Last week, my kids and I were playing on the playground at our YMCA when a woman in her fifties came over to talk. She’d spotted the kids’ matching Sports Day t-shirts and was excited to reminisce about the days when her EIGHT (now grown) children participated in the same homeschool sports program (it’s been around a while!) and wore those matching yellow shirts. “I miss those days,” she told me. “Treasure this time. It goes so fast!”
I know that many moms of littles get annoyed when seasoned parents talk about the fleeting baby/toddler/little kid years. Not me. I know these women are right about how quickly the time flies. I WILL miss these days when they’re gone.
Life for our family is really busy right now, and it’s easy for me to get so caught up in the day-to-day chaos and stress that I forget to pause and feel grateful for the good things filling our lives. I appreciate reminders from moms who have gone before me to savor these good old days before they’re gone.
|| READING LATELY ||
Even though my reading has felt a little broken lately, I did finish a few great books this month including this thought-provoking family story that explores the implications of AI; this fun time travel novel; and book four in my new favorite series. This comedic essay collection was great on audio, and this book that ties in with my word for the year left me with a lot to think about. The kids and I read this historical novel that takes a gentle approach to presenting a difficult topic.
Less successful were this novel—told through interconnected stories—that was well done but not especially entertaining, and this mystery that has a great premise but fell flat due to its slow pace and problematic themes. Full reviews of all of these books coming soon.
|| WATCHING LATELY ||
Luke and I watch very, very little television: we only watch one show at a time, but at the rate of about an episode or maybe two per week, it can take us a while to get through anything. Our latest show was a re-watach of all nine seasons of The Office, which is one of our all-time faves. This re-rewatch was extra fun because we were following along with the Office Ladies podcast PLUS we have the DVDs and watched the cut scenes for every episode and bonus content from each season.
Luke and I have watched the early seasons of The Office more times than I can count, and we’ve seen the final seasons at least once or twice before, but our love and appreciation for the show deepens with every rewatch. The stories are hilarious and quotable; sometimes they’re cringy, but they’re often relatable and almost always endearing. And the characters feel like real-life friends. Interestingly, Luke and I felt quite differently about a few of the characters and storylines with this watch-through: some characters we found ourselves liking even more (Nellie, Creed, and Andy pre-season 8), and others we liked far less (Gabe, Ryan, and Andy post-season 8). Pam and Jim will forever be my favorite TV couple, but there are so many beautiful romances and friendship stories embedded in this series that just feels like one giant hug to humanity. It’s no wonder that The Office is a top comfort watch for so many.
Watching the show from start to finish, it was easy to see how The Office came into its own after a few seasons but really went downhill in seasons 8 and 9. That said, even the worst seasons have some great moments, and I would argue that the series finale is one of the best in show endings television history.
We’re looking forward to starting something new after committing all of our TV time to The Office for the last couple of years, but it was definitely worth revisiting this iconic show, and I am certain it won’t be the last time we hang with Jim, Pam, Angela, Oscar (my favorite character!), and the rest of the gang.
|| LISTENING LATELY ||
Some podcasts that have informed and inspired this month.
PARENTING PODCASTS
Practice Makes Parent—Teaching Resilience: Raising an Overcomer
CHURCH, FAITH, POLITICS & CULTURE
The Andrew Klavan Show—How This Woman’s Faith Strengthened During Her Cancer Battle | Megan Basham
ReFocus with Jim Daly—Unexpected Allies: Bridging the Divide for the Common Good
The Natasha Crain Podcast—What’s Really Happening to Christians in Nigeria? with Judd Saul
|| MONTHLY KID-ISMS ||
CHARLIE-ISMS:
+ “My definition of a crush is that your eyes get heavy.”
+ “Do presidents need to do hard math? I won’t when I’m president because I’ll keep the tax rate numbers that low.”
+ Charleston decorated his Halloween bucket to match his Christmas theme; about the nativity scene: “I’m calling this the Bucket Madonna.”
SULLY-ISMS:
+ When talking about Henry VIII’s six wives during a History lesson: “I think he wanted them because they were pretty.”
+ “When God destroys this earth and makes a new earth, will we go back to being babies again?”
+ In our history reading, when we read that a pregnant woman “lost” her baby: “What happened to the baby?”
+ “I bet the Bible doesn’t tell us when Jesus is coming back because it’s a really good surprise! You know how with the really good surprises, you don’t tell us?”
+ “If you get hit in the head or the heart and you die, will you still have that part of your body in Heaven?”
+ We were talking about how drinking soda always causes the kids to burp but doesn’t affect me in that way. “Well, you are in an older body, so it really just makes sense!”
+ “How did God tell the people what to write in the Bible? I mean, I do believe that God speaks to people, I’ve just never actually heard Him myself.”
KALI-ISMS:
+ Watching a Foundation Worldview video about God’s omniscience and how there are some things only God knows: Miss Elizabeth asks, “Do you know who the president of the United States will be one hundred years from now?” And Kali and Sully both confidently shout out, “Yes! Charleston!”
+ While we were reading history: “Were there kids back then? Why do the books talk about just scientists and stuff and not the kids?”
