{Keeping} :: October's Firsts

As the calendar changed from September to October, the weather finally caught a clue that it really is autumn now! We are so happy to enjoy the changing seasons again. I just love fall. It is my favorite time of year. It is the primary season I truly missed when we lived in the jungle. I don't ever remember not enjoying autumnal changes before; however, after not having them for several years, I can honestly say that I am more thankful for the colorful beauty, the more filtered light and more pleasant temperatures that autumn brings.

HAPPY AUTUMN!

From my Calendar of Firsts this month:

1 - gayfeather blooms & cooler daytime temperatures (80s finally!)

15 - gayfeather blooms fading

       flaming sumac leaves turning red

       red mulberry leaves turning yellow & falling

22 thru 25 - received a grand total of 14.5" of rain!

And for some more firsts (some nature-related, some not), you can check out this post from a few days ago.

{Mixed Bag} :: What We've Been up to Lately

I have completely fallen off the blog-wagon the past few weeks. I think it has been a combination of variables: new friends, the addition of piano lessons alongside the addition of hosting our friends once a week for Spanish co-op, volleyball season and then buckling down to get a bathroom remodeled and functioning before the holidays. Oh, and then me just trying to read more for my own personal growth and enjoyment. (This is a habit I am trying to re-instill.) It seems that since my kids have entered the world, my reading habits dropped off the face of the earth for several years. Eek. Embarrassing, but true.

We are just finishing up Term 3 of Years 1 and 3 and will do Exams next week, so I will list a few of the things we've been doing these past few weeks and hopefully get back into a better routine of including a post here and there on a weekly basis or so. I am always so impressed with some of you ladies who manage to do so much with your family and find time to share everything you are doing!


September

:: After twisting Alice's arm to try volleyball, she ended up loving it from the start. It was a lot of fun and brought back quite a few memories and emotions from when I used to play "back in the day". 

:: Family camping trip down river. We felt like Lewis & Clark for the one mile we ventured downstream to our camping spot ;-) 

 It really was fun packing our things on the boat and roughing it for a night of primitive camping. We even had a copperhead scare right before bed. Thankfully Royal saw the snake and knew what it was. He came a-screaming "Copperhead! Copperhead!" Dad, fortunately, had brought his weapon of choice just in case and took care of things right quickly. Besides that, we enjoyed hearing coyotes howling in the distance as we lay in our tent trying to get to sleep. 

It was somewhat creepy, but since they were across the river, I felt a little better. I really don't know how frontiersmen and pioneers lived like this day in and day out. I am thankful for an insulated house with running water and modern conveniences for sure! I do have to say, though, it was amazing watching the full moon rise that night, as well as the sunrise the next morning. Beautiful.

:: Birth of a Monarch!

















October
:: Some cool nature observations just outside our doors at home ... 

a yellow-bellied sapsucker:

a little brown skink:

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  & a green frog of some sort:

:: Handicrafting in preparation for Christmas gifting

:: Another camping adventure, this time a trip with truck and trailer to a state park in northeast Texas. A gorgeous place. We got to see loblolly and short leaf pine trees, red maples, sweetgums, sassafras, eastern redcedars, bald cypress, boxelders, smooth sumacs, ferns, beauty berries, eastern gray squirrels, a downy woodpecker and massive caterpillars that kept falling from the treetops (found out later they turn into Imperial Moths)  ... most things we don't see just 4 hours away! Amazing.

:: bathroom tiling & grouting

:: and most recently a Little House in the Big Woods production to perform for family members. This was all Royal's idea. He went through the first part of the book and picked out the parts he wanted to include, typed them up and I printed them out. He recruited our friends to join in so as to have lots of characters: Pa, Ma, Mary, Laura, Jack the dog & Uncle Henry - both played by Almanzo :-) - and a wolf! A baby doll was used for Baby Carrie.

So, besides our regularly scheduled lessons, we have been enjoying life and living fully in it!

Thanks for stopping by for a visit :-)