Personally, it was a pretty rough month for me. October is usually rough because it has so many memories attached to it (death dates, birth dates, etc.), but this month was extra hard. The month started with a hard week, and then I ended the week trying to be positive and think the next week would be better. Only it was a little worse. The following week, I went for positive again. Nope… didn’t work again. The whole month was spent like that, and it ended with an event that rocked my world. I’ll post about that later. For now, here are the little details that filled our month.
My church has a class called Body Life, which I took when we first started attending there. Now that I’m a staff member, I wanted to take a refresher. The class is awesome, with topics like conflict resolution, protecting church unity, forgiveness, and boundaries. This was a photo I took at class #4, with all of my classmates on stage in the Auditorium.
I guess you could say October was a “colorful” month. Both kids had disciplinary actions at school and were moved from “green” on to “yellow” (and Jackson even moved to red at one point). Boo.
The kids had fall break, and I am lucky enough to know some great teens who hung out with my kids while I worked. Nicole and Bo are family favorites, and we spent a few extra days with them (even when I wasn’t working) because they are really great kids and fun to be around.
This is the closest I will ever get to the musical group ABBA. To celebrate one friend’s 40th birthday, her husband sent the girls off in a chauffeured car. We went to an ABBA cover band concert. I laughed my tail off when we walked in the place and realized we were – BY FAR – the youngest people there. It wasn’t quite the rocking concert I planned on, but it was lots of fun.
We made the annual trip to the pumpkin patch with our best friends, then headed to one family’s house for a great meal and time to hang out.
Also on fall break, we met friends at a local park to play. The girls really enjoyed making fairy houses at the base of nearby trees too.
Last month, we had the failed teeth pulling event. I’m happy to report with a little bit of laughing gas, this month’s tooth-pulling was successful! There was still screaming, but WAY less than the first time. Yay!
Thanks to Groupon, Dan and I had a date night out at the shooting range. I’ve denied my Southern roots for a while and haven’t shot a gun in a long time. I forgot how fun – and nerve-wracking! – it can be.
My church hosted a big event for all the kids in 3rd through 5th grade. It’s called Frenzy. We have a photo booth, and the adults have just as much fun as the kids. Here are the photos of me and two of my awesome coworkers.
Another pumpkin patch, this time with Nicole (see above).
At the end of church’s Body Life class, attendees are invited to mark the moment by writing a prayer on rocks. It’s beautiful to see all the tenderness, sadness, hope and joy in these prayers.
I got to have lunch a few different times with my kids at school.
The kids had their annual Living Water lemonade stand. They sold drinks, bracelets, and cupcakes. They made over $30!
My church is building an extension, which means the property is going to have major changes. One of them is the baptism pond will be demolished and relocated. I wanted to relish the memories I made at that pond, so I spent a few moments at the pond one day before work started. It was a beautiful moment and so nice to relive those memories with my Father.
October means thousands of leaves falling from the trees in our yard. Jackson and Katie helped Dan one day, and Katie ended up making a maze in the leaves. I love her creativity!
I don’t work on Mondays, and the past few months I have settled into a nice rhythm on those days. I consider Mondays my recovery days, and I use them to replenish my soul. This photo shows the way I spent one of those October Mondays: I opened the windows (one of those gorgeous fall days), snuggled in to our LoveSac, propped up my feet, and let the breeze blow over me as I watched the trees and our St. Louis Cardinals flag sway in the breeze. It soothed my soul to its core.
Dan and I had a date at the end of October, when we got to see the musical Les Miserables. This was the third time we have seen it, and I have never been able to make it through without a large amount of tears. So many of the themes in the musical remind me of my brother and my dad, and watching it again makes me miss them with a deep ache. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it!
October ended with two big firsts in our kids’ lives. Jackson’s had his first sleepover (Grandma and out of town relatives don’t count, so this was truly his first!). He spent the night at his cousin Adam’s house, and they had a blast. They went to nearby Purina Farms to play, go on a hayride, and decorate pumpkins.
Katie was pretty bummed to miss the sleepover at Adam’s, but she missed it for a good reason. We had a girls’ night out and went to her first concert: TobyMac! We had such a fantastic time dancing and singing to the music. I loved watching her face when she saw the arena full of people to watch her favorite singer. She said, “I didn’t know that many people like TobyMac and Jamie Grace!” She was shocked to see that many people in one place. I am so blessed to share those memories with her!
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