+ “I like Henry VIII. Because I like all those girls he had.”
+ “When Jesus makes the earth new, will he fix all of the street lights and the signs?”
|| HAPPENINGS & HIGHLIGHTS ||
Our family was not able to join Luke’s parents and sister for our annual fall beach trip this year because they were camping in trailers and we don’t have one ourselves. However, Luke did take the big kids to join his parents in their trailer for a couple of nights. They enjoyed the family time and playing on the beach.
The beach trip also involved a visit to the aquarium; they got some amazing pictures! While they were gone, Nico and I held down the fort at home, and I was happy for the opportunity to deep-clean the kids’ closets while they were away. They were only gone for two nights, but I missed them all like crazy and was super happy to be reunited when they got home.
Much of our month centered around Halloween festivities, the first being a Halloween event at our YMCA. We had fun debuting our “Happy Holidays” costume theme (love that Charleston decorated their buckets to go with each holiday!) and the kids enjoyed collecting candy, playing games, bouncing in bounce houses, and riding on some carnival rides.
The kids and I joined a few other homeschool families for a behind-the-scenes tour of Trader Joe’s. It was so much fun! I don’t regularly shop at TJ’s since our nearest store isn’t close and it’s easier to do all of my shopping at H-E-B, but I was a frequent Trader Joe’s shopper when we lived in California, and the tour took me back to the days when I would walk to Trader Joe’s with baby Charleston in a stroller. The kids enjoyed visiting this new-to-them store, and we all had fun seeing the store’s backrooms, learning about the Trader Joe’s brand and culture, trying some samples, and getting a peak behind the curtain of a popular grocery store. My favorite part of the tour was the art room where on-site artists create all of the signage for the store; I had no idea each sign was custom made. How fun to witness this real-life application of artistic talent!
Our second Halloween event of the month was the Monster Mash party and costume competition at our local library. The kids have looked forward to this contest all year long and were excited to participate. Kali won Best Overall Costume for her age group, Charleston won Cutest Costume among the older kids, and our whole gang won award for Funniest Costume in the family division. We really enjoyed seeing the creativity and adorableness of all the participating families (even if we were a little bummed that Sully missed out on getting an individual award; he was DEFINITELY the cutest Easter Bunny there).
My parents are in town for the week and we’ve had a great time with them—playing games, reading books, hanging out in the backyard, and having them join us on our memory work walks. We went to the YMCA pool one morning and road the train at the park.
My parents have also gotten to join us for the week’s Halloween activities. On Wednesday we attended another Halloween festival put on by the city of Cedar Park (our neighbor city). It was a great event with an opportunity to explore some service vehicles and trick-or-treating through themed booths hosted by all of the city departments. We saw some of the BEST costumes, not the least of which were the Oktoberfest shirts that my parents wore to add to our family of happy holidays.
On Thursday we participated in our annual tradition of carving pumpkins! The kids wanted to carve their pumpkins to match our holiday theme, so Charleston’s pumpkin had a Christmas tree, Sully’s featured an Easter egg, and Kali decorated hers with fireworks (and a happy face for good measure). The boys both did most of their own carving, I was so impressed! We didn’t roast our pumpkin seeds this year, which is something we’ve done in past years, but we DID bring in some pumpkin pie m&ms to spice up the activity (yum!).
Last night—Halloween night—was so fun! My parents joined our Holiday costume theme with some New Year’s crowns; I just love that they got in on it! We trick-or-treated around the neighborhood earlier in the evening, then came back to the house and had a bonfire out front while the kids passed out candy. Our neighborhood gets pretty festive for Halloween, with tons of families hanging out in driveways and front yards, and kids of all ages wandering around collecting candy. It’s the most interaction we get with our neighbors ALL YEAR and I love it so much! Add in adorable kids in costumes and dipping into the kids’ candy buckets (give me all the peanut butter m&m’s and candy corn!), and it easily becomes one of my favorite nights of the year.
|| ICYMI: OCTOBER ON THE BLOG ||
Convicted “Another believer’s personal conviction is not an invitation to condemn their stance, nor is it a Biblical mandate to change our own stance to align with theirs. Instead, these differing opinions provide Christians with an opportunity to model charity towards other believers as we learn to live in unity and peace DESPITE these subtle differences.”
Bookish Considerations: What do you do when your reading feels broken? “Our family has a LOT going on, and I feel like I have too many tabs open in my brain, leaving little room for books. I’m pushing through the brokenness, not because I feel like I have to (I don’t), but because I know that it will be worth it.”
In Praise of Handwashing Dishes (and why we don’t own a working dishwasher) “It may seem silly, but as I scrub food scraps from a plate and rinse soapy water off of bowls, I experience a strange connection to an older, simpler time. I feel gratitude for the conveniences I enjoy AND I see them as just that: nice-to-haves, not necessities.”
Grace and Peace “And peace is a natural response to receiving these gifts: having witnessed the power and goodness of our Father, our anxieties and fears and overwhelm melt away.”
How was your month? I’d love to hear about the highs (or maybe lows) of your October!
