The Finalities of Fall

It was likely the last wisp of summer as the forecast is set to become more winter like in the coming weeks.  It was t-shirt temps in the late October sun this weekend however.  Merrick had basketball on Saturday morning and I think Friday was filled with domestic chores and cleaning.  I know it was for the TR crew as we continue to downsize our roofline footprints.  Saturday found us with some

seasonal chores to attend to such as raking the leaves and then buying pumpkins and halloween costumes.  We buried the garden and pulled up the last few plant stakes, putting the plot to sleep.  Merrick wrote a letter to Grandpa telling him that he was going to be a "ninja" but his inventive spelling of the word, "niga" may confuse the trick or treating image that Grandprize pictures. The kids carved pumpkins with traditional faces and less than traditional emoticons and text-language, and given the standard chaos of activity we have yet to put a candle in any of them, although they are proudly displayed on the front stoop.  With family pictures planned for Sunday afternoon there was plenty of hair and clothing that needed attention, but it was all worth it during the hour long photo shoot with the kids eating up the lens. Monday started off as Mondays are supposed to.  The radio station was off the air so none of the alarms went off, Merrick's water bottle had leaked all over his backpack and saturated the box of chocolate pudding that he had to take to school for the halloween party as well as everything else in his pack and everyone looked a little weary from the weekend.  Merrick went to sleep at about 6:45 and rumor has it that Grace too had a set of pretty tired eyes come Monday evening. Sophia and I used the 'down-time' to make up a batch of spaghetti for Tuesday's family meal.