Meredith Carson... Across the Pond and Back Again...

I suspect that fall has always been rather beautiful in Michigan.  This is my third fall here, but this is the first time I have really appreciated the beauty associated with dying chlorophyll.  Trees have burst into flaming shades of red, yellow and orange.  My three year old and I sit at the window and watch the leaves gracefully cascade toward the earth while she squeals and I breathe it all in as though I were observing it intentionally for the first time. Allow me to back up.  I am a girl who adores summertime.  I love blue skies, warm water, peaches, and sundresses.  I love the sunshine and the way it makes me feel.  I begin to fret at the beginning of September because I know, from experience, what lies ahead for me as summer comes to a close.  The days get shorter, my brain becomes foggy, and I become as lethargic as an old house cat. This year I decided to be proactive.  Per my GP's referral, I v...

I am always a little sad to see summer go, but this past weekend upon returning from a wonderful getaway to Charleston, SC (more on that later), we had the best of fall and summer.  Summer-like temperatures accompanied beautiful fall foliage.  Sophia pulled the rake out of the garage and started making a pile of leaves simply because it sounded like a fun idea.  Lili quickly joined in, of course. I am envious of the way that my youngest daughter is always ready to fully embrace a new experience.  Last weekend there weren't leaves all over the ground, but now they are every where.  Did she approach the strange new leaf pile that her sister had created tentatively and on cautious tiptoes?  She certainly did not. Happy Fall, Friends! Love, Meredith

Someone needs to tell my local super center and radio station that it was Halloween less than a week ago.  You all know that I love Christmas and Christmas music, but with the non-stop Christmas music already playing on the radio and Christmas products lining every inch of available store space, I will be downright sick of Christmas before December even gets here.  As D'andre Cole would say, "What Up With That?"  Be where you are, people, and right now we are in the midst of a beautiful autumn.  There is still Thanksgiving and pumpkin pie to look forward to before the fat man thinks about coming down your chimney or the plastic baby Jesus gets placed tenderly in the manger in your front yard. So here is a reminder: instead of hearing those sleigh bells jingling, ring-ting-tingling too, THIS is what you should  be doing right about now...

Before living in the UK, I had never had a "chocolate apple," but one autumn day while wandering the Tesco looking for something comforting to remind me of home, I came across a Chocolate Apple Kit.  It basically contained a few lollipop sticks, a large pot of milk chocolate buttons, and some festive Halloween sprinkles.  I was, of course, ON IT, using the contents but making my own rules.  I prefer to melt chocolate on the stove top in a double boiler rather than in the microwave.  My double boiler is homemade: a metal bowl that fits neatly over a small pan full of simmering water.  Easy peasy. The apples are stabbed with lolly sticks and then dipped or rolled in the melted chocolate.  It is fabulously festive to add colorful sprinkles but not entirely necessary.  The apples then need to go into the fridge for at least an hour.  (I do love a cold apple.) When I was living abroad, I longed for all of the seasonal decor and candy and crap that is...

I have spent this past week looking after sick children.  Sophie was the one who started it all last weekend.  Then she shared with Lili who has been utterly miserable all week.  By yesterday it seemed as though everyone was on the mend and feeling better.  We started the day with a healthy breakfast... These are George's most clever pancakes yet.  Yes,  Dad is great. Once we had eaten our fill of disguised breakfast, we decided we were all up for a day out in the autumn sunshine.  Grandma's pumpkin patch beckoned... Lili was the littlest pumpkin (by weight) in our wagon. I know.  I just want to squeeze her too.  (And I do regularly.) We are abundantly blessed indeed. So after a great day out and a good dose of sunshine, we all felt refreshed and ready to take on the world, right? Oh dear, it looks like my girls have been sharing again.  Not even an hour after returning home, Emma was tucked up in bed with a ...

George left us early Thursday morning and headed off for a "Lads Gone Mad" weekend in Cancun with his brother and a friend, so all of the Carson girlies have been here enjoying the beautiful Michigan autumn on our own.  That George does not know what he's missing. Back by popular demand: Everyone's favorite green, fleecy hoodie with ears On Friday the kids had the day off school, so we went out to a petting farm in Freeland called Baby Acres where Emma and Sophie got to pet and feed all sorts of friendly farm animals.  Everything about it was excellent apart from the incident in which two pygmy goats took offense to my sheepskin lined boots.  They repeatedly headbutted my ankles and rubbed their foreheads menacingly all over the sides of my boots.  We were visiting the farm with a Mom's group, and all of the other Michigan Mommies who were standing by me laughed and said (in that unmistakable Michigan accent), "OH MY GAHSH!  That is SOOO cute!"  Yes...