How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

Fall, I love you. You are my absolute favorite season. I love you so much I thought I'd write down why. You are pretty amazing, you know that?

Why I love fall...

1. No more triple digit days. Which means...

2. No more third-degree thigh burns from wearing shorts inside my baking hot car.

3. Sweaters, scarves and blue jeans!

4. I look pretty cute in a sweater.

5. Jackets, hats, and sweatshirts.

6. Have I mentioned how cute I look in a sweater?

7. Apple Cobbler

8. Gloomy days.

9. Cuddling under a blanket and reading a book...in my cute sweater.

10.Pumpkin scented candles!

11. When I say cute, I mean cute.

12. Seriously, cute.

Wordless Wednesday....well, sorta...

Wordless Wednesday....well, sorta...

Mom's famous apple crisp!

Why I love Fall.

I am in love with the Fall season. There is no other time of year that puts a smile on my face like this time of year. I love Fall so much that I thought I would write down a couple of reasons why it is the absolute best season of all.

I love Fall because:

1. triple digit weather is finally over.

2. of the changing of the leaves.

3. I look really good in a sweater.

4. my crockpot gets back to work.

5. I am always for the underdog, and Fall is bullied by Summer and Winter.

6. I look extremely lovely in a sweater.

7. there is nothing better than comfort food.

8. weeds don't grow as fast.

9. Have I already mentioned I look darn good in a sweater?

10. gloomy and rainy days are just around the corner....yippee!

Fall Giveaway- Laced with Grace

The team of writers at Laced With Grace is please to announce their fall readers contest. They have joined with Women Of Faith Ministries to offer two premium tickets to attend the two day conference at any venue in the United States.

Tickets include admission for two, boxed lunches and other neat stuff.

"I attended my first Women of Faith event in 1998. It was there I found a new passion to begin reading my Bible every day. My life was forever changed because of Women of Faith." Shared Laced with Grace contributor Lynn Donovan.

What do you think God could do in your life through a Women of Faith conference?

Please plan to enter their contest daily. Stop in and read their daily devotions Monday through Friday and make sure to leave a comment. All comments count as an entry.

Laced with Grace will announce the winner on the Monday following Thanksgiving. ~A perfect day for one of their readers to receive a gift and a give thanks to the Lord for all He does in our lives.

Tell your friends and add their button to your blog or website then let Laced with Grace know. They will enter your comments twice into their drawing.

If you have any questions, please feel free to leave Lynn a comment and she will email you.

****On a side note...I personally enjoy this site ALOT. Laced with Grace is a blessing to the internet and to so many Christian women in our blogosphere. I have been blessed to be a small part of God's mighty hand with this devotional website. If you have never stopped by, make a point to go there today!*****

Sharing a little bit of Fall, from our house to yours!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Sings My Soul Saturday - FALL

Gratitude, by singer Nichole Nordeman is the one song that speaks the essance of the Fall season to my soul. This is the ultimate of seasons for me. And since Fall officially begins in approximately forty eight hours, I am sharing my ultimate faovire Fall song, Gratitude.

While putting out my Fall decorations yesterday, I had this playing, quite loudly, in my house.

Just beautiful.

Fall is on its way!

I can almost feel it, Fall is on its way, and I can't wait! It is my most favorite season of the year. So, I have to share a site that I found while perusing the blogosphere, Warm Heart, Happy Home. I was going to wait until it was officially Fall, but like ice cream, finding out the sex of my babies and the ending of a good book...I just couldn't wait!

After checking out the pictures of this beautiful, Fall decorated home, I personally asked God why this woman was living in my kitchen, the kitchen of my dreams? "There's been a mixup Lord. You have put my cabinets, my oven, and my Southern charm in the wrong home!"

Have you ever reminded God of these types of mistakes?


Thankfully, the lovely gal who God has blessed with this beautiful home, has blessed me by sharing what paint color she used for her walls. I am heading to Home Depot on my way to work tonight to pick up a can of Burnt Almond Behr interior paint to try out on the walls of our soon to be home office.

The kitchen may not be God's plan for me, but surely the paint might be.



Make sure to scroll ALL the way down this site. It is a feast for the eyes!

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Are you a leaf or a stone?

