October Sweetness

It's a bit strange to write about October as we are more than half way into December.  The main thing that occurred to me while collaging my photos from October was just how gorgeous the fall colors were, and how much life we lived that glorious fall month!  Here we are below, living October to the fullest.  I think the key to our full and happy October was the fact that we had the impending COVID winter looming ahead and so we knew that these glorious fall days weren't here to stay, and hence we appreciated them all the more.

Here's Charlie below, who stayed close to home in October, thus giving my anxiety about his safety some rest.  In clockwise order from top left below: Charlie peering in the window while Opal's favorite stuffed animal Meow Meow peered out at him.  Charlie snuggling me on a towel, to save me from some allergies, Charlie being menacing to our next door neighbor's cat who just wants to be friends with Charlie, Charlie visiting another neighbor's grandchild who she was babysitting, and Charlie taking a snooze in a random location - against the garage door.

The girls and I haven't had haircuts since January, and our hair has never been so long.  We decided to get Will's cousin (who's been cutting our hair for years at our house) over before the weather got too much colder, so we could at least have hair cuts outside to make it safer for everyone.  We had a random colder day of course the day she came, so Will busted out the space heater to make it more doable.  He also provided a lovely spread of snacks and we made a little party out of it.  Thanks COVID, for making even haircuts seem like a good time.  Granted, we always enjoy it when Will's cousin comes over but adding in snacks and a space heater made it positively festive.

We have been inspired by an aunt of ours to stay connected with her during COVID by giving each other art projects to do.  This month it was our turn to come up with an art project to share, and so we all collected leaves and then sent each other photos of our creations.

I was surprised one school morning when I came downstairs and found a love note from Lucy for Teacher Appreciation Day.  I can't tell you how much that meant to me, as being a mom is mostly a thankless job.  This is our eighth year homeschooling, and who knew that it would be so handy this year during COVID.  I feel like this is the first year that the outside world doesn't view this part of my life as crazy.  Homeschooling is a lifestyle for us and fits pretty seamlessly into how we just live our life.  It is a very different experience to homeschool based on desire and ability with planning than it is to be forced into it.  My heart goes out to all of the parents juggling their own work and school for their kids in this unforeseen year.

We had lots of indoor playtime this past month.  I'm really enjoying not having to rush here and there with the kids, and the fact that COVID has taken away any guilt I would normally have for just staying home more.  I really do think, despite my kids missing their extracurricular classes and their friends, that they will look back on this slow and undisturbed time at home with fond memories.  In clockwise order from top left below: Violet and Emma playing a game of Monopoly Junior, some rock candy we tried to make (it failed), the three youngest twirling in old dance costumes, Opal with a dance costume for her Meow Meow too, more dress up with the three youngest, Violet with a drawing she made with REAL hair she saved from her haircut (this could be COVID inspiration at it's finest), and finally, Emma doing my hair.

Lucy got inspired with some succulents I brought home that were on clearance for the season at our local hardware store.  I was going to make a little indoor fall planter with them, but Lucy took it over and based on the happy, creative zone that she went into with it, I realized that this project was meant for her all along.  She ended up begging me to go back to the hardware store and buy out the plants (which I did) and she sold a few of her creations to friends and family.  The money she made ended up covering all of the supplies, so she was very happy as it allowed her to arrange to her hearts content while still allowing room in our house for people, and not just plants, as she found good homes for her creations to go to.  She has loved arranging plants from a very young age.  She was a toddler at a great grandparent's funeral when we found her at a table rearranging the bouquets that people had sent.  And she's been like that ever since.  She amazes me with this gift of hers.

We were able to be safely social this past month and kept our visits to the great outdoors.  In clockwise order from top left below: We met my parents at the local cider mill for some treats and a hike, we ran into a friend of the girls from dance on an evening walk and chatted for a while, and we stopped by another friend's house for an impromptu outdoor playdate on one of the last 70 degree days of the season.  In the bottom, left hand photo below I treated the girls to a Friday breakfast picnic with cider mill goodies at a local park.  Sweet dreams are made of times like these.

We enjoyed many gorgeous walks and hikes in October.  Looking at these photos, I can't help but feel so very grateful for the town that we live in, and the natural beauty that is all around us.

