Matthew turns 4

For literally the ENTIRE YEAR between his 3rd and 4th birthdays, Matthew talked about how he was going to have a "red cake with red insides" for his birthday. And he did!! Matthew is a kid who knows his opinions and knows how to follow through. He is pretty spunky and delightful and a perfect addition to our family--we love you, Mattycakes!

Linville Gorge

In September, Neil went with my dad and two of our brothers-in-law Chris and Paxton on a backpacking trip through the Linville Gorge Wilderness. Jordan wasn't able to go because he tore his ACL super badly and had to have surgery the day after they all left (so so so sad!!! Especially since Jordan had been training by running up all the floors of their NYC apartment building with his fully loaded pack. IIRC he strained his ACL in February playing basketball and then stepped off a curb while running that fall and ended up with a truly awful tear. Thankfully he had a fantastic surgeon, was in incredible shape, and has been recovering really well). 


Since I wasn't there, I can't give you the play by play (I was home dealing with the most epically catastrophic nosebleed ever which wound up with a barrage of bloodwork for Matthew), but I can tell you that they had an AMAZING time!!

They've been planning this for a long time and had an incredibly active text thread going all summer. I loved seeing how involved they all were and how excited they were to spend that time together. My dad drove down from Michigan and then he & Neil drove to North Carolina together, and Neil told me how much the hours of conversation with my dad meant to him. I have four sisters (no brothers) and my dad always did an INCREDIBLE job of making us girls feel like we were the absolute best thing that ever happened to him as a dad, but I have truly loved seeing how much joy he has found in being a father-in-law. We all married pretty incredible guys who also recognize how phenomenal my dad is, and I love seeing how much they all look up to him and admire him. 

It was a pretty amazing experience and I'm so so glad they could do this together!!!

All of these guys work incredibly hard for their families and don't take much (if any) time for themselves. It was so neat that they got to spend this weekend together in the wilderness. 

Until next year--Jordan needs a redo!

 

Halloween-ish Books Roundup!

Every year, there is a house in my neighborhood that goes ALL OUT for Halloween. Last year their theme was "butcher shop" complete with a fridge on their lawn that was spilling out fake blood with severed heads in the door, bloody arms and legs stuffed on the shelves, etc. The rest of the yard/porch was the same--bespattered aprons and hatchets everywhere you looked. My running buddy and I had our regular routes and then our "October route" because I just could not take that at 5:30 AM!

So all this to say...I am not a gory/spooky type of Halloween person. I decorate with pumpkins, not skeletons. So this is a very tame Halloween book list and not the place to look if you're into terrifying storytimes. :-)

In fact, the first book on my list is about the extent of my creepiness tolerance!

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything

This is not my favorite story (too scary!) but my kids absolutely LOVE it. Haunted clothing follows the little old lady home and then at the end she helps it to become a scarecrow. So I can handle it. And the illustrations are really cute.

Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds

This is actually one of my all-time favorite books in any season--I love the illustrations by Caldecott honoree Peter Brown (very evocative of film noir) and the story is so fun. Jasper Rabbit loves eating carrots, but then they begin to follow him! His solution is clever and it's even better when you get to the final page and discover that the carrots had a secret plot to ensure that Jasper will never again eat them and it was really the CARROTS pulling Jasper's strings all along. 

Creepy Pair of Underwear by Aaron Reynolds
The sequel to Creepy Carrots, this is Matthew's daily request. He loves this book SO MUCH. Jasper is a big rabbit now, so he requests glow-in-the-dark underwear, but then discovers that the "ghoulish, greenish glow" is a little too much...so he decides to dispose of the underwear--but it keeps coming back! It even returns from China! With souvenirs! There's a fun nod to Creepy Carrots near the end, so it's a treat for kids who are familiar with the earlier book. 

Room on the Broom  by Julia Donaldson
By the author of The Gruffalo (oh my heavens, love that book SO MUCH, can recite every word from memory), this is a fun (rhyming) story about a witch whose kindness to all the animals who want to join her on the broom ends up saving her from a hungry dragon. 

