We had a busy and memorable October, celebrating fall, Will's birthday and Halloween. We also continued the tradition of a pumpkin photo shoot with our newest member of the family. I love that I can compare and see all four of my girls at the same age (about 6 months) together! Below in clockwise order from top left: Lucy, Emma, Opal and Violet.
Here is some of our fall decor pictured below - Lucy arranged the table centerpiece on the left below, and I bought the arrangement on the right at the Farmer's Market.
The color of the leaves this past month were spectacular. There is something about the yellows, oranges and reds against a blue, October sky that is gorgeous beyond words. We enjoyed as many fall walks as we could in October, knowing all too well what kind of weather comes after the glory of October! Here we are below on various walks, most of which were enjoyed in the local cemetery as the fall colors there are top notch.
Emma decided to make a maze in our backyard out of leaves which was fun to run through, and in clockwise order from top left: the leaf maze, Emma hanging upside on the swing set, Emma using Will as her ladder to pick an apple from our neighbor's apple tree, and the kids on top of a hill near our house, ready to run down at full speed.
The girls and I went apple picking for the second time this fall when my brother Joe and his family came to town.
It wasn't the best weather, but we still had fun. The highlight was watching Opal and my niece Hayden enjoy apples fresh from a tree for the very first time. They both loved them!
Here are the cousins all reunited below. The last time they were all together was when my brother and his wife came to town with my niece for her double baptism with Opal in June.
The energy levels are hard to describe when all nine cousins are together, but it is one of the best feelings in the world to see my kids playing with my siblings kids! I hope that they will all be lifelong friends.
We celebrated Will's birthday with a hike and really enjoyed his weekend birthday with him. Lucy told me several days prior to his birthday that she believed that, "Dad was just itching to scratch off some lotto tickets" and so I took her and her sisters to the corner store with cash in hand and let them buy Will some scratch offs. I felt a little judged as they fed their money into the lotto ticket vending machine but hey, it was for their daddy!
We celebrated Will's birthday with his parents the night before Will's birthday and enjoyed watching a newly mobile Opal try to open his presents.
We went pumpkin picking at a garden center close to home this year, and a short hayride brought us to the pumpkin field, as well as a corn maze. I hadn't been in a corn maze in years and I realized that I actually don't like them when we were lost in the maze and about ready to miss the tractor that would take us back to our cars. We found the way out, and Will helped lighten my anxiety by sticking pieces of yellow corn in his teeth and talking with a silly accent.
We went trick or treating at our Farmer's Market this year with friends, and again, the weather wasn't great but we made the best of it. Opal was obsessed with trying to eat the umbrella handle and I kept worrying that she was going to get her tongue stuck to it as it was freezing outside.
The girls drew the design they wanted on their pumpkins with black marker, and then Will did the honors of carving them up. They made a great team!
Lucy was a fashion designer, Emma a leopard (or Cheetah depending on her mood), Violet was Anna from Frozen, and Opal was a cabbage patch doll. We came up with the costumes just about a week before Halloween which is the latest we have ever pulled it off. This caused anxiety on my part, but it all worked out in the end. Will never feels anxiety about creative endeavors and I need to take it from him and realize that sometimes creativity thrives under pressure. In the bottom, right hand picture below, I caught Violet breathing into her opened Halloween candy bag. I asked her what she was doing and she told me, "Mom, doesn't this just smell sooooo good?" I breathed it in as well, and let me tell you, that one sniff brought back so many memories of my childhood and as much as Halloween candy doesn't really agree with me these days, that smell will always be one of such pleasant memories!
Below are the kids at dance...
...and the kids "at" school. Opal is a tough distraction for them as they would much rather play with her than do schoolwork. Any little peep Opal makes, and they scoop her up. This is a good problem to have, but not good for school work efficiency!
We are accomplishing quite a bit this school year, and one of the things I am the most excited about is our weekly Poetry Tea Time. We read poetry, make up poetry (our favorite being limericks), and eat cookies and drink tea and hot chocolate. We are doing school on a four day week, leaving the fifth day for Poetry Tea Time, field trips and house cleaning. It has helped us to stay on track and the goal will be for us not to still be trying to complete the school year in July. That extra grace day each week also will help us not fall behind when we take a day off for each of the girl's birthdays, holidays and even snow days. I think this is our seventh year of homeschooling, and we have started a Morning Time for the first time this year where I read from various books on subjects like history, geography, science and art. I also read a morning devotion, we say the Pledge of Allegiance and we sing hymns and songs to learn by heart, and sometimes I even read aloud a chapter book - we just finished The One and Only Ivan which I highly recommend!
