Monthly Musings: Fall And Back To School

It's the kind of blogging month where I'm posting two Monthly Musings in a row and they're both late. Hahaha! And I'm posting on a Sunday so I don't miss the link up. Phew. Today I'm talking about Fall and Back to School with Holly who blogs at Pink Lady and Patty who blogs at Good, Better, Best. Hopefully next month, I might actually link up in a timely fashion. We shall see...

 

1) Any back to school traditions?

Our first back to school tradition is that I always bake a whole bunch of muffins to get our school year started off right. While our freezer isn't as stocked as it normally is this time of year, I have baked a couple of batches of muffins with more on the way.

The other tradition we have is taking pictures in the front yard with our "first day" sign. 

This is the kids with their first day signs back when they started Junior Kindergarten. This tradition means so much to the kids that they even made me a first day sign when I started working for the school board back in 2019 :)

2) How do you celebrate the first day of school?

As mentioned above, we take pictures in the front yard and we tend to eat tacos on the first day of school. The past few years, Rachel has had an assistant teacher meeting for dance so that is also a part of the day.

 

3) Favourite early fall back to school meals? Can you share recipes?

We like soups, casseroles, and stews, especially as the weather turns colder. And if they feature an orange food, that's even better :)

 

4) What are your go to outfits for early fall?

Layers are good -- usually a t-shirt with a cardigan over top. I wear a lot of dress pants to work. Also, I pull out my Converse as the weather gets cooler.

 

5) Do kids go back to school before or after Labour Day?

They always go back after Labour Day. It used to be the Tuesday but, for the past few years, our board has made that a PD Day, so now their first day is the Wednesday after Labour Day, which feels really late. 

6) When do you start to decorate for early fall?

I don't do a lot of fall decorating, and the first thing I do is put out my fall mums. My local greenhouse opens for the fall season on Tuesday, so I'll probably get my mums next weekend. Whooo hooo!!!

7) How do you get back into the fall routine?

We started a family calendar quite a number of years ago. I've been very bad at updating it this summer but that's on my list for this weekend. We need our calendar and we all depend on it to keep us organized!

 

8) What are you most looking forward to this fall?

We all really love LUMEN, our local festival of light and technology. It's always one of the highlights of our fall. I'm also really hoping to enjoy some October baseball with my Blue Jays this fall!!!

 

9) Do you decorate for fall? If so, when?

Other than my moms, I start getting bouquets of fall-ish flowers, sometimes sunflowers, sometimes orange flowers of some sort, and I have a few craft pumpkins I put out.

 

10) What feels like fall to you?

Hearty soups, root vegetables in our CSA, red leaves against the blue sky, orange everything(!), and cooler nights.

 

Thank you, as always, to Holly and Patty for hosting such a fun link up. After a cooler week, and a very full summer, I am feeling more ready for fall and all the fun it brings!

Monthly Musings: How We Summer

Even though I missed the "Monthly Musings link up because we were in Europe, I wanted to join in (a lot late) to answer these questions. Thanks to Holly who blogs at Pink Lady and Patty who blogs at Good, Better, Best for always hosting such a fun blog party! This is a particularly good time for me to reflect on Summer 2025 because this is my first full week of work post-summer break.

1) Favourite thing about Summer 2025?

My absolute favourite moment of Summer 2025 was hugging my mom in the Barcelona airport!!! I hadn't seen her since she'd received her cancer diagnosis, and had successful surgery for it, so I was so happy to hug her and celebrate with her! After that, my favourite moment was our three generation trip to Europe. I'm just so happy it all worked out so well!!!

Left: me and Mom at the shore in Barcelona; right: all six of us on the "Hop on, Hop Off" Barcelona bus

 

Another favourite moment was that Rachel became a Bat Mitzvah a couple of weekends ago. She'd been working towards this for over a year so I was very proud of her.

2) Favourite thing you ate this summer?

My favourite meal this summer was the paella we ate at the beach in Barcelona. My favourite drink this summer was the sangria I had in Portugal! 

But I do have to give a special shout out to our charcuterie picnic at the lavender farm with Tim & Janice in July. The lavender Gouda was sooooo good!  

 

3) Did you see any summer movies? (stream or theatre)

I watched The Good Liar on the plane on the way home. Other than that I've just been watching a lot of baseball or Gilmore Girls. I really don't tend to watch a lot of movies -- other than Hallmark movies in the fall. Oh, I did watch the live action Snow White on the Disney ship with my parents one morning -- it was pretty good!

4) What books did you read this summer?

I've read a lot of books this summer. It's funny but I read two absolutely awful books this summer (All Fours by Miranda July and The Irresistible Urge To Fall for Your Enemy by Brigitte Knightley) and, sadly, those are the two books I remember the best. Ugh.

5) Ready for fall or hold onto summer?

I want to hold onto summer, especially since I have to go back to work this week, but I'd be happy to let go of all the heat. Ugh. I am not doing well with the heat this summer.

6) What is different about your summer schedule than the rest of the year?

I don't have to work and the kids don't have school. Thus, we are all sleeping in more. I am trying to get things done around the house/going to all my appointments/getting together with friends, as I don't have as much time for these kinds of things during the school year. The kids really have their own interests/activities so I've spent a lot of time supporting them (as they get ready for them) or driving them around.

I had way less time to read and blog than I'd anticipated this summer, as there was just too much else going on.

