Autumn is here, in all of her splendor, and it is a sight to behold. The cooler weather creeps closer and closer as the length of daylight decreases, the leaves turning their decadent shades of orange, red, yellow, and brown before flooding the ground beneath the trees. The lushness of our summer gardens has faded, leaving us with the skeleton of our plants and the remnants of our waning harvest.
As the days cool and winter draws near, I like to put my garden to rest. Of course, we grow some kale here and there and usually our garlic is planted in October, but I use December/January/February to really take a step back from gardening. As much as I love gardening, it’s nice to have a respite from it, though I typically use that time daydreaming and planning the next garden.
In one of the Facebook groups I’m in for December babies, someone recently asked what our Christmas budget was for our kids. I saw a lot of numbers – ranging from almost a thousand dollars to just a few hundred (per child) but no one had as low of a budget as me.
My budget is $50 for my son.
Not far from where we live is the Outer Banks. Since becoming a work-at-home mom, I’ve been making regular trips to the Outer Banks for meet-ups, beach trips, and playground adventures. I had been wanting to take Caleb to the NC Aquarium on Roanoke Island but held off because I felt this was a family adventure. I didn’t want Robb to miss out on this moment so I waited… and waited… and waited… and reminded Robb that children 2 and under are free, then the prices jump up.