In October I got to go on a trip all by myself up north to visit with my college roommate and her sister who were in town from Ohio.  I hadn't seen my friend in over a year, and so this was a treat for me on many levels - my first trip away from my kids and Will since I was pregnant with Violet seven years ago, getting to be up north (my favorite place to be when not at home), and getting to spend uninterrupted time with friends who are like family to me.

We had glorious weather, and a glorious time.  My only complaint is that my motel room door flew in when I was sleeping on my first night there and about gave me a heart attack when I woke up in the middle of the night with the wind blowing in my room.  It freaked me out so badly that I really couldn't get back to sleep.  So much for being able to catch up on sleep on my mini getaway!  The next (and final) night I was there, when I went to bed for the night I had my friend try opening my door from the outside to be sure I was locked in tight this time.  I slept a little better, but still not great.

The highlight of this trip though, besides spending time with my friends, was witnessing giant fish come up out of Lake Huron and swim up river.  It was an amazing experience, and one I will never forget.  My friend, her sister and I watched in awe as meaty, giant fish, almost three feet in length, struggled with all their might and jumped their way up the river.  I wished that Will and the girls were with me to see it.  We are going to try and plan it next fall, and hopefully all of our significant others can join us.  The yellow leaf below was peaking out at us on our last hike before I had to head home, and it looked just like a little yellow smiley face.  

Lucy put in my backpack a little fairy and a little mermaid to remind me of them on my hikes and requested that we photograph them in cute little places.  I thought it was an excellent idea, and I was so happy when my friend and her sister embraced this idea even more than me and helped to stage the photos.

We got some great shots.  The kids got a huge kick out of it too, and when I came home, we started taking the little figurines on our hikes together.  Maybe there will be an Instagram account someday for the fairy and mermaid's travels.

While I was up north, Will had fun with the kids.  They played with three old-school LiteBrites that his mom had found in her basement, and also enjoyed a pizza picnic at the park and several long walks and hikes.

As much I was sad to leave my friends and the great up north, I was so happy to be reunited with my kiddos and Will when I got back.  I need to take time away for myself more often, as reuniting is so sweet.  Missing them helped me appreciate all of their quirks and gave me more patience for the weeks ahead.

We harvested honey this past month, and sadly, both of my hives perished.  We had a very strong wind storm this past month and that did them in.  We did replant a pine tree that had died in our backyard, and we baked lots of pies and treats as well.

Will tackled a fairly big project as he connected electricity to our garage underground, instead of how it has been for the past probably sixty years - strung in the air from our house to the garage.  Now it is up to code, but we had to laugh on the evening he completed the project we lost power.  As soon as our power went out we all shouted Will/Dad and I could tell he was a little concerned too.  Then our neighbor FaceTimed us with her daughter, and all of the kids were relieved to know that on our side it wasn't faulty wiring on Will's part and on their side, it wasn't a ghost!

Violet accidentally dropped her appliance this past month and a piece broke off.  Violet's appliance is one of a kind and took MONTHS to make.  We were sick to our stomachs about it but fortunately, the dentist was able to fix it in house, no charge.  We had twenty-four hours in between dropping it off to be repaired and picking it up where we didn't know if it was fixable or not, so we were so excited when they called to say it was all set.  Thank GOD!!!  Here Violet is below getting her appliance fixed, and showing it off when we got home to her sisters.  Good as new!  Now, when she takes it out to brush it at bedtime, she plugs the sink and fills it with a bit of water to cushion the appliance if it were to slip out of her hands again.  This was a tip from another person with Ectodermal Dysplasia.  When we shared Violet's story of how her appliance broke when it slipped out of her hand as she was brushing it, so many others shared stories of their own.  It made Violet smile and feel not alone in her mishap.   Our favorite story someone told was when he was little, he had the stomach flu and his appliance landed in the toilet.  His mom decided to leave it there until his dad came home from work and let him fish it out.  In the meantime, grandma came over and flushed the toilet, as any good grandma would do.  They heard the appliance banging through the pipes all the way through the house.  

