Project 365, Week 42

Three cheers for fall and all of its busy activities and beauty.

October 9

For 15 years, we've had a Columbus Day tradition of meeting up at the orchard, where there are hayrides, free donuts, music, etc....a fun festival. This year the rain threatened, so we changed plans and brought the party inside. The kids made caramel apples and played together. It was different but still so great to be with one another.

Also, we got to celebrate Nathanael on his birthday!

October 10
Daddy broke the "no screens before school" rule and gathered the kids around to watch the trailer for the new Star Wars movie. They are all delighted!

October 11
Shaun spent the week doing final projects on the other house in preparation for the buyer's inspection. Amanda wanted to be in the dumpster and then she wanted to be up on the ladder cleaning out the gutters. That girl!

October 12
A couple nieces/nephews joined me at the barn for a bit during J's lesson. Jenna quickly made herself at home, petting every single horse, cat and dog that was available and then making a friend with a girl not much older than her. She is something!

October 13
I think its now safe to say, the roof is DONE! Phew!

October 14
Marathon complete!!

After stopping at home briefly to shower, I spent my post race at the soccer field. Avery played and then immediately after Amanda and Aiden played at the same time (thankfully all home games), so I sat in between the two fields and watched both.

October 15
Amanda had a couple team mates sleep over. They biked and I walked down to the river/playscape.

Chillin' on the couch reading Star Wars with his feet bound. :)

Soccer game 5 of 6 for the weekend.

October's 10 on 10

10 pictures on the 10th day of the month (Tuesday).

{Document a snapshot of your life & find beauty among the ordinary things in your day! }

It's taking longer for it to get light out, but I'm still cozy on the porch in the mornings...highly unusual for October and I'm loving it!

Our walks to school have been without jackets, too. No matter the morning we've had (50% are good, 50% are not) Amanda always stops to turn around and wave one last time before she's out of sight.

We have a contract on the old house, the one that's been vacant a full year now. Its far from a done deal, but it was enough for Shaun to switch gears from working on ascetics to more form and function things like roof and gutters and such.

Ahh...the quiet of an empty house. This was my view while I had a quick lunch standing at the kitchen counter.

Tuesday's is Running Club day. It is the most heavily attended club at school, which is a little surprising to me. I go to cheer, offer high-fives, run alongside, supply water and generally encourage and inspire the kids.

When I got to the school, I found a sweet 7th grader sitting on a bench doing her homework next to Mary (and Joseph??).

When I peaked in the gym, they were discussing what it means to have integrity (it means always going around the cones, not in front of them ;). It sounded like a talk I've had with any one of my kids so many times, and I thought what a blessing to be in a school that supports and encourages so many of the values that are important to us.

Then they said the Lord's Prayer and were out the door.

With the hope of a sale going through on the other house, we are actively looking for a house again, mostly online, but sometimes we go to see one in person. Shaun's brother is our real estate agent, and sometimes he brings Gavin.

We were standing outside talking things over when a neighbor with a dog passed by. Instantly, the kids were over making a new friend.

Home in time for dinner, homework and games.

Project 365, Week 41

I've been taking my camera out more than usual to practice, in preparation for a photoshoot I'm doing coming up. If you are local, we'd love to have you join us! Check it out, spots are filling up quickly!

Also, there was so much soccer this week (again!). Its just for a limited number of weeks in the fall, but its definitely a little crazy! And so much fun!!

October 2

Aiden fulfills his role as boy in our house by chugging the last of the milk straight from the jug. :)

October 3
While I was out grilling dinner, Amanda and Aiden were doing their once-in-a-while best friends thing. So fun to hear them making up games.

Wrestling match. :)

October 4
Amanda came over to the other house with me because she wasn't in the mood to get along with siblings back at the house. So many hours spent in this sweet little girls room while they were young...they loved playing on this window seat.

Aiden went with Pop and Kiki to visit his friend Ethel and to harvest pumpkins at his friend Mr. D's hobby farm. These things make him a very, very happy guy. :)

October 5
Both girls needed a mystery book for this month's book report and while we were at the library we picked up a stack of picture books, which truthfully most of the kids still enjoy. Every month I use the book list put out by Read-Aloud Revival...its reliable and takes the guess work out for me.

October 6
New this year, the school is requiring each student to accumulate service learning hours. One of the moms facilitated a couple work hours for a small group of Amanda's class. It was a ton of work for the mom, but the girls felt like they helped out and accomplished something. So sweet!

The weather continues to delight! While the teens went to youth group, we went to the park and played around with Amanda and Aiden.

October 7
Day one of the Columbus Day soccer tournament. Over 2 days the 3 kids played 12 (1-hour) games.

Looks who is getting so big!!

October 8
Day two, at the field before 7AM and got a little soaked part of the day.

Shaun and Amanda's team made it to the semi-finals. They tied in regulation and were still tied after a 5-minute overtime, so the game went to penalty kicks. This is my first in-person experience with penalty kicks, and with my daughter playing keeper. It was NOT ok. Penalty kicks to determine a win is...barbaric. Truly. It was awful to watch from the sidelines! But, we came out on top to bring us to the finals.

In the finals, Amanda played some keeper, some forward and for the end, her coach put her in as goalie as the game, once again went to penalty kicks! Again, it was awful. But a couple days out and I'm able to see a flip side to Amanda's stubborn determination, which in so much of daily life is "a problem". She's gritty and tough as nails when it counts. During the finals she saved two of the penalty kicks, leading the team to a victory.

What a moment, what a day!!

Shaun spends much of his coaching time working on character development. Our team stood out in mental toughness and encouraging each other and winning graciously. We're so proud of them all.

Avery's team won the tournament for U15!

And Amanda and Shaun won for U12! Such a long, great weekend!