October Round-Up!

October is probably my favorite month of the year (although I really love every season and month for different reasons), and we had a busy one this year! I did several posts about specific activities, but I still had quite a few photos left for my round-up post. Here are some of the things that I haven't posted about yet. 

I busted out some festive clothing for the kids to wear this month. Between the hand-me-downs and shirts that still fit from last year, I think the little girls had 4 or 5 Halloween shirts apiece . . . and I don't even really like Halloween, lol! At the beginning of the month, we wore Halloween shirts to library story time, and checked out some of our favorite books about pumpkins. 

Bren hit a big goal he had set for himself to reach the 10 point AR club early this month. He loves reading and is very motivated by the point clubs at school!

I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but the kids all get monthly chiropractic adjustments. Those typically take place at the beginning of the month, and they all love being adjusted!

Brooke

Brecklyn

Brenson

Brianna

Brecklyn has become very interested in reading and writing lately. She knows all her letter sounds, and I catch her often trying to decode simple words. One evening at church, she wrote her name in her notebook!

Feeding a family of six three meals a day plus snacks all the time is no small task. I don't love to cook, but I do it because it's what's best for my family. Brianna has always been a big help in the kitchen, but lately she's really stepped up her game. One night, we were having breakfast for dinner, and she made all the protein pancakes for us. YAY for help in the kitchen!

The sunrises are still wowing us constantly. I love the autumn sunrises when fog is lifting off the pond in the cool of the morning!

I have been wanting to surprise the big kids by joining them for lunch at school on a random day, but haven't been able to do it yet this year. We finally did it this month! Chris has done this several times, but never taken the little girls because logistically that was a little complicated. I felt like they were finally old enough to do it, so we packed lunches and away we went. They were SO very proud of carrying their own lunches and eating at school! Brooke even said, "Mom, I'm so proud to be eating with the big kids!"

(Don't mind my no-makeup, messy hair self too much :-)

We ate with Bren first, and he and his little friends didn't have a whole lot to say. They were all focused on eating and certainly weren't too interested in Brooke and Brecklyn.

Brianna's lunch immediately follows Bren's lunch, and we drew a crowd of 3rd grade girls :-).

They were all very chatty, had lots of questions about the twins, and wanted to hug and hold them. Of course, the twins didn't mind the attention!

One morning, Chris went to wake Bren for school and snapped this pic of his bedroom floor. Bren has been staying up and reading by flashlight after bedtime lately, but then he's not getting up as easily in the mornings. Chris specifically told him to go right to sleep and not stay up to read. I'm thinking he didn't listen, haha!

Brianna also reached a reading goal this month . . . the 25 point AR club! AR has been a bit of a struggle for her in the past, so I'm very proud of her for persevering this year and hitting this goal early on!

One afternoon, the kids were playing upstairs while I was cooking dinner. I heard a loud thump, followed by Brecklyn crying. From what they told me, she fell off of a chair and landed face-first on the carpet. She got carpet burn on her nose, but I didn't think it looked too bad that night before bed.

However, by the next night, it was definitely looking worse!

And, by day 3, it looked even worse. Poor thing! We doctored it up with neosporin, pure coconut oil, and lavender, and thankfully it healed up nicely.

We've had some beautiful weather days that have allowed us to spend some time playing at the park. Yes please!

Bren can be very competitive, and that really came out this month after Brianna reached the 25 point AR club. Even though he had just made the 10 point club earlier this month, he worked hard so he could get in the 25 point club, too!

We spent Fall Break in Missouri with my parents, and while we were there Brenson discovered a rubber snake that Grampy puts on his back patio to keep the birds and their mess away from his grill where they like to perch. We got home from Missouri on Sunday, and on Monday we were out on our back patio playing when I looked over and saw a snake. I immediately thought it was Grampy's rubber snake that Bren had brought home to scare me. I kind of chuckled to myself, then went over the pick the silly snake up. Y'all. IT WAS A REAL SNAKE!!! I was like, "Oh no. NO NO NO NO NO!" Just NO.

When we signed Bren up for guitar lessons last February, we purchased him a super cheap guitar from a garage sale. We didn't want to invest in a nice guitar before we knew if we was going to like lessons or stick with them. Our plan was to help him buy a new guitar after the first of the year, but plans changed when he left his cheap guitar in a loaner vehicle we had while we were having some maintenance done on the van. After we returned the car, we realized his guitar was in the trunk, but they had already loaned it out to someone else and there was no trace of the guitar :-(. We ordered a new guitar (Bren paid for half of it), and he chose this beautiful blue. He says it's much easier to play, and it certainly sounds much better!

Toward the end of the month, Brooke decided she could also write her own name. These girls are growing up tooooo fast!

Brianna and Brenson both have spelling tests every Friday this year. We practice spelling words at home on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. I try to find creative ways to help them practice, and sometimes that means getting a little messy! Shaving cream for the win!

The week before Halloween was Red Ribbon Week. I love the memes that say things like, "Please, let's come up with five more costumes per kid the week right before Halloween!" That is exactly how I feel! However, the kids sure looked cute on "Lei off drugs" day :-).

My kids all love arts and crafts (they come by it honest!). The little girls wanted to paint pictures to hang up for Daddy's birthday, and I was pleasantly surprised at what beautiful work they did!

Brecklyn

Brooke

And finally, we celebrated Daddy's birthday on the 30th since the 31st was full with Halloween activities and bible study. We went really low-key with gifts this year, but the kids and I made a big, yummy meal, his favorite pumpkin cake, and decorated a little bit (you can see the pictures the girls painted in this photo). They all love a reason to celebrate!

Happy 38th birthday, Daddy!

We finished the month with a fun Halloween, but that will get a post all its own. Now it's time to focus on November!