October

As I sit here writing, it is a rainy Sunday morning in October.  I love the sound of the rain falling outside and so I have my windows open so I can hear it hitting the ground.  I haven't written anything on our blog this whole month and it was starting to nag at me that I needed to sit down and write those things that make us smile.  I like this time to write about our family and reflect on the things that are happening.
This has been a busy month with soccer in full swing and the girls working hard at school.  They all do so well in school and it was nice to receive such great reports about them at parent/teacher conferences.  Abby likes to make me math worksheets that she creates.  I rarely get an A+ because I forget to write my name.  She is a natural at leading others.

 One day I went to Lowe's to get a plant for the front porch pot and I just couldn't resist all of the pansies.  I bought a few packs and planted them.  Gardening feels so good for the soul.  Abby helped me dig and plant some of them.  I just took my time and tried to not over exert myself.  I think they look lovely and they are all surviving so far.

Sammie and Abby had the Fall Festival at school.  When we got there, we didn't really see any of our friends and so I thought we wouldn't stay long, but as we were about to leave we spotted friends and then ended up staying nearly an hour longer.  It's always more fun with friends.  Abby and Sammie raced rubber ducks.  I think it was Abby who won in the end.

 I decorated my mantle for Halloween.  I did something new this year and I love how it turned out.

At my bidding we went to my favorite pumpkin patch.  I just felt like our family had been running in so many different directions, I just wanted to do something all together.  No one was really up to going, but since Abby's soccer practice had been canceled it was the only time we could squeeze it in.  The grumpiness of everyone was almost comical.  Even Joey was tired and just wanted to stay home that evening.  I admit I was kind of tired myself.  I called it "our family outing fail."  The patch was incredibly crowded with hardly room to walk around.  But everyone warmed up a bit and they each picked a pumpkin and we painted them last night while listening to Halloween music.

I brought Sammie and Abby with me to watch Olivia participate in her school rally since they were out of school early that day.  Her drama class preformed a skit.  It was fun to see her "on stage" again.  She snapped a cute photo of she and some friends backstage.

And Sammie and Abby had their Halloween parade at school on Friday.  Sammie was a hippie even though she is a goddess for Halloween.  She wasn't' in the mood to fuss with her costume that morning.  Some friends sent me these pics since I wasn't there to watch.

It's been a fun and full month.  I'll save the Halloween pics for tomorrow.