31 Days of Enjoying the Busy Season {Day 9}

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

31 Days of Enjoying the Busy Season {Day 8}

This morning Brynne was outside first thing riding her little, tiny bike. The tires are flat and it's way too small for her. But, she usually rides her scooter, so we haven't been on the hunt for a new bike. Eli has a little, tiny bike, too. And he is such an indoorsman that, again, we haven't been too wound up to get him a bigger bike.

But this morning, when Rick saw Brynne out in the driveway, he said, "I'm going to town to get the kids new bikes." And that's exactly what he did. Brynne tagged along to help out.

They came home with two new 18" bikes, and new helmets with dingy bike bells.

Brynne was elated! She rode her bike all day! She was bummed that her new helmet was too big (she already has one that fits well anyway), so she has to take the bell back because it came with the helmet. But she was all about riding that bike! She wants to take the training wheels off and learn to ride. Rick and her will be working on that soon.

Eli, on the other hand, could not understand why in the world Rick thought he needed a new bike. But the helmet and bell? Oh, he was excited!!! He did get on his bike a few times throughout the day, but it was primarily to ring his bell. I told Rick that maybe he should have just bought Eli a video game about riding a bike.

I enjoyed these new bikes today as much as the kids. They are shiny and bright .. and so are the kids' smiles.

31 Days of Enjoying the Busy Season {Day 7}

(This is yesterday's post.)

I love to see my children supporting each other. At Eli's walk-a-thon, he had a goal of walking 20 laps. They are 20 loooooonnnngggg laps!

Eli started walking at 1:00 p.m. and never stopped, except to grab a drink as he went by, until 3:00 p.m.

Every few laps Dawson and/or I would get up and walk with him. But he would then tell us to go sit back down. I think he wanted to accomplish it all on his own. Most kids walked with a buddy or two. But Eli was on a solo mission.

Brynne hooked up with some of her former school buddies and walked with them.

After Lap 18, Eli was tired and wanted to quit. Dawson jumped up and said, "Come on. We'll do the last two laps with you." He even went and found Brynne who was sitting with her friends enjoying a popcicle. He was tired and it was hard. But, we finished the last two laps with him.

And he accomplished his 20 lap goal.

31 Days of Enjoying the Busy Season {Day 6}

A glass of wine, cooking comfort food, listening to The Canadian Tenors.

31 Days of Enjoying the Busy Season {Day 5}

Obviously, my theory of how to enjoy a busy season is to make it even more busy! Today I took Dawson, Eli, and Brynne to Oklahoma's Largest Classroom at the Tulsa State Fair.

We started out in the OLC building doing all kinds of Science-y things.

Then we moved onto the petting barn and birthing center. Oh, the babies are so cute!!! We were hoping to see some kids (as in goats) or piglets being born, but no such luck. Instead, Dawson had some fun with the ultra large ostrich and Brynne spent some time feeding the goats. Eli doesn't do 'dirty and stinky', so he just hung back and observed from a distance.

Our next stop was an arena where cattle dogs (mostly Border Collies) were competing, herding three cows. It was so fun to watch! They are some disciplined and smart animals! We were cracked up to be surrounded by so many dogs that looked like Crusoe.

We walked over to the armory, just to see it. It was secured shut, but we found a broken window and took a photo in cognito. Look at those solid stone walls!

After stopping to have some pizza, lemonade, and sweet treats, we took our spot on the bleachers to watch the dog trick show. The kids loved it!! It was very entertaining. They are now convinced they can teach Crusoe to do those tricks.

Thankfully, it's Wednesday night, and I don't cook. Instead, I'll be retiring to the couch early for a glass of wine and some relaxation. I have currently retired to the back patio where I am about to fall asleep, sitting with the dogs and enjoying the wonderful cool breeze.

31 Days of Enjoying the Busy Season {Day 4}

Today I let the pumpkin patch overcharge me for pumpkins, but didn't mind because it's for missions.

Each of the kids (who were present) picked out the perfect pumpkins.

And I found mine.

Scarecrows were spotted.

We chose the smallest and ugliest pumpkin so that it wouldn't be left all alone.

And Dawson found the most rotten pumpkin.

As if we didn't get enough pumpkins, we stopped by Aldi to pick up a couple more (because they were cheap).

I'll be honest. I was in a small funk today. So this little trip certainly helped my mood!

Nicole's Daybook

Outside my window... It's sunny and warm.

I am thinking... about how much I am looking forward to retirement age.

I am thankful ... that my Aunt Rhonda's mastectomy went well and that the tests they ran showed no cancer issues.

I am wearing... jean capris, silver flats, an orange/gray/purple/white short-sleeved shirt and a white jean jacket.

I am planning... to take the kids to the pumpkin patch today and get some pumpkins for our house.

I am creating... A button "BOO" pumpkin for the front porch.

I am going... to have a glass of wine and enjoy my t.v. shows this evening. "It's TUESDAY" is back!

