October....

There's been so much to blog about that its intimidating just thinking about it sometimes. Then you have to figure out where to start especially when it's been forever since anyone heard a peep out of you. After that... there's just finding the time to get to it and making sure you'll have enough time to finish because one little thing leads to another and pretty soon, you're neck-deep in a post/project/pretty much anything, and somehow you've got to wrap it up. At least that's how it is for me, and so I procrastinate and never even get started. See? All that and I haven't even started!

And I decided to tackle the whole month. Here's most of what we've been up to - mostly in pictures with a bit of explanation:

October 1st - Our last day in California.
As I was packing up the van for our trip home, Auntie V. dressed Dolly and PC up in her firefighting outfits. It was late morning and the temp was already in the high 80's. I was pretty impressed at how well my kids held up underneath all that gear!

Getting a look at each other.


PC - He got to wear the radio/pager thingy. :)


Dolly - She got the mask and water weights.

It wasn't too much later that Emma and PC showed the first signs of the local flu that was going around. They both lost their breakfast just minutes before we hit the road. We left at 1pm Monday afternoon, and by the time we reached the CA/OR border (usually about a 3 hr. drive), it was already after 7pm. Dolly had joined the ranks emptying their stomachs every few minutes and we were making 'dumping stops' very very frequently. It was awful. The only pictures of the whole trip home were what Sir took on his phone while we were stopped at a rest area.

Butler
He only got a mild case of the flu, and it wasn't until we'd been home for a couple days.


Ricka
She never got sick at all.


And Emma.
She made it out of the van and spent the whole rest area stop on the nearest patch of grass.

The trip home was long and exhausting. Instead of trying to drive straight through, we stopped for the night somewhere in Oregon. We figured it'd give the kids a chance to recover and us a chance to sleep. We got home at 2am Wednesday morning and Sir woke up at 5 sick. The kids had started feeling better by Tuesday morning, but I kept them home from school while we regrouped the first day. Sir Stayed home from work for a couple days to recover and thankfully, I never got sick thus being spared the most horrible job of caring for the sick while sick and pregnant. :)

October 6th - Canadian Thanksgiving.
Everyone was soundly on the mend by the weekend which was when we celebrated Thanksgiving. I didn't get very many pictures this year, but we stuck with tradition and went Chestnut picking in the park first thing in the morning before heading to Grandpa and Grandma C's house for breakfast.

Ricka's first Chestnut.


Emma - Proud collector of Chestnuts. :)


Butler's Trophy.


Dolly and Daddy stepping on chestnut cases.

After breakfast we hung out at Grandpa and Grandma C's house. There were walks in the park, puzzles to do, snacks to munch on, and I brought a pumpkin project for the kids to do during the day while everyone waited for dinner to be ready. Finally it was time to eat and I did remember to get a pictures of the tables before the feast was fallen upon.

The Cousins Table


Most of the rest of us.


A few of the finished pumpkin projects.

After Thanksgiving, the kids and I harvested most of our garden produce. We went bowling with Grandpa & Grandma and Uncle A., and PC found a Wooly Caterpillar.

About ⅔ of the main crop. We'd been harvesting various things all summer, but it was getting colder, and I didn't think the garden would last much longer. Clockwise from top left: Green tomatoes, Russet potatoes, Tomatoes, Cherry tomatoes, and Zucchini. The kids ate all the strawberries before they came in the house that day.

Bowling

The 'Toss' by Dolly


The 'Slide' by PC


The 'Slowest Ball Ever' by Emma


The 'Patient Wait' by Butler


The Kid's Final Score.



PC and His Caterpillar


A close up when we let it go.

October 14th - Roasting Chestnuts
A week after Thanksgiving, Grandpa and Grandma C. invited us over to roast the chestnuts. The kids got to participate in almost all the steps involved in getting the chestnuts from the forest to in a snack bowl. Everyone helped out in the first peeling stage. Once that was done and Grandpa was roasting the chestnuts in the popcorn maker, most of the kids scattered throughout the house to play, but a few stuck around to watch. After they were toasted, Grandma brushed off the inner papery peel, and when they were cool enough to eat, everyone got a taste. Butler especially liked them, and stuck around until all the batches were done.

The Peeling Party


Concentration.


Roasting


Butler helping Grandpa


Ready to eat!

October 15th - 31st
For 2nd half of the month, I just have random pictures here and there. Butler, Ricka and I 'put the garden away for the winter' on the 22nd, which means we picked every last thing weather it was ripe or not. Our mystery plant this year turned out to be a pumpkin and it was still mostly green when we finally picked it, but I wanted to beat the frost. The older three kids had a school field trip on the 26th - in the pouring, very cold rain. Other than that, there's just random life pictures, but some of them are worth posting. :)

A pretty tree next to the Dr.'s Office.


Rainbow!


Up close


Ricka's newest trick - Balancing on a Drum


Baby.Basket.Books. AKA: Ricka


A different basket, different book, same baby.


Our garden pumpkin. I knew the older kids would each get a pumpkin on their field trip, so this one was officially Butler and Ricka's pumpkin.


Still green. We didn't know if it would finish turning color after it was picked.


Matching Sisters!

The Field Trip

Group Shot.


Emma with her pumpkin on the Hay Wagon.


Dolly and a barn kitten. She's wanted one like this since we sold Olive's white kitten two years ago.


Kids.


Teeny tiny piglets! They were only 2 weeks old.


PC and the goats. They loved him.


Butler and Ricka's pumpkin. It turned color beautifully! The kids are anxiously waiting for me to tell them we can cook it up.

And that's it for October. We'll see what November brings. :)