I'd stay here forever!

I have no finished unpacking all of the boxes yet though, and it may be some time before I do.  I'm trying to decide how I am going to decorate in some areas and until I figure that out, I can't unpack some of the boxes.  I also have to reorganize the bedroom closet.  We just started throwing stuff in there and I need to get it to a point where it's focused and less chaotic. But for the most part, everything is a notch above livable.

For my non-Central Texas compadres, fall has arrived!  The temps at night are in the 70's and it's barely risen above 80 during the daytime.  This is the time of year I love best here in the Hill Country - cool, but not too cold, and warm enough that you don't need to break out the winter gear.  It's just so darn comfortable.  And October is definitely my favorite month...let the countdown to Halloween begin!

This month has us going to several birthday parties, baking Halloween treats, going to the pumpkin patch with school, celebrating Uncle David's birthday, and of course, my personal favorite, trick or treating!  Stay tuned for more...Now that we're moved and mostly settled, I am going to start uploading pictures again.

Happy fall,
Kelly

If you're going to do something...

Here in Texas, we do things big.  We have big hair, big hats, and even big boots.

(Yes, I am well aware that Dolly is actually from Tennessee...I am trying to give a visual here, people.  Put on your big kid panties and deal with it!)

We like things big.  We are a big state.  We have big hearts, and some of us have big wallets, thanks to finding Texas Tea.  And when it comes to weather, we like to do that big too.

Take this week for example.  This was Sunday:

This is today:

My point exactly.

And meanwhile, I am doing a happy dance because I FINALLY got the snow I wanted.  [happy sigh]

Blissfully yours,
Kelly

PS.  Unfortunately, the majority of the snow melted by the time I picked up Sybilla from daycare so there were no snow pictures with her in them.  But our daycare provider did tell me that the kids were all lined up at the windows for most of the day watching it come down and babbling about it excitedly.  She even made it a point to call me and tell me so, and I could hear them all in the background.  Too cute!  Someday, Billa my love, we will get pictures of you in real snow!

Snow?

My good friend and coworker Beth is working from "home" today..."home" being Dallas at her parent's house. I am incredibly jealous because this is probably the third such occasion is which she has worked from Dallas and they have had some significant snowfall. Remember a couple of months ago when I was uber excited because Austin was going to get snow? We got nothing more than a couple of flurries. It made my camera lense look dusty and our heads appeared to have some serious dandruff issues for all of 2 seconds before it melted away. [sigh] I don't care if global warming is a farce; I want some frickin' snow and I want it now! I want winter! REAL winter. The kind that requires me to actually go out and purchase a heavy winter coat and maybe a snowsuit or even snowshoes! I get to wear my vast collection of scarves two, maybe three months out of the year if I'm lucky. And can I please please please have a white Christmas for once, too?! Seriously, y'all. I wear a VEST in the wintertime, over a long sleeved tissue weight tee. Most days the temps don't get below 50F which is downright balmy to all my Northern friends. Up until a couple of years ago, I was wearing flip flops 11 months out of the year (age has a funny way of causing one's extremities to become less tolerant of a dip in temperature--even if that dip is only 5 degrees!)



[sigh]


Someday we will actually move some place where it gets snow. Even if it's only one year. But I gotta have a snowy winter someday!


Melted,
Kelly

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice...

Can you believe the weather we've been having?! Ah-MAZE-ing! It's rained now for several days straight, and while it provided a minor inconvenience, it was an answer to many prayers and most welcome here in Central Texas. We need a lot more rain to end the drought but the drenching we got this weekend was much appreciated. Thank you Upstairs for listening...please send more! The temps have also been so refreshing after three months of triple digit heat, it actually feels like fall is on it's way, which is my favorite season of all. I love the cooler temps, the sweaters, the shorter days, and the cuisine.

And speaking of fall cuisine, I busted out the springform pans to make some pumpkin cheesecakes this weekend. Michael's childhood best friend Sonia was in town visiting and she'd never met me or Billa. She requested pumpkin pie, but I'm never one to settle for ho-hum, hence the pumpkin cheesecake. We stopped by her mother's house Sunday afternoon for tea and cheesecake (such a lovely notion...I wish I had more tea time dates!) and Billa and the cheesecake were a hit. Here are some of the pictures from our lovely visit:

Sybilla with Sonia and her Mom, Florencia


Michael and Sonia, friends forever!


Billa's shocked/scared face. I have to get a video of it, but it's hysterical because she trembles when she does it too!


Playing in the very full pool at Zeti and Tata's...true waterbaby at heart!

We also visited with Michael's dad and stepmom a bit, and Kellie and Anthony as well. We were also supposed to visit our friend John and Julia for their football extravaganza, but Billa was not feeling well at all when we were supposed to go and an unhappy baby makes for an unhappy party. Oh, and my brother Philip also stopped by briefly on Saturday night to say hello and visit for a bit.

It was a lovely weekend visiting with friends and family and now that the weather is turning nicer, we will definitely be making more and more trips out on the weekend, perhaps maybe to the Renaissance Festival in October or to San Antonio for a visit to the zoo and botanical gardens (thanks Anna for the idea!). Fall is here, lovelies and we couldn't be more happy!

Love to you all,
Kelly