Gus Was A Friendly Ghost by Jane Thayer

This is a book I vividly remember loving from my own childhood, so I tracked a copy down last year (it's out of print, so snag a copy if you can find one!!). Gus shares his home with the Scotts, who love their friendly attic ghost, but he gets lonely in the winter when they leave their summer house and befriends a little mouse...but what happens when the Scotts return and Mouse doesn't want to share Gus?!



Halloween Cats
This is a very simple and adorable book that has been especially helpful for my kids who are a little nervous about trick-or-treating. Monsters, witches, clowns, and goblins all take off their scary faces to reveal adorable cats! Super cute illustrations.

Hoot Owl: Master of Disguise
We all LOVE this book. It's totally hilarious--a hungry owl devises a series of costumes hoping he can get close enough to snag dinner (spoiler: at the end he finally manages to disguise himself as a waiter and sneaks up on a pizza). This book is really fun to read very dramatically ("Look there! A delicious pigeon stands trembling in case a delicious creature-of-the-dark (such as an owl) may be passing by! In a matter of moments the pigeon will be in my tummy. Everyone knows owls are wise. But as well as being wise, I am a master of disguise. I organize a costume. Look...I disguise myself as...an ornamental birdbath. It is the perfect way to catch a pigeon!" 

And there you have it--our favorite Halloween books! What would you add? 

Kal-Haven Trail

We went to Michigan over Labor Day (I miss my parents so much right now it hurts. I'm going to start sobbing if I think about it much more right now, so I'll just type quickly). It was so so so good to see my parents and my grandmother. I OF COURSE didn't take any photos with them, but I did take photos on the day when they sent Neil & I off on their bikes to attempt the Kal-Haven trail! I've always wanted to do this ever since I was in high school so it was super fun to get a chance to ride it. It runs about 33 miles between Kalamazoo (which is close to where my parents live) and South Haven on the shores of Lake Michigan. 

We'd been biking a lot over the summer and usually did a 20-25 mile ride at some point during the week, so we were semi-trained for this but not really. Hah! We took it as a leisurely fun day. The one thing that was a real bummer is that we were in the middle of doing 75 Hard so we did not get any ice cream along the trail OR in South Haven and that was a huge willpower thing so I feel like it should be mentioned!!!


Plenty of Decker vacation special though. ;-)

Such a fun day--just hours of riding and talking and laughing together. 

When we got to South Haven, we were completely ravenous and ate inside a restaurant for the first time since March. It was pretty nerve-wracking so we actually went to four or five places looking for somewhere that wasn't very crowded (although that probably didn't help as much as I thought it did based on the most recent data about airflow, but oh well, it felt much safer at the time). 

I'm sure this would have tasted amazing even if we hadn't just ridden 35 miles, but as it was...it was heavenly. 

We went by the beach for a bit, but it was very crowded and the waves were insane, so we didn't swim. After we watched someone get swept off the pier and then get rescued by beach patrol and rushed to the hospital via ambulance, we decided we were done with the beach for the day. 

It sure was gorgeous though! The water was so high this summer that there wasn't much beach and so it wasn't exactly relaxing--we sort of wedged ourselves up into the bluff. 

And then it was time to set off and bike home...except I very much felt like a high schooler when Neil called my mom to come pick us up halfway because my allergy meds had worn off and I absolutely couldn't handle the fields of ragweed. I was struggling to get any air at all and ended up just lying on my back on the side of the trail trying to inhale while Neil called my mom. Good times! Still such an amazing day though (I think we ended up biking right around 50 miles) and it was such a fun adventure--thanks Mom & Dad for making it possible!!

Good golly I love Michigan--this pic below is from one morning when I ran out to the dock at the end of the lake by my parents' house, and I'm posting it here so my mom can enjoy it because since it's technically trespassing on that neighborhood's private beach she's never seen it. ;-) 

 

Fall Books Roundup!!

FALL IS HERE!!! I mean--it's September. So it's close enough, right? This morning when I left for my run it was 54 degrees, the wind was shaking the trees, clouds were scudding across the dark sky in front of the gigantic moon, and leaves were blowing across the street. So it's fall. For book-buying and candle-burning purposes, anyway!

