We got back from the our beach vacation on a Monday and dove into our new school year that Wednesday! It was a quick flip from summer vacation mode to school mode. Thankfully, we get back into our school year groove fairly easily. Our daily flow has served us well and I haven’t had to tweak it much year to year. Back-to-school feels a lot like falling back into a familiar routine. We’ve got this! It’s always neat to see how the kiddos have grown year to year with first day of school pictures. As a homeschool family, we don’t have “school picture day” like public school. I try to get a good photo of each boy on the first day of school to use as their version of a school picture.
I realize that the first day of autumn isn’t until September 22nd and we started school at the end of August. We are technically still in the summer season (and the weather in the PNW reflects that). There is something about the start of school and Labor Day weekend that triggers all the fall feels for me. I don’t have a ton of autumn décor, but it all comes out at the start of September. I find it’s a visual switch to a new season. Pops of orange are found in my throw pillows, kitchen hand towel, and tablecloth. I added pumpkin hand soaps in orange bottles to all the bathrooms. A few pumpkin and thankful decorations are out. By decorating for the fall season early, I don’t feel bad heading into Christmas mode by the middle(ish) of November. Many think it’s wrong to decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving, but I am not one of them. Autumn gets to shine to for 2.5 months at my house. Christmas is welcome to have a solid 1.5 months of display time!
While I revel in fall colors, I also adore fall flavors! I’m one of those crazy pumpkin spice lovers and I’m proud of it! Just yesterday at Costco, I stocked up on pumpkin quick bread mix and pumpkin muffins! Yum! I also did a baking project this week with my favorite sugar cookies. I made apple cookies (vanilla in flavor, apple in appearance). October is the perfect month to showcase pumpkins and September feels an apple month to me. I have been eyeing some blackberries at the end of my driveway as well. After this heat wave passes, I hope to do some berry-picking. All I need is enough blackberries to make a crisp and my fall taste buds will be happy campers!
October is by far my favorite month of the year, but the hints of autumn that come in September also make my heart happy. We had a lovely summer, but I am ready to shift gears into school mode again. I am so grateful for the opportunity to homeschool my boys. Right now with Owen starting his 5th grade year, I would just like to freeze time. Elementary school as been the absolute best and I am not ready for this window of time to pass. I have a feeling I will remember our elementary school homeschool adventures with fondness for the rest of my days.
Amy Scott's Thoughts 