Labor Day...

To most people, it represents the end of summer. A nice long weekend to relax before the harvest and hard work of winter begin. At our house Labor Day is the kickoff to birthday’s. My youngest child is a May birthday, however, the rest of our birthdays fall in September and October. It is my favorite time of year! If I’m lucky, I get to pull out all my jeans and long sleeve tees. I relish the cool fall days, and all the beautiful colors on the trees. Pumpkin flavored everything, and the smell of pumpkin spice. I love this time of year. This past weekend, my family and I went camping at Lovewell Lake. It’s so much fun for us as we live in the country and it’s a weekend filled with all our favorite “neighbors”. The kids all spend their time jumping between campers, playing games and riding bikes. This was also the kickoff of Husker football. A TV was brought outside, canopy’s and chairs brought out and food. Wow there was a lot of food, and it was all SO good! It’s the last weekend to get out the boats and jet ski’s. This labor day was a warm one. Hopefully, the last weekend warm enough to spend the day playing in the water. The last sunburn of the season. Time to winterize everything for the year. The first birthday we celebrate in September is Tanner’s, three days later its Brielle’s turn. The entire campsite got to hear the Happy Birthday song played for Tanner Saturday. Tuesday morning, Brielle got up to her Birthday wishes. She got a special surprise at school (there is a tradition with a birthday hat between good friends of ours and us). I follow Brielle with an early October birthday and Karys rounds us out with a late October birthday. By the time October is over, I’m tired of cake. Don’t get me wrong, I love cake; however four cakes in two months is a bit much. Lucky for me, Karys loves pumpkin flavored deserts as much as I do, so I can usually sneak in some variety. Weston was blessed with his own birthday month, separate from all the rest of us. He does share a birthday with my uncle, which adds to his day. By then, we are ready for a different kind of party, and cake. The girls tend to share a day in October. We have a pumpkin painting party every year with friends. They all come over with their kids and a side dish. We spread out on the floor of our back garage, and get paint and glitter everywhere! We follow that with tons of good food, and some play time around the yard. As I said before, fall is my favorite time of year. Family pictures are being taken. Extra time is spent back outside on the cool fall days. We rake up leaves and jump in the piles. We don’t have to worry as much about pulling all the weeds and mowing the lawn. We get to have fires out back, and roast marshmallows for smores. You sit by the fire with friends and visit well into the night. The next day, there is still the lingering scent of the fire. It’s hopefully cool enough to leave the windows open, and stay outside stargazing a little later. Apples are ripe and ready to be turned into cider. Fall doesn’t last long enough for me. It’s a busy time of year for all! Football is underway, volleyball has started. Harvest will be in full swing before we know it. Our birthdays will have come and gone, another year older. I’m ready for another year, and new adventures.