Three Things : Three Giveaways

I celebrate by breathing deeply everytime I am outside because there is nothing....and I mean, nothing....like the smell of fall.

My husband and I decorate the house and carve pumpkins and then I dress up the dogs!!!!

Celebrate the fall? By ignoring all leaves in the yard and pretend it is just very pretty decorations. Also, with lost of baking.

My husband and I are both from areas with glorious falls, Colorado and Illinois, but he's in the military and we are stationed in an area with no fall. It's hard to get in the fall mood so we have the kids make tons of fall crafts, bats, pumpkins, Thanksgiving paperchains etc so that we feel/see fall on the inside. For Thanksgiving we don't get many family visitors, but being in the military we have lots of neighbors in the same boat and end up celebrating new traditions with them.

Hi Ali,
This evening, I cooked a chili ! (recipe by Cathy Z. found on her blog !).

We typically do the pumpkin patch, but I'm thinking this year of going to an apple orchard and also taking the kids on our seasonal neighborhood walk. I let my son use the old digital camera and snap away. It's a great way to purposefully notice our surroundings...I'm continuously amazed by the images he captures.

OOOHHH, I love autumn! We go to a Heiser Farms pumpkin patch that we've been going to for about 8 years or so. We also will go for a nature walk, collect leaves, and do an art project with them. Last year we pressed them in a flower press so we'll take them out and see how they compare to this year's leaves. This is such a beautiful time of year! I can't get enough of it...except for the days of rain.

Growing up it was raking leaves and moving the wood pile closer to the house. Now, living in California, it's hiking in the parks and wearing fuzzy socks when my feet get cold.

For us celebrating Fall is about carving pumpkins, apple picking, making apple pies and applesauce....and making more apple stuff after we pick way too many apples :)

Can't believe the number of comments. It must feel great to know that you touch so many lives in a positive way. We celebrate the same as everyone else, but my favorite is building forts with all the blankets that are back out for the cool weather. Then we eat dinner in the fort and pretend to be someplace new! It's like being a kid all over again.

hi ali! we welcome fall with open arms here in maryland by visiting the pumpkin patch, hot carmel apple cider, fall festivals, hayrides, butternut squash soup, and i can't forget our favorite fall dessert GINGERSNAP PUMPKIN CREAM TART!!! it is heavenly, i'd love to share the recipe if you'd like to post it. :)
happy fall from our coast to yours!
tara from maryland

Well, this fall has been different than most. No pumpkin patches like the great ones in Eugene! This fall we've been taking lots of walks around the village, kicking leaves, collecting acorns and sticks, and just enjoying the season changes. We've been eating lots of soup, and cuddling under cozy blankets, and running around the house in super cozy slippers. I LOVE FALL!!! :)

Ah fall, my favorite season! I love going on long walks, taking photos of the brilliant colored leaves, hiking in the woods, kicking piles of dry fallen leaves, picking our pumpkins & squash, walking thru campus, biking around town, and taking a drive to visit somewhere we haven't been before (last year it was Silverton & the Oregon gardens---worth the visit!!) Costume parties are also a fun event along with decorating the house. Thanks Ali!

We celebrate fall by decorating our home with pumpkins, leaves and other fall decorations. We take walks in our neighborhood and collect leaves and talk about them changing colors. We also visit the pumpkin patch.

The first thing we do to celebrate is OPEN OUR WINDOWS!! I love this time of year, when the temperatures really come down. The second thing we do is buy spiced apple scented air fresheners- so I feel like we're "home" for the holidays! Then of course we go pumpkin picking and carve our pumpkins. We like to cook the seeds as my father in law does, he has the best "recipe!" Then we celebrate my hubby's birthday. THEN we start getting ready for Christmas. Making cards, handmade gifts from the kids, and when Thanksgiving rolls around it's time to put up the tree!! I can't wait!

I celebrate fall by spending a weekend cooking up winter meals - chili, stews, soups - to keep in the freezer for cold winter (-30 C) days when I just don't have time to prepare a healthy meal. I use all the fresh vegtables I can find from my sister's garden - potatoes, squash, carrots, tomatoes and whatever else I can freeze.

Break out the cardigans, it's fall:-)
Hot cocoa becomes the after-school snack of choice, and we start baking again (and I have to start working out again...in the summer exercise just seems to happen on its own). Breakfasts become 'hot' again, with oatmeal a big favorite. More arts and crafts too---because we're inside more I guess. Love this time of year!

I love going to the pumpkin patch and apple orchard near our home. Over the last 5 year that we have lived here we love eating their apple donuts, finding pumpkins in the patch and taking home their delicious apples. I love looking back at the last five years of pictures of the kids in the same locations. It's fun to see how they've grown!

Fall is my favorite. I love the changes outside, jumping in the piles of leaves, watching the kids get such enjoyment out of our family traditions, being able to wear my warm sweaters and wooly socks, waking up to the foggy crisp mornings, and the return of pumpkin ice cream to the grocery store!

I love to bake pumpkin bread and warm up with hot chocolate covered in marshmallows