why I love Fall & come on in

I have been LOVING the cooler temperatures we've had this week.  It's been crisp in the morning and warms up to the high seventies, and goes back down in the fifties at night.  I love it.  The only thing I'd love more is if we could stay home at night and have a fire in the fire pit outside.

Forever, I have been that mom who loves to decorate the house for all the seasons.  I don't get all fancy, but I always love to change up flower arrangements and such.  I used to love seeing the looks on the boys faces as they'd wake up from naps and see the new window clings I had bought.  Or the new soap I'd put in their little bathroom.  Or the pumpkins I'd placed on the mantle and the little ones I'd gotten specifically for them to hold and carry around.  (Drew ALWAYS had to keep his with him at all times, including at night when he went to bed.)  You don't have to spend a lot of money to make things special for your kids, because that was one thing we never had a lot of, especially in those days when our kids were all really young.

I think the main reason I love this time of year is just because of how cozy everything seems.  It's when I most love to buy candles and start using them all day.  I came across a blog post years and years ago, from Courtney at Women Living Well, entitled How to Make Your Home a Haven, and every year for a long time, I would do what she suggested.

It would be things like lighting a candle and every time you walked past the candle, you would pray for peace to abide in your home.  She also suggested keeping music playing all day, softly, throughout your house.  (I already did that and I still do, but I keep it Air One or K Love, not classical or instrumental.)

These are all simple things that ANYONE can do in their home.  Come on in, and see my attempts at decorating this fall.

I keep twinkle lights on my mantle all year, because it's a tiny thing that makes my heart happy.  I love using different lights throughout my home without ever turning on an overhead light.  (Think lamps everywhere and magical twinkle lights.)

I actually bought a few new things on Saturday.

This sign is so cute!  I got it from Hobby Lobby.  It was originally eighteen dollars, but it was forty percent off.

I have painted sticks that usually sit in this spot on the mantle, but I had Noah get me some sticks from the backyard and I put them in this base, adding a little sprig of fall colored berries to it, for some added color.  The one little sprig cost about a dollar.  The pumpkins on the fireplace came from Kroger and were a dollar each.  I looked for fake ones at Hobby Lobby, but they're really expensive!  I had no idea a fake one would cost up to thirty dollars.  No thank you.  I'm glad I checked my grocery store!

Goodness...that picture you see to the right of that vase?  That is my favorite fall picture of them ever.

They were four, eighteen months and five.  Left to right: Drew, Jonah, Noah, Graham.

I seriously do NOT know where the time goes.  I wish it would freeze, though.

I love this little wire pumpkin candle stand that my mom gave me.  I have a little bit of fall in every single room, with the exception of the bedrooms.

I actually use this pumpkin container for soups that I make throughout the season.  I will leave all these things out until the day after Thanksgiving, when I will decorate for Christmas on that same day.  My mom in love bought this for me years ago, and it is still one of my favorite things.

I showed you these little Halloween people last week, though I really don't decorate for Halloween.  I used to, when the boys were little, but I haven't done that in years.  I prefer fall over Halloween.

I love all the traditions we have during this time of year.  We use our fire pit a lot, we always go camping during this season, we spend a lot of time with family and with friends.  Those are the things I most treasure above anything else, the traditions and the memories we make along the way.

Do you decorate for the seasons?  What are some of your favorite traditions?  I'd love to hear about them.  Thanks for reading and love to all!