September- Fall, Football, and the First of the Year

So, I don't mean to be cheesy with all the F's, but September has always been my favorite month (and I promise it's not because my birthday is September 23rd!  Really, it's not the only reason :)

September means fall--the turn of the temperatures from the sweltering heat to a nice gentle crispness to the air.  The days when you have to leave the house with a light jacket on, but the daytime is nice and mild, then the evening is perfect for a nice brisk walk without all the mugginess from humidity.  That's why I love fall.

Then there is football...yes, even though I'm a girl I love football!  Perhaps this is because my dad always took us to an ECU football game every year growing up, and those were special father/daughter times.  Or perhaps it's because I was a marching band geek, which required attending every single high school football game to play pep music and do the halftime show.  I can hear the invigorating sound of the drumline playing the cadence right now in my head as I tap my foot to the beat that could get any football fan really pumped up.  That is one thing I really miss--playing trumpet in marching band.  It was my life in high school, and I will always think fondly on those days.  I marched my freshman year in college, and though it was exciting, nothing beats high school marching band--hands down!  I even love the smell of the dry-cleaned wool uniforms that could become so scratchy and hot at the beginning of the season, but was SO thankful for by the end of the season when all the other fans were bundled up in coats, hats and gloves.  Yes, we had our own built in coziness!

Junior year of High School

Freshman year of college

I miss learning drill...

So, believe me--I've already been watching the pre-season games, and I will be there right alongside Jon rooting on the Panthers along with my fantasy football team (that is--if you are still starting a league this year, honey--please tell me you are!)  There is nothing like a lazy Sunday afternoon with your family with football playing in the background while you play and roughhouse with the kids and do absolutely nothing else--except maybe check facebook! :)

September also means a fresh start to a new year.  I've never been the type of person that views January 1st as the new year...think about it--as a kid everything revolves around school.  SO--in a way we are conditioned to view September as the beginning of the year (and yes, I am old enough that when I was in elementary school, we never started before Labor Day and we still got out of school in early June.  Those were the days, huh?)  Anyway, I view September as a new beginnng--changing out the wardrobe, clearing out the clutter in the house of all the summer activities (i.e. bathing suits, sun block, bubbles, the clutter of outside toys caked in sand) and unpacking the long pants, jackets and socks!  (my kids have only worn socks 1 day each week during the summer--for church!)  I had to go to Target on Monday to buy both my kids socks because both of them had completely outgrown theirs.  Ahh...children's feet are much less stinky when protected by socks instead of being all dirty and grimy from wearing sandals all day!

Looking forward to sending Sean off to another great year of preschool tomorrow and spending some more one on one time with Lilly to work with her on numbers, colors, etc.  She is learning and saying new things every days!  Can't believe how fast she is growing!  Hopefully potty-training will come before Christmas (crossing my fingers!) so I will only have 1 child in diapers!  Won't that be a blessing!

I will post pics tomorrow of Sean's first day back at school!