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One of the most beautiful sights during the Fall season is watching leaves gracefully fall from their branches to the ground below. Gently they move whichever way the wind carries them, never fighting their direction or sudden change of course. God’s word speaks of the Holy Spirit as the wind. When Jesus spoke with Nicodemus he explained, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Sprit.” John 3:8 nkjv

If only I would let His soft breezes and gentle winds direct my paths with the same grace as an autumn leaf. Thankfully, while running errands on Monday, for a few short hours I was a leaf too.

Like most days I had my list of to-do’s in hand. After dropping off our last child at school I had planned to drive into town and look for winter clothes for the children. While driving into the school I looked at the traffic heading back in the direction I needed to take to the stores. I became quite irritated. Like a stone I stood my ground and didn’t want to budge. A war waged in my mind as I talked back and forth to myself about the short time I had to accomplish all I had wanted to accomplish. This traffic just wouldn’t do. How could I get all that I needed to get done?

Miraculously, I decided not to take that route. Instead I drove the opposite direction along a windy tree laden road. As I got closer to my planned time of shopping, I realized that I was very close to my husbands’ office. Instead, I decided to let the road carry me to the freeway entrance that would drop me off only blocks from his work.

For two hours I enjoyed just being alongside him. We walked to the coffee shop together and brought back our treats to his office. My husband busied himself taking calls from clients, while I worked on my women’s Bible study. It was unplanned and unexpected and I thanked God for my detour.

Once I left my husband, I made it to the store. After an hour of hunting for the best bargains I took my bags and stuffed them into the back of our car. With most of my to-do list complete, I decided to take the back road home. This route would take me right past the exit to my sister’s house. My car seemed to know the way as it coasted into her driveway. I hadn’t planned a visit with her and thought it would be nice just to sit and talk awhile.

My sister Jennifer was busy throwing a baby shower for a friend. I was getting ready to leave when I saw my sister's mother-in-law Geneva amidst a sea of small children. I shared with her that I thought today would be a great day for a cup of tea…Geneva loved the idea so off we went upstairs to the secluded room above the garage. I floated alongside her onto my next divine appointment.

Geneva made us both two cups of lemon tea. It was delicious. We sat and chatted, sharing stories and heart-felt thoughts. I can’t begin to convey the joy I have in visiting with her. There is something so very special about a woman who has experienced many years of life. I glean off of the wisdom of women like Geneva. Time quickly passed, our cups were empty and once again the noises of the company beckoned below. I hugged her goodbye as I got back into my car and onto my next stop.

Driving again on a windy, rural tree lined road, I couldn’t help but thank God for the divine appointments I had had this day. I sadly wondered just how often I may have missed such delightful times as these by sticking to my own to-do list. Maybe from now on I should make a to-don’t list instead. At the top of my to-don’t list will be to stop writing in stone the things I want to do and start asking the Lord what things He wants me to accomplish in my day instead. I am tired of being a stone. I would much rather be a leaf and have His soft winds and gentle breezes take me to places where I have never dreamed of going.

Apple Crisp Showdown!

One of the most hectic times of day for me is the afternoon. After driving to three different schools, picking up four very different children I then bring my brood of chicks home and they cluck-cluck-cluck around me in our kitchen. As I try and figure out what to make for dinner, my children share stories with me of their day, a few pull out homework to work on at the kitchen table while the rest search like a pack of wild dogs for a snack to devour. It was during this time last week that my son David (13) asked me to make him an apple crisp for his class. Being the wonderfully attentive mother that I am…I forgot. My son reminded me by a hand scribbled note taped to my bedroom mirror at 10:30pm that the apple crisp was needed for school TOMORROW. Guess who was up at 6am making apple crisp?

Apparently my son David had a showdown with his friend Luke over whose mom made the best apple crisp. On the way to school yesterday morning I tried to convince my son that there was no way that his friend would ever admit that my apple crisp was better than his own mothers. As he stepped out of the car, with the piping hot dessert in his hands my son said, “Mom, I know that. I don’t expect Luke to tell me that yours is better, he has his pride mom. But there is a way that I will know. If he tells me that yours is almost as good as his moms then what he really means is that yours is better. That is how I will know.”

Everytime our family sits down to dinner, my son David tells me how great my cooking is. He usually says with a mouthful of food, “Thanks mom, this is great!” I am not exaggerating, he tells me this almost every night. I am aware that he is a growing boy and that his taste buds aren’t fully matured. He would compliment a Twinkie and Dr.Pepper as a meal, but my heart swells every time he says it. What a reminder to me of the power of a sweet word, a kind word. The Bible says in Proverbs 12:25 “An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.” My son is such an example of this verse to me.

