October was a PACKED month for us, somehow. It seems like we had so many appointments, guests and lots of fun events on the calendar! I am exhausted, but I’m thankful for all the memories we did make this past month. And I think I’m even more excited for a slow November.
The first weekend of October was homecoming weekend at Cedarville, and although it was pretty last minute, I managed to take the kids to see the cardboard canoe race (engineering freshman have to make a cardboard canoe that will carry two riders across the lake without collapsing- it’s the only time people are “allowed” in the lake. Oh, and when a man gets engaged, he gets thrown into the lake). Anyways, its always fun to watch and see who floats and who sinks. My kiddos had ZERO interest in it. They could not figure out what was happening, so we walked around campus and I just let them play!
The next day we went back for the Homecoming Parade, which is one of the best parades I’ve been to! They give out tons of candy, have lots of trucks and floats…but it’s also not too long. My kids love it for the candy.
We went straight from homecoming to Tera’s soccer awards party, which she thought was so fun. She got a medal and an award, just like every other kid on the team #participationtrophy
We also snuck in another zoo trip, and this time we got to take Heavenly with us! This was my first time attempting the zoo solo, so I was really grateful to not just spent time with Heavenly, but to have her extra hands to help me. She’s a super helper when she wants to be (which is quite often!) and it made for a really fun day!
The next weekend, we took a little trip to see Theo’s brother and sister in law. We love this family so dearly and yet see them so rarely. They live in Tennessee and we live in Ohio and somehow we just haven’t gotten together in over a year! Theo’s brother called him and asked if we wanted to meet up with them in Kentucky, which was about halfway for them and halfway for us! It worked out PERFECTLY and we got to spend three days at a cabin with them. The kids had a BLAST and although it was HOT for October (high 80s), we still had fun exploring outdoors.
Our cabins were in Daniel Boone National Forest, and there was an awesome waterfall nearby. It really was a beautiful place! And it was SO NICE to hang out with family for a few days!
The kids all got to go gem mining, and they had a blast! It was funny because all the girls were excited to sift the dirt and find some gems, but the two boys were really more interested at throwing their rocks (gems) into the water or splashing in the mud.
We have a lot of kids. HAHA. They have four, we have almost three. At one point our kids were playing on this rock and all four of us parents were supervising them. A man came up and said “DO YOU REALIZE THEY ARE PLAYING ON THE ROCKS AND THEY COULD FALL OFF THE OTHER SIDE?!?!?” We all had a little giggle, because other people helicoptering our children is all sorts of fun. But we did tell the kids to get down and play elsewhere.
The first few weeks of October were nearly 90 degrees, and then BAM! We skipped those pretty fall days and went straight to highs in the 50s. We were all very confused.
I tried to be a fun Mom and take my kids to a pumpkin patch that is really close to our house. They had a few cool farm animals, a tiny corn maze and then a barn full of pumpkins. Except, the pumpkin barn was also full of ghosts and creepy decor and YALL I HATE THAT. I get that people want to celebrate Halloween, fine. But can I just shop for pumpkins without giving my kids (and myself!) nightmares? Ugh.
We have this one tree in our yard that turns before all the other trees. It’s absolutely gorgeous, so I had Theo take some pictures of us in the leaves.
We also started having fires in our woodburning stove!
One highlight of October was having the one and only Jeremy Slager and his sweet wife Julianna (and their daughter) stay at our house for a weekend! Julianna’s ballet studio was doing a production and they came to Dayton! Not only did I get to catch up a little bit with this childhood friend, I also got to attend the ballet with Tera…and it was incredible!
Julianna’s studio is called Ballet 5:8 and they are based in Chicago, but are starting to do lots of traveling around to perform! If they are ever close to you, I HIGHLY recommend seeing a performance!!!
Unfortunately, I didn’t get any pictures with Julianna or the dancers, but Tera LOVED being able to go to the ballet, and she was sooo excited that we had real ballerina’s staying at our house!
The colder weather has meant more time inside thinking of activities that we can all do together. It’s the time of year to start doing some more crafts, more book reading and more game playing around here!
Oh, and more wrestling.
