'Tis the season.

One of 'em, anyway.

Autumn in Hawaii is odd. I'm from the land of changing leaves and early Mountain freezes and apple pickin' in our warmest sweaters. I don't miss much about Virginia, other than family and friends, and I wouldn't trade living here in Paradise for anything, but there is something so bittersweet about October in the Islands. Everyone decorates for Fall, but the orange and browns are all faux. The air gets crisper and nights chillier- but not quite crisp or chilly enough. We all go to Haunted Houses and pumpkin patches, but the sand still in our slippahs from the morning's surf session takes a bit of the authenticity away. It's still wonderful, just a little less....real feeling. A little odd.

Anywho, all that being said, Happy Fall! I do love this time of year, regardless of where we are.

I love spiced lattes and carving pumpkins and making Halloween costumes. We like to spark up our little firepit on the deck and hang out at night after the kids go to bed. It's usually cold enough to bring a quilt, so now my quilts all smell a bit like woodsmoke. It helps ;)

We've decorated some. I have a big bag of spooky Halloween decorations in the garage, but in true Domesstic fashion, I opted for just a Autumn color-scheme this year. This way, I can leave them up until Thanksgiving! Score.

I love these paint sample pennants! I made a couple for Asher's Birthday party, and still have one hanging in our hallway, unwilling to part with it. These Fall ones hang across our front deck and garage and have awesome color names like "Spicy Gingerbread" and "Crisp Grannysmith." Cute! I wish I had used a sturdier ribbon so it didn't furl so much, but I still think they are lovely. Bonus- they are free!! And the looks you get when stuffing handfuls of samples into your purse at the hardware store are half the fun.

Kenzie and I made some Jack-O-Lanterns. These are ridiculously easy, and really look bright and happy in our entryway. The green vine cutting exercise was really a learning experience for me, as well. Learning how to be patient with my daughter as she attempted it, that is.

I made some starburst-esque things with the leftover cuttings of paint samples. I like how the tulle looks, but the wind likes to tangle things up. I think just ribbons would work better in the future, something with a bit more weight.

And our one spooky contribution this year. Spooooooky.

Here is Asher admiring all of our hard work.

And today we took the obligatory trip to the pumpkin patch. Despite being a bit guilty about the slave labor and baked alive in the Hawaiian sun, we had a great time! Asher and MacKenzie really enjoyed walking the rows of pumpkins, and while Asher was happy with all the pumpkin varieties, it took Kenz a looong time to find her perfect Princess pumpkin. We skipped the hay ride because of long, unshaded lines, but did check out the petting zoo. I am now convinced we need a chicken. Seriously, I've been Googling chicken care and everything! If only we weren't leaving so soon. I'd have some free-range chicks and yummy fresh eggs and annoyed neighbors in a heartbeat.

Tell me this kid wasn't made to be in a pumpkin patch?! Of note, that cute romper was made by my grandmother for me when I was a little girl. So thankful my mom saved it for me.

A contender, but it didn't make the final cut.

Two happy kids in a tire.

Mr.'s watermelon pumpkin. He has grand plans for its future carving.

Here Asher finds the ever-elusive white pumpkin. He got a bit sad that he couldn't play with the "ball-ball".

Another wonderful thing about this time of year is the food. All of that squash and 'winter' vegetables and curries and spices. Mmmmm. The other day I made a twice baked acorn squash that made me want to cry it was so good. The neighbors probably had a good laugh that night, with my husband and I both moaning our way through dinner. It was basically squash, mixed with coconut milk, raisins, cranberries, cashews, honey, curry, and cumin.

Mix it all up and bake it in the acorn squash 'shells' with some parmesan on top. Holy yum. I served this with a spicy cranberry glazed salmon and herbed brown rice. It felt so decadent, but still fairly healthy. Nice when things work out like that ;)

So coming up I'll show-and-tell the Halloween costumes for this year, and also share three baby quilts I've been working on. Time to get some sewing-related stuff on here, huh?

Enjoy your crisp Fall weekend, wherever you are!