On October 1st I biked the boys to school and felt a definitive coolness to the morning air. Right on time and oh so welcome. Let me be clear that it's usually still warming up enough to wear shorts. But stepping out of our door no longer feels like entering an oven. I am thankful.

Erica and I recently recorded and released our annual Fall Extravaganza episode. It was so fun, as it always is, and not only gave me a chance to reflect on the new season and also to be silly with a good friend. That felt really good. That was our eighth time to record Fall Extravaganza and I just have to stop and think about that for a minute. The first time we recorded what is now an annual and highly anticipated episode I was pregnant with Cedric and had a toddler Dashiell. Wow! In September we start hearing from listeners that they are excited for the episode or that they're listening to old Fall Extravaganza episodes. To know that something I have helped create is part of what marks the beginning of a favorite season brings me a lot of joy and satisfaction. I am also reminded of how thankful I am for my creative partnership and friendship with Erica.

Recently I loved a recent episode of The Lazy Genius podcast (she is really speaking to me lately!) about intentional planning for the rest of the year. The pace of life picks up starting in October even as we are wanting to slow down and enjoy all the coziness of the season. So I'm thinking about how to say no, how to clear calendar space, and how to plan ahead.

Well, I'm not quite finished wrapping up my thoughts but my work time is ending quickly, as it seems to do lately. I'm wishing you a happy Wednesday and a happy October!

Big things happening in October:

+ Fall break trip to Colorado Springs. This did not go as planned but we did have a great time! The day before we were to leave Maeve got sick so we made the sad decision to not travel as a family. Chris stayed home with Maeve to let me have the Colorado family adventure that I had spent so much time planning. Maeve ended up having RSV and a double ear infection, poor girl! She is doing much better now. After sitting with the disappointment of not having the family-of-five trip that I envisioned I leaned into having an adventure with my boys. I appreciated not worrying about nap times and taking time to myself while they had screen time. The trip and all the quality time with my boys who are right in between being little and being big was such a gift. They are such awesome kids and little humans and I genuinely enjoy being with them. I'd love to share a post soon about what we did because it was a great trip even though we missed Chris and Maeve.

+ Maeve turns 18 months old, Dash turns 8.5. Half birthdays are a big deal around here!

October goals:

+ Enjoy doing things from our family fall bucket list. We had fun brainstorming ideas together which I then wrote on a printable from A Beautiful Mess. I hope to share our list in a blog post!

+ Take photos of my fall wardrobe and decide what I need to add. I was inspired to do this after my cousin Emily shared photos of her fall wardrobe with me. Last year I was in post-maternity clothes so I'm not entirely sure what's in my fall wardrobe any more. It will be fun to find out!

+ Take a Day of Rest. This is scheduled for next week! This is an idea inspired by The Lazy Genius. One of Kendra's Lazy Genius principals and an entire chapter of her book is to "schedule rest." How simple and profound is that? How much do we all need and deserve a real rest? So much! I love the idea of a seasonal day of rest four times a year. Yes I have many things on my plate but four times a year I can give myself the day off.

+ Have a day date with Chris. With the boys in school and Maeve at daycare two days per week we can bring our favorite day dates back. We love day dates because we don't have to arrange additional childcare plus we're not tired and get more hours together than a typical date night. Win, win, win. We have a day date planned for Friday, hooray!

+ Design our Christmas card. We had family photos taken this summer (Maeve's COVID-belated newborn session) so I already have some great photos to use. This year I might buy a Christmas card template on Etsy. Then I just have to update the quotes from Dash and Cedric, and now Maeve, for the back of the card and order them.

Happy October, friends!

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