Change Of Season – Autumn

Summer this year in Melbourne was almost non existent, but compared to the weather based tragedies we had around the rest of Australia, I simply can’t complain. Instead I am going to look to get myself well organised for autumn!

1. Autumn Garden Tasks

I am not an overly keen gardener, but after a recent session with the kids, it did make me think I should get out in the garden a bit more. So this year I plan to help out a bit more with the autumn garden tasks with Mr I and the kids. If you are after a list of garden tasks for autumn, these ones look pretty comprehensive:

2. New season smells

I have essential oils on the burner a lot at our house. As the season changes it is time for some new scents I think! I have been using a Balance Blend but think I will move to something warmer like a Comforting Blend .

3. Walk and talk with the kids

I have shared before how I use the walk to school with kids to observe and discuss our surrounds. Now is a great time to talk about change of seasons, what autumn will bring and what comes after autumn. As is our tradition we will try to predict when the trees will have no leaves on them and see who guesses the closest.

4. Wardrobe audit for the kids

Time to check what warm clothes are going to fit who. Over the summer I drastically reduced the amount of clothes that I was putting into storage in the attic. It should be much easier to find the right sizes this time. Once I know what each child needs, then I can keep my eye out for sales before the weather turns too cold.

5. Wardrobe audit for me!

Now we have finished having babies and I have just finished breast feeding I can look at starting to rebuild my wardrobe. Between babies I found I just bought things here and there. I want to take a more planned approach to what I purchase this winter. I also want to get rid of the things that I am hanging on to but never wear.

6. Consider the kids autumn activities

As summer leaves so do the summer sports. There are new requests from some of the kids, so I need to look at what we can fit in and what will work best for each child.

7. Run down stocks in pantry, fridge and freezer

Every few months I like to run down items in the pantry, fridge and freezer to make sure we turn over food before it is out of date. Change of season is a great time to do this, so when I compile the monthly menu plan next week, I will be as creative as possible to use up existing ingredients.

8. Find some new slow cooker recipes

Slow cooker meals make my life so much easier when we have after school activities. I need to find some new ones to be able to mix it up a bit more during the week days.

9. Change the smoke alarm batteries

In Australia, we have a campaign that reminds us to change the batteries in our smoke alarms as we change our clocks for daylight savings. Such an important thing to do. I will get Mr I on to this one 🙂 .

10. Make the most of every last hot day!

Knowing each hot day maybe the last, I am determined to make the most of each one that comes my way. Last week this included picnicking on the nature strip with the two youngest ones. I would have been happy with the front garden, but the preschooler thought it was sunnier on the nature strip so that was were we had our lunch!

And if you are after even more inspiration for things to do in early Autumn, check out this excellent post from Catherine at Adventures With Kids – 10 ways to make March memorable.

Do you have big plans for the next few weeks?