So this was the summer of The Grand Plan. The plan that included gardening and swimming and camping and trips down water slides and BBQ’s on the deck and homemade ice cream and...you get the drift.

But very shortly after evo ’10 concluded, two little pink lines appeared telling me that “YAY! A baby is coming!”. To say that we were thrilled is an understatement. And to say that I spent the rest of the summer battling a killer case of morning sickness would also be an understatement. A big one.

So the summer that was going to be full of fun and excitement turned into the summer full of Sesame Street on the DVR and PB&J’s for dinner. With the occasional painting fiesta tossed in for good measure. She paints, I lay on the couch...everybody wins.

But, if this pregnancy is like my first (and it has been so far), I should be feeling better in the next week or two and that means that this Fall will be The Season I Make Up for Being a Crap Bag.

Here is the list of activities, projects and recipes that we’re going to tackle this Fall at our house...

GOING

Visit Tracy Aviary (My girl loves birds so much that it prompted her Grandpa to ask if he could buy her one. Uh, no.)

Go to Oktoberfest at Snowbird. Brats and live music in the mountains...let’s do this.

Visit the pumpkin patch...carve a wicked jack-o-lantern and roast those seeds.

Take my girl to Breakfast with a Witch at Gardner Village.

Enjoy a belated 10th Anniversary date night with my husband. No one wants to take Mrs. Pukey to a fancy restaurant.

COOKING

Learn to can. I managed to rope Becky from The Crafting Chicks into teaching me. Peaches, pears and this apple butter are on our list.

Make pumpkin butter. Eat it with reckless abandon.

Introduce my girl to the joy and glory of hot cocoa. With mini marshmallows. I think we’ll do this the first day we see snowflakes, won’t that be fun?

Go to Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for a Apple Pie Carmel Apple. I have one carmel apple each year and it’s always this one.

Find a few new soups to add to our Soup Sunday’s arsenal. Any suggestions?

DOING

Get my girl’s photo albums done. Photos shouldn’t live on a computer. I know this.

Potty Training for the girl. Hey, it can’t be all pumpkin carving and carmel apples around here.

Get my Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving. No more trips to Costco on the 23rd of December. That’s just madness.

Make felt garland for the Christmas tree. I may even tackle this project starting this weekend. Heaven knows, once the candy corn starts flowing it’s just one crazy ride until we ring in the New Year, so I better start early.

****

Here’s to cooler weather, feeling better and eating something besides cereal. :)

Have a great Labor Day weekend, Mamas!