September in Numbers

I looked up at the mountains near my home the other day and was shocked to see them bursting with color.  I thought, Can it really be this time of year again?  So soon?  Obviously the answer is yes, although it's hard to believe time has flown by so quickly.  I love fall for many reasons, including the changing of the leaves, wearing hoodies and crisp afternoon walks around the neighborhood.  Summer left much sooner than I was ready, but we had a lot of fun things happen as it finished up and fall began.

10 - Fish caught.  We took the kids fishing on Labor Day since they hadn't been all summer and had been asking to go.  There is a little pond about 25 minutes from our house that is perfect for little kids to fish in.  The fish are pretty tiny but they bite quick so it keeps the kids busy for at least 30 minutes.  After that, they just wanted to run up and down the trail or eat a snack.

8 - Birthdays celebrated.  You know how there are those months where there's a million birthdays to celebrate?  Well, that's September for us.  I have 3 nieces/nephews, 2 friends, 1 sister, plus both my husband and myself that have September birthdays and it makes for lots of running around to parties and calling and singing.  My husband and I are a little over 2 years apart, while our birthdays are only 10 days apart.  We often go to dinner with our kids for each of our birthdays plus a date night birthday dinner for us if we can manage.  This year, we had a fun surprise when we went to Chick-Fil-A on my husband's birthday when they happened to be doing a military appreciation night.  They had someone making balloon animals, a sketch artist and gourmet cotton candy.

1 - Awesome 32nd birthday.  Which brings me to my birthday.  My sister makes fun of me because I look forward to my birthday every year.  This year, my husband took the day off of work, let me sleep in, got our daughter off to school and scheduled an hour long massage for me.  We went to dinner later that night and then stopped off at a car dealership to look at a van we'd been eyeballing.  Long story short is that we ended up buying it!  (I promise, it was not an impulse buy.  We'd been doing our research.)

9 - Years we had our first car.  So the reason we bought the van was because the car we've had for the last nine years decided to go crazy on us.  The car shop said it would be about $900 to fix which is more than the car is worth.  It's still drive-able, but with my husband having to commute every day, we decided it would be better to donate it to our nephew who doesn't have a car and is working to save money for a mission for our church.  It's a little sad to see the car go, because it's been a good car and we've loved not having a car payment.  Those days are over... *sigh*

3 - Dance classes started.  My kids both started their dance classes this month, with my daughter in jazz/ballet and my son doing hip hop.  In addition, my kid's dance teacher asked me to assist her with her little 2 1/2-3 1/2 year old dance class, so once a week I get to read stories, play games and dance around with a bunch of little ballerinas.

21 - Quarts of tomatoes bottled.  So. Many. Tomatoes.  Earlier this summer, I shared on my Insta-stories about how my tomato plants were growing out of control so I cut them back big time to help grow some bigger tomatoes.  That part of the plan definitely worked, but what I didn't anticipate was my plants growing to the same size they were when I cut them.  They were huge!  I went out one day with 3 boxes and two large bowls and picked all the ripe tomatoes off my bushes.  Over the next couple of days, my husband and I worked together and bottled 21 quarts of diced tomatoes.  Say what?!  I had no idea we'd get that much.  And that wasn't even all the tomatoes I picked.  We still had some left over that we used on sandwiches or salads, as well as more that we gave away.  Phew!  I think next year I might do just one tomato plant instead of two.

2 - Proud kids.  (And parents)
Kid #1: My daughter came home from school one day towards the end of the month and began telling me all about an assembly at school.  She said she was called up to the stage because she was a good friend and nice to other kids and a helper.  As she continued talking, it dawned on me that she must have received one of the Superhero Awards that her school gives out to kids.  They are chosen by their teachers and given a certificate, a free meal at a local restaurant and a candy bar.  She was so happy and I was so proud of her!

Kid #2: Last year, my son got a little hand me down bike from a neighbor who was getting rid of theirs.  The tires were getting a bit bald and the bike was still a little bit for him, but this spring he started riding it around our back porch.  One day the tires went flat and we found out that to replace them would be at least 1/2 the price of a brand new bike.  So we decided to buy him a new bike to ride around and he was so excited!  We took the kids for a ride around the block and he rode his bike the entire time and loved it.

7 - Packages received.  In preparation for some upcoming collaborations, I've received a number of packages over the last few weeks.  I don't normally get this many in a single month but I am really excited about everything I've got so far.  Stay tuned for some fun posts and products in the next couple of weeks!

36 - Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies made.  (Maybe I should have included the number of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies I've eaten since making this batch...)  I'll be honest, I'm not a crazy pumpkin lover, but there are certain pumpkin foods that I really love and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are one of them.  I use a recipe I found a few years ago from I Heart Naptime and they are the best ones I've tried.  Perfect amount of spices and pumpkin and chocolate.  Two other pumpkin favorites: pumpkin gingersnaps and pumpkin cake.  Go make them!  You can thank (or curse) me later. *wink*

And that's September in a nutshell!  (I do have one other bit of news from September, but I have to wait a little longer before I share.)  Are you in denial as much as I am about the fact that Halloween is this month?  Thankfully I've got my kids costumes bought and I only have to DIY a mask for each of them.  I have a feeling this month is going to pass by just as quickly as the others!

You can check out my other month in numbers posts below:

February Month In Numbers
March Month In Number: Orlando Edition 
April Month In Numbers
May Month In Numbers
June Month In Numbers 
July Month In Numbers 
August Month In Numbers

I'm linking up with Deena from Shoes to Shiraz to share my month in review!