Fall + leaves + coffee + cinnamon bread = love

Fall is here.  It's getting colder.  We're wearing jackets outside at recess.  We're starting to talk about leaves, write poems about leaves, and even do art that involves drawing leaves and tracing them with white glue, which is kind of crazy.  Who in their right mind would give 24 seven-year-olds bottles of white glue and instruct them to carefully trace around their squiggly leaf lines which are almost invisible because they are drawn on black construction paper; who would do that?  That's just downright absurd.

So leaves.  They are all about fall.  So is apple pie.  And cinnamon bread.  And coffee in the morning, the afternoon, and at night.  Fall is an excuse to increase the coffee intake.  There are pumpkin spice lattes.  Last week Jason took me on a little date to Starbucks.  My mom had Kole, so we snuck away for an hour.  We went to Starbucks, it was cold, I wore a scarf.  I felt pretty awesome; like I was 16 and on a date with a really cute boy.  We held hands.   I got a pumpkin spice latte and we even got a fee sample of the new salted caramel latte.  I'm not gonna lie, I think it's even better than the pumpkin spice.  Am I allowed to say that?  You will have to try it and let me know.  It could just be my weak spot for all things sweet and salty.

This is the scarf I wore to Starbucks...I love having scarves back in my life!

So basically Jason took me out to inform me that he will be working like a crazy mad person until the end of September.  More traveling, working every night, and every weekend until September is over.  Got to keep those bobtail drivers safe.  Got to keep them from tipping over, cause you know once that happens there is nuttin' you can do!  Nuttin'!  (I've been loving hearing all this footage from the most recent safety video.  Especially the drivers with southern accents and awesome hand motions.  At least it's somewhat entertaining).  So yeah.  Lots of work.

I think I'll be working like a crazy mad person until the end of the school year.  Part of this is my fault.  I need to let go of some things.  I need to realize my classroom is and cannot be perfect.  Deep breath.  It's okay, really.

This weekend I made a list of three things I needed to do for myself.
1. Take a long, hot shower, longer than 5 minutes
2. Paint my toenails
3. Read part of my new Real Simple magazine

Gold sparkly nail polish...totally fallish

I'm proud to say I did all these things.  Maybe kind of relaxing, maybe kind of sad.  I don't know small steps.  We even went for a nice walk this weekend.  There was a big Heritage Fest.  Lots of people, loud music, fireworks, a craft fair, lots of booths, lots of food stands.  Right here in our town; a celebration of heritage.  Who's heritage?  No clue.  But we walked around with Kole in his stroller.  We sampled some yummy treats, including wine slushies, yeah I can handle that.   We bought a jar of honey from a sweet lady who gushed over Kole and then told us that we'd be tired for the next 24 years.  Thanks honey lady.

Bought the honey for this honey tasting party!

So back to fall.  The weather is perfect, the weekends are slower, and I'm learning to squeeze every second out of them.  Every single second.

There are lots of fall recipes I want to share.  Fall begins the crazy good baking season.  We have months ahead of us filled with  apples, and cinnamon, and pumpkin, and breads, and cozy warm things.

So enjoy.  I will for sure.

Cinnamon Bread 
(This bread tastes just like Amish Friendship Bread, but you don't have to hassle with the starter and stirring it and feeding it and having it sit on your counter looking like a sad jar of growing mush.  You're welcome!)

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 (5.1 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325. Grease and coat with cinnamon sugar two 5x9 inch loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, pudding mix, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, mix the milk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Stir the milk mixture into the flour mixture until smooth. Sprinkle the bottoms of the loaf pans with cinnamon sugar, and divide the batter between the 2 pans.
3. Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a loaf comes out clean.