I am reading...  The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (I honestly have not read in a week. I've been too busy with school and other things.), The Captain's Dog by Roland Smith, (Dawson's read-a-loud), lots of books each day with Eli and Brynne, 1 John (as part of the Good Morning Girls Bible study).

I am hoping... that a certain teenager in my life is able to figure out soon that things don't have to be as difficult as he/she makes them.

From the learning rooms... Brynne is starting to learn multiplication concepts. Dawson is concentrating on the U.S. Flag history and some eggy science experiments demonstrating cellular osmosis and hypotonic and hypertonic solutions. Eli is hoping to get 100% on his spelling pre-test again this week! And Kyndal is enjoying her Cosmo classes .. other school, not so much.

Noticing that ... I made some parenting mistakes in the past year that I am now regretting.

From the kitchen... Having those meatball subs that we didn't have time to make last night.

Around the house... Mums and pansies.

One of my favorite things... Fall colors and fragrances.

A few plans for the rest of the week... Enjoying each day despite the storms of life.

From my picture journal.

Homeschool moms on a much-needed night out!

Lots of women Daybook. See what they have to say at The Simple Woman's Daybook.

31 Days of Enjoying the Busy Season {Day 3}

It's only 7:30 a.m. and I have already enjoyed my (going to be) busy day. How?

• I did not hit the snooze button when the alarm went off at 6:00 a.m., even though I wanted to really bad!
• I had a cup of coffee while checking my e-mail, made Kyndal's lunch, and then got dressed for a walk.
• I read my 1 John SOAP study scripture for the day before I left for my walk, so I could meditate on it.
• I took Crusoe for a nice walk on this crisp, fall morning, and prayed during the majority of my walk.
• I came home, grabbed another cup of coffee, and sat on my back patio journaling my 1 John scripture for the day.
• I watched the sun come up over the trees, behind the bluff.

In other words, I started my day off right.

Doing this one thing will go a long way toward enjoying this busy season of my life.

31 Days of Enjoying the Busy Season {Day 2}

Being prepared, and not feeling behind, goes a long way toward my satisfaction level. I tend to over-schedule, over-do and under-prepare.

So, today, I decided to get some prep work done, so as to feel on top of my week.

I came home from church this afternoon and immediately set to work cleaning house. I got the whole downstairs cleaned, and all laundry done AND PUT AWAY, so that I don't have any of that to do all week! Well, those last few pieces there are "on deck" to be hung in the wet/dry closet that is already full of hanging clothes. I dry very few of Kyndal and Dawson's clothes. (And here's a confession ... when I got started today, there was still a lot of laundry on the folding table from last week, so I feel twice as happy about it all being put away.)

I made sure all of Dawson's grades were entered, and that I had all copies made of everything we need for school this week. I also went through his experiment and fine arts assignments so that I can be prepared for those before we launch into them. It's going to require a quick trip to town tomorrow to pick up a few items for our art project, but we aren't scheduled to start that until Tuesday so I'm good.

I cut up and browned all of the boneless skinless chicken breasts we would need for the two meals I have planned for it. I thawed out and divided all of the ground beef we need for two of the recipes and browned 3 lbs. of additional ground beef to freeze for use next week. Finally, I pulled a bunch of carrots out of my garden, cleaned them, and shredded them for use in soups, muffins and cake later on.

I tackled a discussion with my teenage daughter that we needed to have so that we could start our week off on the right foot.

I am ready for a good week, now, just because I decided to do all the necessary prep work ahead of time.

31 Days

There are 31 Days in the month of October. I am joining The Nester's 31 Days challenge, to post about the same topic every day this month.

I thought long and hard about it. This time of year is my crazy, busy time of year. It always was, and that was before I started homeschooling. My friends always make fun of me around the middle of January when I finally come out of hibernation. All of my kids' birthdays are between the months of August and December, and there's school starting, now homeschooling, fall activities, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and just everyday life.

I tend to be a tad grumpy. I tend to get in a funk. Last year, I didn't put out one fall decoration (which is my favorite season!) We decided to do an Old Fashioned Christmas and decorated our house for Christmas on December 23rd and took it down on December 26th. We didn't put up any lights or garland or bows or anything. Scrooge ... that's me. October is when my mood starts to decline.

So, in thinking about this, now that it's October 1st, I decided on my 31 Days theme:

31 Days of Enjoying the Busy Season

 

So how did I enjoy the first day of my grumpy busy season? I got outside on this amazingly beautiful day and got my hands dirty! I replaced my scorched summer flowers with pretty mums, pansies and other fall flowers.

I pulled out my fall decorations and decorated our front door.

I used the corn stalks from my own garden to tie around our lamppost.

I pulled some weeds and did a tad bit of cleanup in my vegetable garden. I planted some bushes. I worked around my birding area, cleaning out the bird bath and planting a butterfly bush and a hosta lily.

Doing all of this made me very happy. And I enjoyed myself.