We also did some biking as a family this summer, which I really enjoyed. It feels like we have more time to get to places in the summer as opposed to the rest of the year when our schedule is so tight. Hopefully we can continue to bike more after summer is over.

7) How do you take a break/relax in the summer?

My favourite thing to do (when it isn't too hot) is to sit out in the backyard and read or blog. I've gotten to do that a bit this summer, but not near as much as I wanted to. 

 

8) Any trips still on the calendar for the rest of the summer?

Not really. We went and picked Sam up from camp this past weekend but it was just a day trip. Rachel is going to her best friend's cottage for a few days and the rest of us are going to a Blue Jays game, but that's not really a trip :) I would like to get to Lake Ontario before the kids go back to school but we'll see if that happens...

Picking Sam up from camp! 

9) Any summer concerts this year?

No :( Our downtown holds sunset sessions with local musicians on Friday nights and I'd love to get to one of those but I just don't know if it's going to happen this year.  

10) When does summer end in your world?

Well, as I mentioned, I go back to work for the whole week today (boo) but the kids still have some time before school starts. I would say that Labour Day (Monday, September 1 this year) is our official last day of summer, even though the kids still have another day off after that.

So, belatedly, that is "how we summer(ed)" in the summer of 2025. I will still find small ways to enjoy summer this next week, but we're definitely on the slide into fall now.

Currently: August 2025

Even though I'm a week late, I still wanted to join Jennifer at My Joyful Life for the "Currently" link up. You can find Jennifer here. I really thought I'd be able to write a post in time for last Wednesday but jet lag hit me hard this time around.

[loving]

After two weeks of vacation, I am "loving" being at home again. I love sitting in our back yard. I love hanging out my laundry. I love enjoying my flowers. I love picking up our CSA and my flower share again. I just am really "loving" being at home. This time is extra special because I have to go back to work after my summer break next week so I'm just soaking it all in right now.

[looking forward to]

Well, this is a little belated but what we were really "looking forward to" was Rachel getting her braces off!!! That happened this past Monday and Rachel and I spent the day eating popcorn and watching Gilmore Girls to celebrate. It was a really good day! 

We're also having a big family event this weekend and I'm "looking forward to" that as well.  

[scheduling]

I've been "scheduling" a lot these days -- appointments, back to school/fall activities meetings, all those kinds of things. I really need to be "scheduling" some time for me to get together with friends because that hasn't been happening much lately.

[buying]

I really wasn't planning on "buying" much this month because I bought three new mugs on our Europe trip! Aren't they pretty?!?!!? However, a little at the last minute, Sam decided to spend some time at camp this summer so we had to buy a few things for him to prepare for that. We ended up "buying" each of the kids a rain jacket because they needed them, among some other things. I'm glad we have that sorted out but now we need to stop "buying" things for a bit!

 

[gearing up for]

September baseball! I'm so excited that the Jays are in first place but it also makes September baseball all that more stressful!!! Will they hold on to first place? Will they be in the playoffs? If they are, will they advance past the first round? Yep, I'm definitely "gearing up for" September baseball to be a wild ride! 

So that's what's up with us "currently" in August.

Share Our Lives: How I Take A Break

Phew, we've been back from vacation for just over a week now, and I'm finally feeling like I have energy to blog again. It's currently Monday afternoon and I'm taking a break from "Gilmore Girls watching and popcorn eating" with a braces-free Rachel! I'm sitting in our backyard (in the shade, because we're (once again) under a "heat warning"), eating cold pizza, and blogging. Vacation is always so great, but getting back home is even better. We have a very full week ahead of us so I'm going to use this week to catch up on some of the blog parties I missed out on while we were gone, and then next week I'll start posting about our amazing trip to Europe with my parents. Spoiler alert: It was really awesome :)

Today I'm belatedly joining the "Share Our Lives" bloggers to write about "how I take a break." These bloggers are are Sarah, Dara, Joanne, Adrienne, and Jen. (Click on each name to go their blogs.)

There are a few ways I take breaks, depending on the situation. One of my favourite ways is to sit outside with a cold Coke and a book. Or, when the weather doesn't cooperate, to sit under a blanket with hot tea and a book. I don't even need to read for long, just 20-30 minutes helps me to reset. This is what I do almost every day when I get home from work.

 

If I find I'm feeling stressed at work, or foggy headed and unable to concentrate, I will often make myself a cup of tea or go for a quick walk outside. I find temporarily changing my circumstances helps me to reset, especially if I've been sitting for too long.

If I have a longer chunk of time, I do love to sit and watch a Jays game on TV. Sometimes I'm productive while watching (I fold laundry or blog or respond to emails) and sometimes I just make myself a drink and watch the game, or even nap. Watching a whole game on TV is a luxury I don't indulge in very often.

I don't like to admit it, but I also take way too many breaks to scroll randomly on my phone, especially if I'm tired and don't have the energy to do a lot of other things. I'd like to break this habit and I need to make a concerted effort to work on it. I did delete the game on my phone which sucked up a lot of my random time and that has helped with this, but I still need to improve.

 

So that's how I take breaks -- I read, I walk, I scroll on my phone, and it almost always involves a drink of some kind!

 

Thanks to the Share Our Lives bloggers for an interesting topic. I'll be reading the other posts in the link up to see how other people take breaks. Maybe I can find an alternative to "phone scrolling."

 

I'll be back tomorrow to link up with another blog party. It's good to be back :)