If there was one time of year that I could experience in slow motion, it would be now. The start of fall. The weather is changing and those of us in the south are finally feeling a break in the hot, humid, sticky summer temperatures. The mornings and evenings are crisp and cool and a perfect preview of coming attractions. These next couple of months are packed full of seasonal festivities and holiday magic and every year it goes whizzing by like the scenery from a moving train. Way.Too.Fast. Halloween has already come and gone. Thankfully, I still have some pumpkin shaped Reese’s peanut butter cups. There’s more good stuff coming, though. Hayrides and hot chocolate. Sweaters and scarves. Holiday tables with family surrounding the best food we’ll eat all year. Later, the tree goes up and beautiful presents appear under it. There’s probably Christmas music playing somewhere right now. I just want to hit the pause button and make this time linger a bit longer. Before we know it, it will be the end of December and we will be ringing in the 2022 year. I’m writing this post for a couple of reasons. First, we love to write about what we love, right? I’m diving in for that reason, but also to start thinking and planning ahead. I want to be sure we do all the fun activities our schedule allows for in an effort to enjoy this season to the fullest and make some great memories. Before we hit pause, though, I need to rewind. Being a child of the 90s, I enjoy a wide range of music from that decade including some alternative rock. Better than Ezra played in our area quite a bit. They are from New Orleans and often played at my school. While I like many albums and songs, Deluxe holds a special place in my heart. The song, “Rewind,” however, from their album Friction, Baby, has some lyrics I think most of us can relate to. “Right there a song became a soundtrack, for this space and time.”
The title of this post, “This Time of Year,” is one such song that has become a soundtrack for me. We love our football in the south and since this group was on my playlist back in the day, when this time of year rolls around and I find myself under beautiful oak trees enjoying pregame festivities prior to heading to the stadium, I always think of this song. The story I heard was that the Better Than Ezra band bus broke down on the highway outside of our town. They were headed here to play on campus and wrote this song as they sat on the side of the road. The second verse which starts off, “Well there’s a football in the air, across a leaf-blown field,” was inspired by the football atmosphere in my hometown. Sadly, I can claim no official connection with the band, so I cannot confirm that this is accurate, but I love the story so I’m going with it. I doubt Kevin Griffin, or any other band member is reading my blog, but just in case, we love you and feel free to chime in and correct any misinformation. Oh, and I still have my guitar pick that you threw from the stage during a show. I know there are probably tons of people who have caught these over the years, but I like to think I’m special and I love my BTE pick. In fact, my entire post is inspired by Better than Ezra songs. These songs are a great way to tell you what all I love about this time of year, which brings me back to football.
In the Blood
As I mentioned earlier, we, in the south, love our football. I’m not implying other areas of the country do not, but this is the place I know, and I know we are head over heels for gameday. Growing up in Oxford, I was raised to cheer on the home team of the Ole Miss Rebels. My dad started taking me to games when I was very young. I remember asking him, “Daddy, why do we keep giving the ball back to the other team when we have one more chance?” Eventually, I learned how the game was played and why teams typically relinquish that last 4th down chance. Although, in recent years, the 4th down punt is certainly not a given, especially at Ole Miss under the new leadership of head coach, Lane Kiffin. I have had some great experiences tailgating in the grove and witnessed some exciting moments in the stadium. Now, I have two boys of my own and get the joy of teaching them the same way my dad taught me. I’m so glad he took me to those games and taught me all about football. It’s definitely one of my favorite things to do. Coming together with friends under those huge, beautiful oak trees, the players filing down the walk of champions on their way to the stadium, the band playing long standing team favorites, and the team running out of the tunnel while fans erupt into the beloved school cheer. Yep, just like the title of the first song on my favorite album, it’s “In the Blood”. Thanks, dad.
