Signs

It is still like 85 degrees most afternoons here in lovely Illinois. Although a few mornings, Jess has needed her sweater at the bus stop. And of course Fred Rogers (aka Spencer) has been wearing his sweater constantly for weeks. But things have been busy, so I have not been paying that much attention to the weather. I have actually been more worried about all my peeps in Atlanta, and their weather than what was going on here.

But there are a few signs of what is coming, if you are paying attention, that is.

Craft stores like Hobby Lobby have been taken over by orange and red leaves and wreaths and pumpkins. The commissary has corn stalks and pumpkins for sale. These are clues, but you cannot always trust these comsumer driven displays. I mean Garden Ridge has had Christmas Trees out since August, but I am not hauling out the holly yet.

Then there are the weekends. No more Lifetime movies or Spongebob Marathons. There have been sounds of whistles and cheering coming from the surround sound. Ah, yes, football. This is a sign of changing seasons, right?

We all know David is a big Gators Fan, right??

One day last week, Spencer made a picture at school.

It looked like this:

Hmmm. It looks like leaves. What could this mean? Another clue?

Then, I was over at Bay's house the other day. He lives in the older housing with real trees, for real, 18 months ago where our house is was a cornfield. We do not have too many established trees. So I was in his neighborhood running in to pick something up. And I was lost in my thoughts, but I paused when I noticed this:

I thought to myself, this is a fluke. One leaf does not mean anything. Even in summer, sometimes leaves fall off and then turn brown.

But I looked around and saw this:

OK. There are a few more. So I investigated further. I noticed this:

Now, I did not rush in to get a rake. But I realized that this was not isolated. It seems to be happening to more than just one leaf. It seems to be a trend.

THEN, the very same afternoon, Jessa was outside playing. She came running to the porch to tell me what she had found. Her discovery confirmed my suspicions.

She found the motherload:

Yep, leaves! Falling leaves! Beautiful brown and orange and red leaves. FALLing leaves means that it is almost my favorite time of the year!

FALL!!!!!!!!!!

Jessa kept saying, "I love fall! I love fall!" She was throwing leaves and having a big time. She even had a relapse of her affliction.

Spencer loves fall, too, he really does. But he had a particularly taxing day at preschool, so he was napping when Jessa made this amazing discovery.

No, it was not cold. No, it was not raining. But he chose to wear a raincoat all day that day. He is a very fashion concious child.

I am so happy! I am ready to break out the sweaters and the crock pot. Homemade soup! Chilly mornings and crisp evenings. Pumpkin patches. Hay rides! Halloween! Hot chocolate. Long walks with leaves crunching under your feet! Yay fall!!!!!!!!

So after carefully considering all the signs and analyzing all the evidence, I feel pretty confident wishing everyone a happy fall, y'all!