So today I am including for all of you my famous apple crisp recipe for your Fall pleasure.

Oh, and just in case you're wondering...Luke admitted that my apple crisp was almost as good as his moms'.(David was thrilled.)

Joanne’s Almost As Good As Your Moms'-Apple Crisp
INGREDIENTS
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups butter (I never said it was fat free!)
• 2 quarts peeled, cored and sliced apples (I use two kinds, fuji & Macintosh)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, oatmeal, cinnamon, nutmeg and brown
sugar. Cut in until mixture is crumbly.

3. Take half of the mixture and pat it into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking
dish.

4. Cover crumb mixture with apple slices, then sprinkle apple slices with
remaining crumb mixture.

5. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 to 50 minutes or until apples
are tender.

My favorite fall destination!

Today we took the kids on our 'September Family Day' to Apple Hill. This is my absolute favorite fall destination. It isn't offically autumn until we have piled into the car and taken the route on this hill from farm to farm eating yummy treats. Since we have lived up here now seven years, all of us have our favorite places to go and our special fall delicacies of choice. Here is the list of what we ate today....and yes, I do feel a little sick to my stomach.

1. Pluebell's Orchard - We stopped at the bake shop and I had my favorite Sour Cream Blackberry Pie slice. The kids shared a few homemade chocolate chip cookies and we walked around the farm area looking at the animals. They had some young piglets that stole the show.

2. Kid's Inc. - Paul is responsible for this stop. He gets their 'Walking Pie' which is a small version of an apple pie. The family that runs this farm originally had five young children growing up there. When the kids were small they complained that they couldn't eat a piece of pie and play outside by their creek. Their mom fixed that problem and created a walking pie that has crust all the way around, like a big baseball but filled with delicious apple filling. They serve it with a hot cinnamon caramel sauce on top...mmmm mmmm! Gracie had a caramel apple there with a candy worm and sprinkles. Samuel got a walking pie too, but shared his with his big sister Meghan and big brother David. I also got a half of a bushel, that is 22 pounds of apples to make some treats at home. The kids are begging me to make some apple crisp.

3. High Hill Ranch - We went there for the 'Fudge Shop' that our son David requested. He had an awesome chocolate covered peanut butter and graham cracker sandwich. I got Paul some milk chocolate honeycomb and Samuel had a rock candy sucker, Meg had dark chocolate pieces and I got a chocolate covered pretzel.

It was a great family day. It drizzled on us a bit but we were prepared and brought umbrellas. I consider us TRUE Apple Hill fans. Neither rain, sleet nor snow will keep us from our favorite fall family field trip!

I can't wait a moment longer.

Call me impatient, I cannot wait another moment…I LOVE FALL! I know it is not officially here yet but I feel the gentle stirrings of the cool weather in the air…and I just can’t stand the suspense any longer. I witnessed a few small leaves falling from a tree while driving in the car with my husband yesterday. I even got to wear jeans and a sweatshirt today…my favorite attire! These are just a few signs that tell me my favorite time of year is right around the corner.
Saying goodbye to summer is something I feel very little remorse over. Maybe it is because I am fair skinned and have never tanned above an off white color, maybe it is because I hate to sweat, or maybe it is because I will never have one of those bikini clad bodies, I just don't enjoy the summer. Now I must admit I do enjoy the sun staying out later in the evenings and I do enjoy picnics and barbecues but my heart belongs to the Fall season. Autumn is my one true love.

Today I made pumpkin bread while our youngest children played and finished homework. The smell of warm cinnamon and nutmeg permeated our home. When I picked up my teenage son from school and told him that I had made pumpkin bread he said, “I love coming home and smelling the house when you bake that bread mom.” It touched my heart because I guess I don’t always realize that while I am happily enjoying something that seems as trivial as baking pumpkin bread, they glean from my joy as well. They are affected not only by my good mood, but by the smells that will forever be etched in their memories and on their hearts. My mother went home to be with the Lord seven years ago and these very same memories are even more important to me now. I loved coming home and smelling our house when my mom made sugar cookies, or coffee cake and especially her delicious oatmeal raisin cookies.

I guess you could say that this Fall I am baking with purpose. Making sweet memories (pardon the pun) is just another reason that this season gets top billing in my book.

How about you? Our recent poll showed that ALL of you gals voted Fall as your favorite season too. Please share, what do you love most about this time of year?