Good
In honor of another of my favorite songs from the Deluxe album, “Good,” I’m focusing on some of the other treats of the season, other than football, of course. Hot beverages, sweater weather, wearing my favorite fuzzy gloves, fall foliage, and pumpkins just to name a few. We have a tradition of going to a pumpkin patch (like many of you, I’m sure) and picking out our pumpkins for the year. Small ones, big ones, white ones, orange ones. So many choices. We typically make a trip up to Cedar Hill Farm and let the boys play, feed the animals, and then ride out to the patch and grab a pumpkin. This year, we tried Bull Bottom Farms and it was a great option too. The grounds were amazing with three huge tree houses for kids to play on, zip lines, corn mazes and a giant jumping pillow. They even had two cannons for shooting ears of corn. My son almost hit a cow. At some point, a huge trailer took us out to the patch where we each found our pumpkin of choice. We were there for a good four hours and there was a snack shack, so you could grab lunch and make a day of it. The boys loved it. There were also large fields of cotton and sunflowers to make the perfect backdrop for those seasonal family photos we all love. Crisp fall weather goes hand in hand with hot beverages, too. People start flocking to coffee shops to grab their drink of choice that has been spruced up with seasonal spices and holiday cups. I used to love getting my first red Starbucks cup of the year, and while I still enjoy that from time to time, a local spot is actually my favorite place to get my favorite beverage. My drink of choice is a chai latte. I have flown all over the country for work, and I love to try chai lattes from different places to check out the variations in flavors. After all my traveling, I still prefer the chai latte in my hometown from Uptown Coffee. To date, nothing beats it, in my opinion. Just give me some crisp, cool air, a cute scarf, a trip with my boys to a farm (with a chai latte in hand), and it will be a near perfect day. So many good, good things about this time of year.
Juicy
Moving on to the juiciest part of this season. Now, when I think “juicy,” I usually think of a giant peach from the farmer’s market, one that when you bite into it, the juice just runs down your chin. Juicy also means tender, moist, temptingly appealing, rich, and luscious, according to Google. As we head into the fall season, I think most of us look forward to some of our favorite dishes, whether they are holiday treats or just yummy fall menu items. Spices that if you smelled with your eyes closed, you would know someone dropped you off right smack in the middle of fall, and you would promptly thank them. In mid-July, no one says, “You know what sounds good for dinner? Chili.” But come mid-October; however, there’s a whole new set of options. Soups, chilis, and dishes that are a bit richer. Juicy, in a Pioneer Woman’s Blackberry cobbler kind of way. As the main menu planner at my house, I know I am definitely excited about fall. I may or may not have already made some white chicken chili when it was around 60 degrees outside. Yes, I realize that was a bit of a false start on the crisp weather food options, but I was so excited it wasn’t 90 degrees anymore. Cut me some slack, I live in the south. After August, 60 degrees can easily make you think you’re chilly for a minute until you acclimate. Then I went from chilly to chili in 1.9 seconds, which I’m told is fast. Anyway, if you, like me are ready for some seasonal variety on your plate, I have included some links below to richer recipes to consider this season. There are a couple of appetizer options, something for breakfast, a couple of soups and two desserts. In keeping with my Better than Ezra tribute, “Juicy,” is one of my favorite songs so here’s hoping all of us have the juiciest of seasons. Let’s be honest. We are all ready for the year’s best comfort food.
