Living it up.

As I have mentioned multiple times before, fall is my favorite season. It cooler temperatures, the leaves changing colors, the windows open in the house - I just enjoy so many different pieces of it and I am so thankful for another beautiful fall season arriving on our door step.

We have been busy the past few weeks...travelling to Columbus last weekend and trying to fit in as many things as possible into our days. Chad is working this weekend so I spent Saturday morning with his mom and uncle at a local fair - bought a couple of Christmas presents - and then was the official nephew babysitter Saturday afternoon/evening. I knew he had been struggling with behavior at school but I did not have any issues with him. We had a good time together in my opinion. He ran a couple of errands with me, we had dinner at Chick-fil-a, played on the playground here in St. Elmo, baked cookies, and played Monopoly. Chad claims that I didn't have any trouble with him because I kept him busy doing things that were all "fun" so he didn't have a chance to want something different. I disagree...I think he knows that his behavior needs to remain good in order to do those fun things, that I won't hesitate to discipline him, and that I will follow through on the things I tell him (both positive and negative). I think consistency is key for kids (obviously, coming from a non-parent so no judgment here!) but when he behaves well, I really enjoy hanging out with him. He is smart, funny, and full of questions - eager to learn.

Chad is gone to work now after a lazy Sunday morning together so I am going to clean up in the house a little. Something nice about the birds singing outside, windows open, and tooling around the house. (p.s. we will probably close the windows tonight...it was 64 inside the house when we got up this morning!)