Will turned 40 in October, and in true Will style, didn't want to do anything major to mark the occasion.  He read somewhere that the weight you are at 40 is pretty much the weight you will be for life (not sure on how valid this is!).  If this is his mid-life crisis, I'll take it.  He is working with a coworker who used to be a personal trainer, and is taking his workouts and eating more serious than I have ever seen him.  To sum it up with a real-life example: he has replaced the pasta (his favorite food next to the marinara or bolognese sauce you pour over it) with spaghetti squash.  And eats it almost every day for lunch at work.  I never thought I'd see this day.  Never.  He turned 40 on a work day, and his coworkers spoiled him well.  He put in a half day, and came home to more spoiling.  

We met him on his way home from work for a birthday lunch and hike.  I picked up pizza from our favorite place, and we enjoyed a warm lunch despite the chilly weather that day.  We had a wonderful hike together, and then headed home to open presents and for me to make him a birthday dinner and dessert.

We had a couple of mishaps on his birthday - the first being that the shovel he casually mentioned to me this summer that he wanted (and I slyly took a photo of so I wouldn't forget) was the shovel on the left and not the right.  Of course I bought the wrong one.  It's hard to mess up a gift where the person specifically points out what he wants, but I did!  I also made him two desserts, as he couldn't decide which one he wanted and since Will never wants to be a burden, I took this as my rare chance to spoil him.  Thank goodness I made two desserts, as the one we put candles in ended up melting from the bottom up (???) and made the dessert almost inedible.  Will spent a good amount of time picking out the wax, but there was not much of the dessert left after the wax was mostly gone.  

We celebrated Will's birthday with his parents a few days later, and were grateful that COVID numbers were low enough to be able to celebrate indoors with them.

After Will's birthday, the next celebration is Halloween, and we enjoyed pumpkin carving and getting the girls Halloween costumes ready to go.  

Lucy was a suffragette, which was perfect as this year marked the 100 year anniversary of women getting the right to vote, Emma was a construction worker, inspired by the road work that happened this year in front of our house, Violet was a scientist and Opal was a black cat, inspired by her beloved Meow Meow stuffed kitty.

We only went trick or treating at the neighbors that we knew, and enjoyed the fact that our next door neighbor and her mom came with us.  We masked up, and put the candy on a three day quarantine before we let the kids dig in.  Our neighbor two doors down text me on Halloween morning, and told me that she had made up treat bags for all the neighbor kids, and that she had put them on quarantine for three days already so that our kids could have something to eat on Halloween night.  I teared up when I got her text, as that was so super thoughtful, and that simple deed really made our night.  My kids favorite part of Halloween is sorting their candy after trick or treating, and the fact that this woman thought of a way to safely let that still happen, meant more to me than I can say.  Our kids also lucked out in the fact that although we didn't go to many houses, all of the neighbors dumped crazy amounts of candy into my kids bags.  When we got home and quarantined most of the candy, we had a late dinner and a Halloween movie night with the kids.  It was a great evening, despite COVID revising our plans this year.  Plus, while we were out trick or treating we had the good fortune of watching the full moon rise over our neighborhood.  Memories were made, for sure!

I am still working on the launch of my new business, and spent October finalizing fabric, my logo, jewelry designs and testing out tea recipes.  The manufacturer that I am working with for my tea told me this past month that the main ingredient I chose for my first tea flavor is a no-go as it jammed up his machine too much.  He agreed to stick to our business agreement and run this first batch, but swore on his life that he would never run it again.  I decided to go back to the drawing board, and have since (two months later) found a way to get the ingredient that I want processed in a better way.  My manufacturer is also on board, but the ingredient is on backorder (thanks COVID) so we will hopefully be able to get started in the new year.  It is interesting the different delays and challenges that have been presenting themselves while I try to roll out this business.  I have to say though, that I am trying to keep an open mind, and I have a new mantra that I have been repeating to myself: One step at a time, there is no deadline.  Which is so true - as much as I am so excited to launch this business, there is no deadline.  This is coming from my heart and no one is forcing me to do anything.  So why rush it?  I am really trying to enjoy the process, and to see how the details always get worked out on their own, perfect timeline.

I was hoping for a fall launch to this business to be able to take advantage of the holiday shopping season, but now I am hoping for a spring launch.  It's great to have goals, but it is also great to be the one in charge at the end of the day so that when things go wrong or take a sudden plot twist, I have no one breathing down my neck and can repeat to myself, "One step at a time, there is no deadline!"