Another busy month. Before I share pictures from this month, I am writing this monthly recap with a heavier heart. Sometimes, that is the case and has been before. I try to keep this place to light, but our family has the hard, too. This hard is probably more personally harder for me as I watch my grandparents age. My grandmother moved to a nursing home and is struggling. My goodbyes with her has she left her home, the home I have only ever known her in (even though it wasn't her only one) were so bittersweet. Her home will never be the same to me again and I already know that. She has since struggled greatly at the nursing home. Simultaneously, my grandfather has fallen severely ill after saying his goodbye. Maybe partially a broken heart and the changing of seasons in his own life as his home will never be the same either, but also he has contracted covid and pneumonia.
During this hard season, I have been reminded of how quickly the times change. God calls us to that and leads us to it. That doesn't make it easy as I watch my children, my husband, my parents, and extended family along with myself aging. So much time and it always shocks me, no matter how I prepare for the change.
A bible verse that has brought me comfort and peace during my own struggles, and maybe will find comfort for you:
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
So while our family is in a time to weep, we are also in a season of laughter. Especially when it comes to my children. Deep, deep, from the bottom of your belly laughter. The kind that chases worry away for a moment and reminds you of a child-like faith. God is good. Even in the hard.
So let me show you some of the smiles that we are still feeling on the daily:
The picture above is from one of my sweetest friends and reminded me to remember how much I have to offer this world. Even in the hard.
We also sometimes put up the bouncy house and play together. I love chasing him around and just watching him be a kid.
Our cornfield (aka privacy fence as we lovingly term it around here) came down for the season. Another true reminder of seasons changing (a time to plan and a time to uproot). I just read growing slow (not an affiliate link but loved the book and highly recommend) by Jennifer Dukes Lee and she makes it so clear to think about how much work is done in the winters of our life. I hope to do the bible study and read the book over and over again, perhaps yearly!
We also took all three kids to our fire station's open house. It was so fun to see all the trucks, tour the station, and then watch their truck parade. Who doesn't love a small town parade on a random week night?
The kids had 2 days off from school during October and I lovingly call them our "bonus days." I think I always will because they truly feel like that to me. One of those days, we did a ton and it included tennis, basketball, and lunch with daddy outside at a restaurant. Such a busy morning but a totally good memory for me:
Back at home the kids spent lots of time being silly with dry erase marker boards:
Bonus days always stand to remind me of simpler times when life was slow and we just enjoyed being together doing whatever we felt like in the moment. Sure that hasn't entirely changed with school but the school schedule (and attitudes some days after) can complicate the ease that used to be there.
One random evening I was able to capture my pumpkins with a pumpkin at dusk:
If you were starting to think Riley didn't get any one on one time, I wanted to confirm that he does. And we make our time really count when we are together! This trip we went to the coffee shop for bakery treats and then stayed and played in their little gathering area. We did legos, potato heads, and memory. We also went and walked at the park and played on all the playgrounds they have. It was the sweetest time with my little man:
One day I was at the park with Jayden. It was a different park than we normally go to and it had a little library. I have been here before and I planned to leave books of our own. I didn't account for my son wanting to take some home. Unfortunately, there were no kid's books in there but there was a 1,000 piece puzzle that Jayden insisted come home with us. I didn't think our kids would handle well. Boy, did my whole house blow me away:
Not only did we finish this puzzle in 3 days, but our whole family worked really hard on it! Monte and I did spend a few nights working on after the kids went to bed but for the most part it was a team effort! We were so glad to complete we left it up for weeks just to look at. It was missing 3 pieces but we were okay with that. I insisted we put this back in the little library by the park but the kids wanted to keep to do another time or two before returning. I'm okay with that and look forward to those memories.
And now, just a random picture of my children eating and working on crafts together:
Grandma and Grandpa came to visit and there's nothing to not love about their visits, a messy house, and so much love and memories:
This year we made it to several pumpkin patches and spent lots of friend time at these patches this year. I treasure the activities, food, and fun that these patches have to offer. I didn't grow up with this opportunity and I hope one day my kids treasure this extra activity time with us:
Payton and her pumpkin above. She took a long time to pick the most unique pumpkin she could find.
