October - Fall, Pumpkins, Field Trips and More - A Catch Up Post

 Is it really November? I thought I would do a quick catch up post. The above pic is of Hailey and Josiah trying to drum up business in our driveway as they sold decorative pumpkins. We don't live on a very busy road, so this requires a lot of patience and timing. They managed to sell most of them, though. This neighborhood is going to be really quite in a week when the two redheads are gone.

 We got to go to a homeschool event called "Pumpkin Day". It was so much fun. There were lots of different stations all centered around using pumpkins to teach different math, science and art concepts. I could lose Josiah in a pumpkin patch I think. The kid's hair is pretty darn close to the same color as those pumpkins.

I had one last fall Flamenco dance class. I'm really going to miss this! I finally got a fun skirt and shawl and now I have to move. I'm really hoping I can find someone who can keep teaching me in our new town.  I love any kind of folk dancing!

Hailey and Josiah have been having a great time playing in the leaves, although this week, they've been playing in the snow. It was all fun and games until I realized how difficult it was going to be to get the leaves out of Hailey's hair. We managed to get it all our by combing her hair with a ton of conditioner in it.

 The kids were taking turns burying each other in the leaves and breathing through this pipe so they could be completely covered. Crazy kids! The stuff they come up with just amazes me.

 We had a fun visit with Michael's oldest brother, David, who came to pick up a snowmobile from us. It was fun getting him hooked on Duck Dynasty and just visiting and catching up. It was neat for the kids to get to know their crazy Uncle David better. Thanks so much for the visit, David!

Another visitor came to town (this one was a blast from the past). A Revolutionary War veteran stopped in to see our group of homeschoolers and tell them all about his role before, during and after the Revolutionary War. He brought a lot of equipment, Continental Script, etc for the kids to look at. He did a great job! The kids were fascinated as were the adults. I think stuff like this is the best way to learn history.  

Last week we got to go to two harvest parties. The first was at our friends, the Weigand's house. The kids had a great time carving their pumpkins and even dressed up for it. It started storming so our plan to roast brats and have s'mores was thwarted, but we still had a wonderful feast and enjoyed Cora's amazing meat pies. 

 On Halloween, the kids wanted to dress up, so we trick or treated our next door neighbor with the Weigand kids. Josiah made Champ into their "candy carrier". Hailey was a ballerina and chose to wear the very sophisticated striped, snowmen tights to go with it, complete with rain boots. LOL, I told her she looked like a homeschooler. She promptly says, "That's because I am!" Like me, my kids have no problem going against society's norms, and I'm glad for it.

 After we trick or treated our neighbor, we headed to our friends', the Carrolls, adult foster home and trick or treated each of the residents. This blessed them so much to have the kids there and see them all cute and dressed up. I'm not into celebrating Halloween, but I think this is a great way to redeem the season.

 You can tell how thrilled the residents were to see the kids.

 This gal is very unresponsive most of the time, but she brightened up and started moving. She new exactly what was going on, and told my friend as she was going to bed that having the kids there was the best part of her day.

 After stopping by the Carrolls, we went to our first "Trunk or Treat" at a local church, again with our friends, the Weigands.

 Each trunk had a bible scene in it. The kids really enjoyed guessing the scenes.

I thought the trunks were really creative. Again, it was a great way to redeem the season. The kids really love to dress up and they enjoyed having fun with their friends in positive environments. Hailey even won a pan of German Chocolate brownies in the cake walk.

We are speeding toward our moving date (this weekend). So far I haven't had a melt down, but we're only halfway through the week, LOL. Please pray for us to have a safe and happy move. It has already been snowing earlier this week and we have to make several trips over the mountain pass. It is very complicated how we are moving everything (all our stuff is going to be split between a moving truck, storage sheds, another friend property, and my mom's house) until we can actually close on our new place and get moved in. So please pray that Michael and I can stay on the same page and that conflict will be minimal. Pray that our communication will be good and that we will both keep the stress level to a down AND that we will have clear roads.

Thanks in advance!

God Bless,
Jackie