As much as I am happy with how our school year is going, I do feel like other areas of our family life are not going as well. For instance, getting enough outdoor play, free play and house cleaning as well as making more homemade meals. I realize you can't have it all and priorities are important, but I guess it's to say that I have yet to achieve the perfect balance and I'm starting to wonder if that is a lifelong process. Plus, I feel like out of all four of my kids, Violet is getting the brunt of the balance issue, and I really want to enjoy this time with her, as it is her last year of preschool. I keep reminding myself that she is learning independence, but it is sad when her older sisters' schoolwork and her baby sister's high needs keep me from getting all of the stories and couch snuggles I want with Violet, and I would love to not feel rushed when she is telling me a story or showing me something she is proud of. So, right now, that is my goal - to make Violet more of an equal with her sisters in our hierarchy of needs.
It has been amazing to me to see all four of my girls playing together this past month, even if it is just Opal playing nearby while her sisters' play. I do think with the birth of each of my kids that it takes a full year to feel like our lives are in equilibrium, and perhaps it is a one year learning curve from adding a new member to our family, or it also is the fact that it takes about a year for the newest member to become less demanding. Either way, I wish there were more hours in the day for me to spend quality, one on one time with my babies. The beauty of time constraints though, is that it does force you to prioritize and realize what is important and what is not. The below picture shows what is important to me!
The kids have enjoyed putting on shows for us in the basement now that colder weather has set in, and Opal is a happy audience member.
The shorter days are making us crave comfort foods and I am missing the free time to bake. There is a delicious donut shop near us that has been filling in for my lack of baking, and Will has taken on some more cooking as well. Keep in mind, if we are both home, Will is the one who usually makes dinner. He has gone onto Pinterest though and made queso dip and even humored a craving of mine and tried to make dairy-free and bean-free white chicken chili. He followed the recipe to the T, and it turned out disgusting. Mindful of the sacrifice that animals make to feed us, we strained the chicken out of the soup and saved it for enchiladas. It was still painful to throw out the rest, but at least the meat did not go to waste. You know the food is gross if Will and I cannot even bring ourselves to eat it. The girls watched us gag on the meal with complete fascination, as they saw for the time what they look like at most meals. Lucy was probably the most entertained, and said in a sarcastic voice at the table while pretending to be on the phone, "Hello, yes, I'd like to place a carryout please."
A friend of mine rescued three kittens this past month and brought them by for a playdate with my three girls. It was such a fun afternoon - made all the happier by the fact that the sisters did not have to share, and the kittens went home with my friend at the end. Charlie is feeling neglected these days, and fortunately did not witness the kittens in our house receiving snuggles. The top, right hand picture below is Charlie forcing his way into my hand for snuggles.
It's difficult to get out these days with four kids, and I'd like to say that because of that we stay home more, but with the kids in art class, piano lessons, yoga, dance two days a week, catechism and doctor appointments that we are out at least once every day. While the kids are at various classes, I squeeze in any errands I have. Below in clockwise order from top left - Lucy and I in a fitting room while shopping for fall clothes when we noticed a peeping baby, Violet having me take a picture of toys she found while running errands with me when Lucy and Emma were in a class - the picture was for Violet to show her sisters so they wouldn't be sad they missed seeing them, all four girls at Will's work raiding his coworker's candy closet, Violet at the local cider mill with me while Lucy and Emma were at art class, and finally, Violet in a play fort she made during our bi-weekly chiropractor appointment.
Finally, Lucy, Opal and I met a friend of mine at a local craft show one Sunday this past month and had a great time. Opal slept almost the entire time, and Lucy got to have special time with my friend and I while we enjoyed a bond we all share - handmade items and small, locally owned entrepreneurs. Emma and Violet were welcome to come as well, but they opted for staying home with Will to enjoy games, a football game on TV and Dad endorsed snack foods. Needless to say, we were all happy with our decisions.
Here's to the never-ending journey of finding balance in life, and staying present in the moment so I can enjoy each of my girls to the fullest!
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