Our October

 Another month that came and went by so quickly. It's been hard to catch my breath. There is so much going on in our nation right now as we continue trudging along in a pandemic and find ourselves post election day with no certainty of where we will end up. In our own little world we have dealt with lots of health stuff and have another hurdle to overcome yet in November. So much hard and heavy stuff. And yet, in a season of life where I could be so anxious and nervous I find myself not that. I am calm. I am patient (for the most part). And I am fully embracing how beautiful life is. How lucky I am to be alive and watch my 3 children breathing and playing and laughing and really just being kids. Just how God intended them to be. 

As I try to remind my children when they are struggling, the best words come out of the challenges in life. Strength. Endurance. Perseverance. We can choose to grow in faith and let God guide us. Accepting that struggle is a part of the human experience has been super important for me this year and I am constantly reminded in 2020 to wholeheartedly welcome a challenge. And in the words of my youngest, "I like a good challenge. I really, really like it."

I'm not going to go heavy into our struggles because this isn't the space for that. I am purposeful in letting you in on the good because that's what I really want my children to see as they come to this space in years to come. 

So, the best of our October (and it was truly a good month to us, a reminder you can always find the light if you are searching for it):

Let's begin. We made a trip out of town for my birthday. My youngest had a medical procedure so we took the time as a family to also see the zoo and get some traveling time together with our own zoo. The kids also begged for a Cabela's stop and my husband was happy to oblige.

                                        

                                                

                                                 

All went well for our youngest and he was back to being a fully running and happy toddler the very next day. And, for that, we are thankful.

We continue to love our chickens. I surprised the kids with a fun stamper to use for the eggs we get from our girls. They were thrilled. 

Per usual, so many arts and crafts around here, along with preschool in full swing:

                                  Riley's artwork of Spiderman. He's 5 and does so well.

The picture below is of all the extra letters Payton has continued to send regularly to friends and family. She tried to stay as connected as she can:

We all got out for some treats and time at the park:

Riley and I find time to daily get some 1 on 1 time together while Jayden naps but we also got a chance for a quick afternoon date. We picked up a treat and headed to the park to enjoy and take a walk. The colors and special time with this boy, just the best:

                                        

Fall always seems to bring the most beautiful sunsets on our property. The corn also stayed up much later than normal making for an extra gorgeous scene:

We also find so much time for cooking and baking during the fall:

Jayden has been working super hard on using his thumb for daily activities:

We harvested the last of our garden. Brussel sprouts! They were easy, for us, to grow as they don't need much attention. This was our first time and we feel quite successful despite our harvest only lasted about 3 meals:

The kids made some crafts:

Payton has had a pink and white scarf forever. One day she saw a matching adult one at a garage sale and begged me to match her. I passed it up at first. But, I ended up grabbing before leaving because how long do I have before she stops asking to match me? It's been fun to dress up together. 

Football made a return! Well at least one Saturday so far, but we soaked that day up:

And we got SNOW! Just a little snow and then the temperatures crept back up to the high 70s. But we all still enjoyed the few days of snow while we had them:

                                                         

                                                         

Riley's snowman

We blew up our bounce house inside our shop and let the kids have some fun for a few days while it was freezing outside. I would bring them hot cocoa and they thought the whole thing was just the best. They continue to beg to do this again. Soon it will snow again and we can repeat this. 

We also put our fall and Halloween decor out and brought out Payton's fall outfit:

And then the snow melted and we were back to being outside with no jackets and singing songs:

                                                         

                                                         

Halloween! SO much Halloween activities and fun. This year is so different with the pandemic and us continuing to stay home but we still made the most of it. We did take the kids trick or treating down one street on Halloween night but we had so much fun at home, they were totally okay with that. 

                                                          

Art by a 7,5, and 2 year old. I love to see how much that changes over the years. 

Spiderman pumpkin

Mummies above and below

                                                  

                                                 

I begged and begged for someone to be a pirate! Jayden was the only one to give in and he was the cutest pirate! This was our first year to not be a similar theme, despite my daughter trying to make all our chose costumes flow together. But, it is okay. There's always hope that next year we can get everyone to do the same theme. Next year, maybe. 

We did see our local brewery was doing a pumpkin contest with social distancing a feature so we did this. 

I picked up an activity from the library for the kids to do. We made treat boxes:

And since the kids would miss the trunk or treat (cancelled this year with Covid) we decided to pick up a treat in town and "parade" them at the park (aka play at the park in full costume):

                                                         

These kids may have missed the regularly scheduled stuff but, let me tell you, they certainly did not miss out on the holiday. It was still fun. Our hearts are full. 

Forward we go into November! Another month sure to fly by. We are already looking forward to the holidays, despite how different life will continue to look. We will continue to embrace our time together regardless and thank God for our blessings!