it's beginning to look a lot like Fall...

...but not outside, of course! This is Arizona, after all, and it's only September. It's still in the 90's, humid and hot, with no sign of cooler weather ahead.

Inside is a whole other story, though.

Last Friday, my son decided to skip his nap, so I decided a craft was in order. We started with this cute cow one, given to us by a friend. I love these pre-packaged crafts! Just grab and go.

That was only the beginning. Next, we decided to make stained glass Fall leaves using tissue paper and contact paper. And glitter, of course. I really love making stained glass art projects. The colors look amazing when the light shines through them.

I started taping the leaves up on the window, but they looked kind of funny. Did we need to put the leaves on a tree? Yes, we did!

I grabbed some brown packing paper I had saved from an Amazon order, and my son cut some branches for our tree. I taped on the leaves.

 

 

We found some vinyl clings in our Halloween decorations box, so my son added them to the window.

 

 My son had big plans. Trees in every window in the house! Starting with a tree with spiders in the living room. He cut out more branches, and I pieced them together into a tree-like shape.

The next order of business was to make spiders. We used felt, googly eyes, and pipe cleaners.

We hung them in the tree and added spider webs.

 

Spooky, huh? We're ready for Fall!

motorcycle ride

While visiting friends recently, my son had the opportunity to ride a couple of battery-powered vehicles for the first time. There were some close calls at first (picture people running for their lives), but he quickly got quite good at steering and stopping. And, of course, he loved it.

Even though his friend on the tricycle won their races by a very large margin ("the motorcycle has flames on it, but it goes slow," he explained to us. "Isn't that funny?"), the two were still able to enjoy several hours riding together on the sidewalk. And spending time with these two sweet boys was one of the many highlights of our trip for me.

the breakdown of civilization

There are people who are convinced that today's society is in a downward spiral, and they can cite the societal and moral reasons for this. I'm here to tell you that the real breakdown of society occurs in a crowded airport, where thousands of people are being held captive due to a weather delay.

While returning from a trip last weekend, we got stuck in the "Lost de Bagelus" airport, as my son called it, for about three hours. It struck me that under no other circumstances would most people accept the conditions imposed on us during that time: the uncomfortable crowding, with no way to avoid people entering your personal space. All seating already taken, so you have no choice but to sit (or sleep) on the floor. The lack of access to fresh air and the outdoors. The terrible, terrible food. And absolutely no control over your circumstances. It's enough to make children cry (not mine) and wives turn against their husbands (not me. Well...ok, it was me.).

Luckily, some things never change. While I was sitting on the floor next to the tram, my son came over, mussed my hair, kissed the top of my head, gave me a double-eye poke, and asked sweetly, "Mama, does that hurt?" Eye poke notwithstanding, he behaved admirably through our entire trip. He listened to us and stayed close as we walked through the throngs of people. He happily "drove" the tram between terminals with me for 45 minutes. He loved the food (chicken nuggets and fries again? Yes, please!). I think he loved all the hubbub and excitement of all the people around us. And the slot machines. And my tablet, of course. Thank goodness for tablets.

ms. smartypants

Instead of riding bikes on Saturday, we recently rode on a Sunday morning, before church. I was very proud of myself for planning ahead and dressing my son in his church clothes before we left for our ride, because getting him dressed is always a bit of a battle, and this would save me one outfit change. Anyway, he rides on the back of my husband's bike; how dirty could he get?

I bet you can guess how this turned out.

Especially after the post-ride popsicle.

Lesson learned.

fire station

My son and I recently toured our local fire station with some friends. It was a blast! We had been talking about firefighters and trucks all week. My son had gone to the Children's Museum with his aunt specifically to "drive" their fire truck, and I borrowed a book from the library about tools that firefighters use. We were super excited, and our visit did not disappoint.

When we got to the fire station, a firefighter showed us the garage where they keep the fire trucks and snake truck (!) and told us all about them. He even let my son sit in the driver's seat of the fire truck. This is how awesome it was:

No, really, it wasn't scary at all.

Ok, it was terrifying. The driver's seat is about 8 feet off the ground (well, maybe that's exaggerating a little) and he was pretty nervous up there.

But while he was on the ground, he was attentive and eager to learn about all the parts of the fire truck and the gear it carries. He is sometimes timid when meeting new people, and I expected he would clam up at the fire station, but he surprised me by asking the firefighter several great questions and not being shy at all. I was so proud!

Until the end-of-tour photo opportunity, when he decided he didn't want his picture taken. Oh well...

unexpected kindness

Isn't it a wonderful feeling when you are confronted by unexpected kindness?

After one of our recent bike rides, my son and I were dancing to accordion music in the grass at the farmer's market, when one of the musicians called out "pizza dough tricks!"

We weren't fast enough to see the tricks, but we wandered over to the pizza tent, where two college-age guys were prepping their supplies. It was only 9 am, so they didn't have many customers yet. 

My son and I asked if they would be willing to repeat their pizza dough tricks, since we'd missed it. One of the guys graciously agreed and put on a great show, slinging the dough through his legs and over his head. My son thought it was pretty awesome. We decided to order a pizza and hovered by the tent while they made it. These guys, though young, were pizza artisans. When I make pizza, I pound and stretch the dough in a way that is the very definition of "impatience". Not them. They gently poked the dough with the tips of their fingers. Sprinkled precise amounts of parmesan. Swirled the sauce in circles on the dough.

And the whole time, they explained each step to my son, who was captivated. They answered his questions and seemed to enjoy having us as an audience. They were so kind to take the time to connect with my son and explain the pizza-making process to him. And their kindness, to this small person whom I protect and love more than anything, really touched my heart.

on the farm

As part of our family bike ride last weekend, we stopped at a local community farm. The main draw is an old tractor whose sole purpose is for kids to "drive" it. Guess who loves it.

Not too much explanation needed. Just a boy and his tractor.