After the pumpkin patches, we always come home so tired. This is an actual picture after a pumpkin patch visit with friends:
We also wrapped up flag football and cheer! Both big kids had so much fun and Payton performed at the first half of a football game. We just love watching them as they work towards figuring out who they want to be and who God designed them to be in this life.
Riley was home sick a few days this week and a good reminder of how life used to look before kindergarten took over our lives:
And what would my blog be without me sharing some food we've created? Here I surprised the kids with a rhubarb strawberry crisp:
Riley created the whipped cream for it and I must say he is quite the chef:
During Riley's time at home not feeling well, he got super creative. I am loving seeing the work he comes up with:
Above I had a memory of when I did fall trees art with Riley for preschool. He was home with us as he was ill and asked to do that again. I just couldn't say no!
Jayden had a blast cheering them on and playing with his friends on the sidelines:
Riley was supposed to do a tunnel walk at the same game Payton cheered at but he ran a fever for a few days this month and that landed right during this time. We made the most of it though. Dad took Payton to the game and we parked on the sidelines, had hot cocoa, and watched the game together from the vehicle. I know it wasn't the same as participating but we both agreed it was the best alternative we could have done and we still had a rather good time together:
I am trying to exercise regularly and getting to the season where that means I am inside a lot more. If I had it my way I would workout in the mornings but that doesn't happen as often as I'd like. So, I seem to workout frequently after supper. And, the best part, watching the kids exercise with me and make their own pretend youtube videos:
Back at home, we went for a walk one morning on our country roads:
And picked apples:
I was shocked at how much I was still harvesting in October. We even got raspberries this month! I didn't even know that was possible.
On a really quiet weekend this month, Payton and I decided to sneak away and do some downtown shopping. It of course ended up in a coffee shop date situation (have you noticed this is THE place my kids want to be):
Another weekend we all stayed home, watched tv and made apple butter, hot cocoa and popcorn. Nothing feels better sometimes than a good movie, lots of food, and my little family gathered together.
In the past we have had pumpkin decorating parties with our friends. The kids asked and asked to do but I just couldn't make it work with our friend's schedules. So, one day I just randomly set it up for the kids to do when I brought them home from school. We had so much fun just us this year:
Jayden's creation.
Riley's work.
And Payton's
My 3 pumpkin's pumpkins.
I also saw on instagram some fun halloween treat ideas and made apple teeth. The kids thought it was so fun!
Downtime at home with my youngest while the kids are at school. I still manage to keep our days busy and wear him out!
And some pictures of fall at our park, on a morning walk with Jayden, while the rest of our family was at work and school:
The trunk or treat outfits! PJ Masks! Also, meeting my request to match at least once.
Payton made herself into a mummy.
The trees are surely showing off this year. They have been so vibrant in coloring!
Jayden loves the park and goes every day if he can (also asks daily for the children museum). At the end of October we finished out with, you guessed it, Halloween! Although Halloween was not my personal favorite growing up, it has definitely become a favorite as I watch the time unfold with my kids. I typically convince them to try and do a themed costume (believe me, I tried) but this year they wanted to do their own thing. They did do a superhero thing for one activity, the trunk or treat, and I was satisfied with that. We are so lucky to have many opportunities in the community so the kids can wear multiple costumes (and typically those in the toddler range do seem to swap out costumes frequently).
A birthday party picture! The kids spent Halloween morning at a birthday party for one of their friends.
We were given a rockin' monster costume and Payton really wanted to wear. We decided to use hair chalk to match. Both the boys also got a streak of a solid color in their hair as a mohawk (at their request). It was hard to see with their costumes (all had hats) but still made Halloween extra fun.
Below is a picture to remind us all that Halloween isn't always just for kids. We stopped by a friend's house and were surprised with jello shots. It was so fun and kept us laughing the whole night about our own little treat we got.
We stopped by another friend's house and got a family picture taken. Something I totally treasure because I realize I am not in many pictures really. But, I hope my kids know I am always there, snapping all the million pictures included in each monthly recap.
Halloween is so fun, not at all for the sweets, but to see so many people in one night. I love running into people we know and people from the community we have yet to meet. It's just been a fun season of life with raising children.
Happy Halloween! I hope your celebrations and month of October were just as fun as ours were, even in the midst of the hard that can come with each season.
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