Fall Menu Ideas
https://mockingbirdmom.com/recipes-soups-chili/
Extra Ordinary
Probably my favorite aspect of this time of year would have to be the memories made with my family as we carve out time for our various traditions. As mentioned above, we make time to take the boys to a farm for picking out our pumpkins, and there are other traditions we have started that force us to stop and enjoy the fun of the season. A few years ago, I started doing 5 days of fun around the holidays. We started with 5 days of Halloween, and it has become a thing now. I followed it up with 5 days of Thanksgiving and then 12 Days of Christmas. Admittedly, this year things have been super busy, and we did not do the full 5 days of Halloween and I regret that. It reminded me that no matter what else is going on, we should make time for some fun family time. So, I am already looking ahead to Thanksgiving and Christmas for ways to make it up to them. To be honest, it takes a lot of effort and planning, but it is totally worth it. We still remember the Weird Science Wednesday we did last year during Halloween where we tried some fun spooky scientific experiments. Our favorite was the flying tea bag ghosts. It worked just as the article described and the boys ask all the time if we can do it again. For Thanksgiving, we did several days of activities and treats that each focused on a theme. We highlighted the pilgrims one day and then the Native Americans and so on. For Christmas, there were themed days as well, such as Grinch Day! We watched the film, ate Grinch popcorn, and drank Jones Green apple soda. We love Grinch Day! So many cute ideas for fun things to do with your kids and so little time! I have included links below to my blog posts from previous years for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I threw in Halloween as well in case you want to get a jump on planning for next year. I did multiple posts for Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I just chose one of each to post below as an example. You can find the other posts for all the other fun-filled days we did as well on the site. Below are some lyrics from “Extra Ordinary,” by BTE.
“All I want to do, is get up early in the morning, and all I gotta say to you, is your love’s extra ordinary.”
Yep, my boys are extra ordinary and they make it easy to get up early and stay up late if it means some extra ordinary memories are being made.
https://mockingbirdmom.com/2020/11/15/the-untouchables/
https://mockingbirdmom.com/2020/10/28/an-entire-week-of-hocus-pocus/
https://mockingbirdmom.com/2020/12/15/on-the-sixth-day-of-christmas-lets-go-green/
Yes, moms, we are deep into the holiday season for 2021. I can’t believe 2022 is right around the corner! I’m so excited. Sweater weather, scarves, yummy fall treats, decorations, shopping, gifts, holiday music, and new Star Wars Christmas PJs! I’m excited to engage in all our family traditions and I look forward to new ones that we may stumble upon as well. Each day is an adventure raising my two little boys and I am incredibly grateful to God for the blessing of being their mom. Just this week, we got to disguise Tom the Turkey as a part of a Thanksgiving class project. I am sure many of you moms out there are participating in the same activity for your kiddos. We enjoyed transforming him into the famous music producer and DJ, Marshmello. Our turkey won’t be eaten for Thanksgiving because he’s got two turn tables and a microphone. Everybody loves a DJ.
My youngest also taught me a new dance, the Gobble Gobble Turkey Wobble. I confess I did not know about this. Google it. There’s a video with the dance moves so you too can be ready when your kids want to flap it out. I had to take my little one to the pediatrician recently and he was very concerned that they might give him a shot, despite my repeated efforts to assure him that would not happen. So, there I was in the exam room, trying to make him smile and what better way to do that then bust out my turkey wobble moves? Hey, it worked. His cute smile returned and he was like, “mom, stop, what if they come in?” Mission accomplished. This is the same little boy who recently told me his leg hurt and of course I asked him why, thinking he would tell me he fell or something. However, he replied, “Well, I’ve been using it all day, mom.” Okay, looks like it’s time to sign the boys up for a mini mudder. Perhaps that will help get them in shape and reduce the amount of injuries apparently happening as they move from the sofa to the refrigerator. Like I said, never a dull moment! In keeping with my BTE theme, I just want to slow things down some days as I see them growing up right in front of me and be “Absolutely Still.” I feel “Crazy Lucky,” to be their mom. Yes, those are two other great songs by Better Than Ezra that help sum up my feelings on the season. Leaving you with some more of my favorite fall moments in years past.
I hope you get the chance to slow down and savor your favorite parts of this season. It’s gameday, so I’m off to enjoy the grove with friends, football, good food and I think there’s a chai latte in my future. Most importantly, I get to enjoy some weekend time with my family. I do love this time of year.
Remember, “It’s the passion that you play.”
Thanks for visiting mockingbirdmom.com