Kiah also turned 2 in October! It’s hard to believe my little failure to thrive man is 2 years old….and thriving!
Since we had such a busy week that his birthday was SUPER low key. We had homemade pizza, opened a few presents and had cake. Trust me…Kiah was more than happy with this arrangement!
Cake for our 2 year old! Tera helped me make it
The fridge in our kitchen was starting to leak water under the door, which we thought was probably not a good sign for a fridge. It was in our house when we bought the house, and I’ve hated it since the day I saw it. However, if a fridge works perfectly well I’m not the type to get rid of it simply on looks. I’ve wanted a smaller black fridge with the freezer on top instead of side by side for a long time, and Theo found this one on Craigslist! He then proceeded to get it inside our house ALL BY HIMSELF. It took him a few hours and a few tricks (and $30 spent on a dolly at the store), but he got it in!
These two. They have really started playing together- and cannot stand to be more than two feet apart. HOWEVER, they also fight NONSTOP. NONSTOP. I mean….all.the.time. Someone please tell me it gets better. Or at least better for a season. I just need a break from all the fighting!!!!
The next weekend, my brother and sister in law came to visit! It was an absolute BLAST! I was super bummed that Theo had to work on Saturday, so he wouldn’t get to see them much. Saturday morning was super stressful for me, as I felt like I had a lot of people to feed and wasn’t sure how I was going to do it. I was severely anemic, but didn’t know it yet and had no clue why I was SO TIRED.
Anyways, we decided to go a pumpkin patch and we all said goodbye to Theo as he “headed off to work”. We get to the pumpkin patch and my brother yells “we are ALL here!” and there was Theo! He had requested time off and surprised me by hopping into Dan and Kelly’s van and arriving completely unexpectedly at the pumpkin patch! I was SO happy!!!!
We thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Dan + Kelly and the twins…as evidenced by the fact that I hardly took any pictures! We did manage to get all four kids on a hike with NO strollers or carriers! That was impressive! These cousins are going to have lots of fun in the years to come!
This kid is a total ham and he keeps us all laughing all day long. He doesn’t even know he’s funny, but he’s starting to catch on that certain things he does bring a reaction….and he’s LOVING it.
At one of my last OB appointments, we found out I was alarmingly low on iron and severely anemic. I was told that I may need iv iron and that I HAD to get my levels up before delivery. I have been SO tired and dizzy and lethargic and I just couldn’t pinpoint why. So that all makes sense. But basically my body started to shut down with crazy exhaustion and I’ve hardly been able to leave the house. I mustered up enough energy to do one pumpkin/trick or treat activity with the kids. It was pretty good weather for it, but this is what Halloween in Ohio looks like:
We went to a really cool Pumpkin Glow, where they had hundreds of carved pumpkins all set up and glowing in the woods. The idea was awesome and it would have been perfect, but there was like 9 billion other people there, and walking through the dark woods with two kids and everyone else who lives in the vicinity of Dayton, OH was a bit stressful.
It’s been rainy and cold and yucky, so the mall walking has begun again! I had to crack up and take a picture of myself because I caught a glimpse of myself in this mirror right after walking past a Victoria’s Secret. LOL. Can’t even compare because it’s like two entirely different species at this point.
I decided it’s time for Tera to start doing the dishes! She does all the plastic dishes from breakfast and lunch, and so far it only takes her approximately 5 minutes a dish. I’ll thank myself in 3 years.
I’ve been working so hard on getting my iron up and have started gradually feeling a little more energy, so we tried to fit in one more hike before it gets really rainy and the baby comes! When it’s not raining, snowing or freezing outside, Ohio really does know how to do fall! It’s BEAUTIFUL!
The last activity we did this month was to carve up a pumpkin! Tera really wanted a flower, and since she was the only one with an opinion, that’s what we have! But first…mandatory pumpkin/belly comparison pictures….because we just have to when I’m 103 weeks pregnant (just 37, but at this point it feels like the same thing).
And that’s a wrap on October!
Bring on baby month!
Top October Posts:
Alternatives to Christmast Gifts
October Dayton Mom’s Blog Post: I’m a TCK (A Totally Confused Kid)
October Dayton Women in the Word Post: What We Crave