Happy Fall Ya'll!

Although here it is only a date on the calendar still....we won't REALLY see Fall until November! About the only signs we've seen of Fall were 2 days last week in mid-70's bliss and a few of our tallow puss tree leaves turning their vibrant yellow, orange and red. I absolutely LOVE the variety of color on that tree in Fall!

The weeks have been busy, with a few changes here and there...we do have 5 children so not everyone can do EVERYthing they want. The kids know the music instruction is a non-negotiable, and that they can pick 1 other activity. Ella had to make a tough choice between Swim Team and Horseback Riding, the sport she had to stop at the beginning of summer on account of her foot being broken. She decided to wait for the Spring session for Swim Team and resume her horseback riding. This change takes effect October 3rd and I'm grateful for it. The 'greedy for my own time' part of me is glad of the 'once a week' factor vs. 4 x's a wk, and the horses don't stink nearly as bad in the Fall/Winter/Spring vs. the summer time in S. Texas! (This was actually key in Ella's decision!) The only 'down' side is the girl won't stop growing and she needs new boots and jodhpurs again.

We have quite the collection now of hatched chrysalis's - they are paper thin, wispy and VERY easy to lose, crush, or get blown away by the wind. We had the memory making opportunity of watching a Gulf Fritillary hatch, and the not-so-pleasant experience of discovering the inside of the chrysalis is squishy with fluid resembling blood when picked too soon after hatching. (Thanks Claire!) Our passion vine is showing the ravages of the past 2 weeks, but it is a resilient vine and we are looking forward to it greening up again soon.

Regarding Hurricane Ike, the storm went from a projected landfall that would have brought the eye right over San Antonio to Galveston & Houston. We are grateful, but we really were looking forward to getting at least some rain....but alas, a pleasant breeze was all we saw of the storm.

We have 3 days of double duty school ahead as we prepare for my mom's visit this week. We are SO looking forward to spending some time with her! Claire is slowly but surely cutting her molars, and she has lived up to her nickname of Claire-BEAR, only not for the cuteness factor, for the crankiness of her demeanor. I'd be cranky too!

The girls are LOVING Girl Scouts - by far THE activity of choice amongst the kiddos. Their troop is very active, and Ella has earned her first badge, while Natalie has earned 2 'keys' towards her badge. Grace received special recognition for reciting the G.S. pledge from memory and David & Claire are content making acorn soup in the base of a partially hollow tree the entire 2 hours the troops meet!

Hope your Fall is a happy one....we'll update the blog when we can, and we enjoy keeping up with the lives of those we love on your blogs:-)!

Love Much,

The Meissler 7

P.S. Ginger had her first heartworm treatment and did great...she has her final one in a month. She is slowly getting used to us, and after her first treatment, she is starting to act like a 'real' dog, complete with play time and chewing up new rolls of paper towels...