My favorite part of motherhood is reading picture books to my kids, and my favorite season of the year, so fall books = jackpot. Which is why I am not going to try to narrow this list down. I've done that in the past, but then people ask me for recommendations and I'm always like why the heck did I not list xyz book, so this year...I'm just listing all our favorites. Not all the ones we own, but the ones we LOVE. (ETA: okay, I ran out of time and I had to edit! Darn! But you're getting the best of the best!)

Here we go!!!

THE AUTUMNAL SEASON ITSELF (Halloween + Thanksgiving in a later post!)

Picking Apples and Pumpkins: we are so so obsessed with this book! Maybe because it's old and the clothes are from the 80s and it reminds me of my childhood, haha! But it's about a family who goes to pick apples and pumpkins (at an actually operating IRL farm) and then talks about the pies and jack-o-lanterns they make when they go home. 

Autumn Days: this one has so much good info about exactly what happens in fall and why the leaves change colors. We read this earlier this week and it was like a little lightbulb went off in Luke's brain--afterwards I saw him go out and start checking the stems of all the fallen leaves. This also has some fun crafts and recipes in it, but it reads through like a story (even though it's nonfiction) instead of a fact book. Just really nicely organized. 

Fall Is Here! I Love It! This is part of a season series (yes, we have them all, why do you ask?!) and it's a fun catalogue of all the great little harbingers of fall PLUS on every page you get to say "FALL IS HERE I LOVE IT." Because we do. 

Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn: The illustrations and the text in this book are perfectly and beautifully matched. The little girl goes through her world talking to lots of different plants and animals and they tell her how they are changing from summer to fall, i.e. "Hello, flowers. Hello! We are leaning into the sun, enjoying the last summer rays. Some of us, like asters and phlox, are late bloomers. We make the end of the season even more colorful." 

Applesauce Season: I first wrote about this one in 2016 and it continues to be a favorite!! My original review: "After you read Applesauce Season, you're definitely going to want to make homemade applesauce--good thing there's a recipe in the back! (It's a good one...we've used it lots of times!) I love all the family traditions that are apparent in this book--a little boy, his mother, and his grandmother make applesauce together every week after selecting apples in the farmer's market, while his father makes all kinds of "good things" to eat with the applesauce--latkes, crepes, applesauce cake..."

In November: Oh my goodness, this is one of my very very favorites. The illustrations are almost Impressionist and the text is sparse and poetic, i.e. "In November, the trees are standing all sticks and bones. Without their leaves, how lovely they are, spreading their arms like dancers. They know it is time to be still." 

The Apple Pie Tree: This is a fun book about an apple tree's cycle through the spring, summer, and fall seasons, finishing up with the two sisters excitedly baking a pie together at harvest time. 

My Favorite Time of Year: Okay, so this covers all the seasons and is not QUITE a fall book per se, but I love it too much to not include it! Plus it begins with October: "the maple trees are turning red. The elms are turning yellow. When Kelly and Mommy take baby Patrick for a walk, they stretch their necks back to see the colored roof above them: red and orange and yellow and brown. We must look like baby birds," says Mommy. Then the leaves start to fall, whirling, swirling in the wind, landing one place, then blowing to another. Kelly chases them everywhere they go, then brings some in to show to Patrick. "Now we have fall both outdoors and in!" Mommy says. 

The Biggest Pumpkin Ever--this one I love sending to people!! It's one of my very very favorite books (two mice fall in love with the same pumpkin--one dreams of it becoming the biggest jack-o-lantern ever; another dreams that it will win the town pumpkin contest) and both use all their tips and tricks to make it grow absolutely enormous until one night when they accidentally bump into each other while covering the pumpkin to ward off an early frost. It is so so sweet and it's 3.99, so if you only buy one book from this list, buy this one. 

 
Hello, Harvest Moon: this is a new book to us this year and I absolutely fell in love with both the lyrical prose and the beautiful illustrations. Love this one. 

In the Middle of Fall: Another new one!! This just arrived today and Matthew couldn't get enough of the bright, vibrant illustrations (especially the squirrels!). As soon as we finished reading it he asked if we could go to the pumpkin patch, so safe to say it is bringing all the fall vibes!

