My nephew is already 8 months old. The year is flying by. He’s learning to crawl, and he’s almost got it mastered. He pulls up on the furniture and is even starting to babble sounds that resemble the beginnings of words. It seems like just a very short time ago that I was holding this newborn boy, and now he’s on the grow, and it seems on fast-forward.

He was over for a visit the other day and I took advantage of the good window light and some fun toy time to shoot a few candids.

Here in the northern plains, the weather is always unpredictable. It’s hard enough that spring lasts a matter of weeks, summer – a mere 2 months, 3 if we’re really lucky, fall is almost nonexistant and winter takes up a whopping 7 months of the year.  Granted we aren’t totally snowy all those months but most of them we are. This year is no exception. Right when the leaves are wonderful hues and gracefully falling to the ground, Mother Nature decides to give us a little preview of what’s to come in the next few months.

I remember certain Halloween nights where it was unseasonably warm. Others were brisk but not many were actually too freezing to participate in activities. I fear this year will be that year, too freezing. [as we hurry to find costumes that will keep these kiddos warm enough!] Sometimes there is just no way to predict what the weather will be for times like that, let alone from day to day.

This week has been no exception. Saturday afternoon was a glorious 80 degrees. Neighbors were doing last minute yard work, kids were out playing and laughing in the leaves, I was strapped with a horrible head and chest cold and just lounged in a chair in the sun on the deck. On Sunday, it turned a bit cooler but still a bright and sunny day. I took a few pictures to commemorate the beautiful fall colors in my yard.

Monday was noticably cooler, and windier. We lost a few more leaves and I never got around to getting the fallen leaves cleaned up, thanks to that nice head and chest cold. Tuesday, the temperatures dropped, precipitation fell, and we got a pretty little dusting that caused some confusion among the seasons.

And Wednesday, we woke up to an early winter wonderland,
the grass was completely covered and the arctic feeling wind
continued to blow what leaves were left on the trees. The
kids begged to go outside, even before breakfast. After
they ate, I dressed them and sent them out. It’s a good
thing too, they had a lot of fun and by late afternoon, the
snow had melted.

The forcast looks a bit warmer for the next few days, that’s
a nice relief. I wasn’t quite ready to have all of this snow in
mid-October. I still want to get all those leaves off the
ground. I want to be able to enjoy the fall weather a bit
longer, though I’m afraid it’s all behind us now. With the
winter teaser, I just don’t think we’ll be able to recover.