I see skies of blue and clouds of white

What a beautiful day!

It is 83° today. The sun is shining in a clear blue sky. All the windows are pulled open as far as they'll go - no air conditioning, no heat, just a perfect moderate. Through the dining room sheers, I can see the crimson leaves on the tree we inherited when we purchased this home. I saw the buds in the spring turn to tiny white flowers and now a beautiful autumn change. What luck!

The girls are enjoying one of the last warm days, and I can hear Piper squealing in the backyard, running from her sisters.

The blustery wind is pouring from our front windows to the back - so much so that I decided against lighting the beloved Yankee Candles (in "Harvest" and "Autumn Wreath"). But, there is the faint smell of apple cinnamon oatmeal muffins that I baked this afternoon for breakfasts this week.

We will finally get out the Halloween decorations in a moment - not for lack of wanting to, but for lack of motivation and time. The girls have been pestering us for weeks now, and there was always something more pressing.

Were it not for them, I'd skip it, even though Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year. It just seems like so much work with only 10 days left in the season. But, it matters. Sometimes normal matters more than the holiday itself.

So, we will put on a happy face and stick plastic spiders to our fireplace, hang the wooden witch that is as old as Skylar, and do so with a smile knowing what joy it will bring to them.