Little Farm by the Sea: I am mildly obsessed with this book. I bought it in March of last year and I have found an excuse to put it in every single seasonal book basket but it is ESPECIALLY perfect for fall because it goes through the year's growing season and ends with the harvest. The illustrations are just fantastic here. Those pumpkins!! Chef's kiss. 

Sleep Tight Farm: on that farm preparing for winter note, I love this one because it goes--in detail--through the process of putting the entire farm "to bed" for the winter. Beautiful illustrations and even more beautiful prose: "Dad cuts back the raspberries before wind and snow can crack the canes. We cart the old brush to burn. Good-bye to last year's twigs and leaves, with their bugs and spots. The promise of late summer's plump fruit lies in roots tucked underground. Good night, raspberries, resting below." 

Ox-Cart Man: are we sensing a theme here? ;-) This book is in my top three favorite books of all time. It is so, so, so good. An absolute knockout from Barbara Cooney (my favorite illustrator) and that Caldecott Medal was well-deserved. 

Sophie's Squash: here's my original review from 2016 "Fair warning--after reading Sophie's Squash, your children may insist (as mine do) on naming every squash you ever buy or grow. (My back porch currently has 5 named butternut friends lined up waiting for their pals to get home from school.) This book is absolutely charming--little Sophie falls in love with a squash, names her Bernice, and they go everywhere together until one day Bernice starts to show her age! She's spotty! Her somersaults lack their usual style! Fortunately, Sophie knows just how to ensure that their friendship can last forever." Oh gosh, I love this book SO much and we still read it all the time! Definitely one that holds its allure with the years. 

Fletcher and the Falling Leaves: this is such a sweet story. An adorable little fox cub is very concerned about all the leaves falling from his beloved tree friend, so he does his best to hang on to the very last leaf...

Too Many Pumpkins: my kids think this one is both hilarious and touching. The main character LOATHES pumpkins but then what to do when an accidental pumpkin smash results in millions and millions of pumpkins growing everywhere in her yard? 

'

Mystery Vine: Matthew has been 100% enthralled by this every time we have read it. Will the mysterious vine AGAIN produce a pumpkin?!! 

Yellow Time: this one reminds me so much of the gorgeous golden aspens in Utah. Just waves of gold covering the mountains--such a bright and brilliant book. 

Hello Autumn! I love this book because it's basically a list of all the fun changes that happen in autumn--what happens to the earth, the trees, the plants...the people! (Sweaters! Scarves! Fun boots!)

I Know It's Autumn: This book had me at "I know it's autumn when the morning light comes late, when there's a pumpkin muffin on my breakfast plate. I know it's autumn when the school bus toots its horn, when we drive past an empty field that once grew corn." I mean, usually I don't really care for rhyming books, but drowsy crisp mornings? Pumpkin muffins? School buses? Corn fields?! This is like EVERYTHING that heralds autumn for me. Yes please. 

**on order

Little Boo: okay, I have not personally read this, but I was seduced by the siren call of the Scholastic book order, and it has awesome reviews on Amazon...plus LOOK AT THAT PUMPKIN SEED'S FACE. How could I resist? 

The Very Best Pumpkin: my sister Elise told me today that this is her #1 recommendation for fall books. It's about a little boy who carefully tends his special pumpkin, but his new neighbor won't talk to him and only watches the pumpkin from her window. At harvest time, he gives her the pumpkin, telling her that he has the very best most perfect pumpkin for her. The next year, they tend the pumpkins together. 

Autumn: An Alphabet Acrostic: this has been a favorite of ours for years but for some reason we've always just checked it out from the library. No more!! This is a really beautiful, poetic book with gorgeous illustrations. 

And there you have it--our favorite fall books!! I was REALLY hoping to do one giant post with Halloween and Thanksgiving books, but it's almost time to go pick up the kids, so that will have to wait for another day. (If I haven't posted those in a couple weeks, please hassle me about it!!)

And best of all--PLEASE leave your favorite books in the comments!!! I can't wait to hear what must-have fall books you have to recommend, so that I can just dissolve into a happy puddle of beautiful picture books in front of the fireplace. Best season of the year! 

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