October 2011

October of last year was . . . well . . .
a year ago.

But, better late than never.  Plugging ahead, perhaps I will be up to date by next year!  And in the attitude of plugging ahead . . .
Here goes.

Just a lot of pictures of the goings on of our October, 2011.  I love October and I am excited to revisit last fall to get excited for this fall because it really is FINALLY starting to cool off!
Let's see what kinds of things we might have in store . . .

A garden.

Okay, this year we probably won't have a garden.  My back is out of commission in a big way and I can't even do dishes, let alone garden. BUT, I can remember last year's garden and get excited for next year's!

Here are our pretty happy tomato plants and cucumber plants that hadn't lost their zest for life yet.

I have yet to have successful cucumber plants!  What's the deal?

But they are pretty while they last!

And look at that gorgeous dirt! 

That's it...if I can't have plants, I will at least have soil.

I think I will water my soil tomorrow.

The first weekend in October is general conference and we built our conference tent, as well as partook in the traditional bingo.  Man, I can't believe I am looking at the kids a year ago!  Crazy.  But anyway, fun with the conference tent.

And more joy from the garden!  We had some sweet roma tomatoes!  I love love love roma tomatoes and they are perfect for my garden because I love love love making homemade sauces and someday I will manage to do both in the same season.  As for now, the kids pretty much pick the tomatoes as soon as they are ready and eat them. This one managed to make it into the kitchen . . . but that is rare.

Ben discovered a hiding spot behind our messy drawer.  I am pleased to announce that I have actually cleaned out that desk!  Yes!  Something accomplished.

As for Ben...I have cleaned him a few times too.

October is when the baking frenzy sets in.  I want to cook everything from scratch and spend all free time (what time?) in the kitchen. I love getting the kids involved and even as they get older, they still like helping!

Here, Ben and I were working on some graham crackers!

Though, in the background I see carrots and potatoes so it is possible I was working on something else as well.  Because...I'm no Jessica Seinfeld and I don't hide carrots and potatoes in my graham crackers.

JC is my go-to wheat grinder! Well, him and the kids!  Not that I mind doing it, but . . . the kids think it's a game and JC is just super strong so it gets done fast when he does it!  I LOVE using home-ground wheat!

Now.  Hear me out.

We always wear pants when we cook.

It's like one of those unspoken rules, right?  Well, unless you live here.  Apparently in our household you have to speak it into existence.

But this little guy snuck past me while I was supervising wheat grinding and . . . though I find his tushy quite sweet, I would not necessarily condone baking with said tushy uncovered.

But he was bold and maybe thought I wouldn't notice.

I noticed and we resolved the issue.  Not before taking a picture though, of course.

We also do not lick our hands (wrists?) and continue to bake.

Except sometimes.

I remember finding the best stew recipe last year. Mmmm.  And apparently I captured it on film, so I thought I would share. Man, I remember the days when I took pictures of everything I cooked!

I . . . remember the days when . . . I cooked . . .

Well, anyway, here's some more graham cracker action.  Homemade graham crackers are seriously delicious.

So delicious, in fact, that you have to guard them with a sword while they are baking.

Or at least with close supervision.

October is when playing  outside becomes bearable again!

And, as it turned out, this was our last fall with this swing set!  They started to outgrow it.

But, while it worked, it worked. 

And we spent many-a-fall rediscovering the backyard, starting with the swing set!

Scout didn't care for the swing set.  He likes to just watch from the balcony.

JC doesn't go for the swing set or the stalking.

He prefers his shed.

Well, look at that, I spoke too soon.  Apparently Scout did appreciate an occasional playtime in the swing set.  After all, when the kids were really little, they called the little playhouse portion of the swing set the "Kitty Ship."  I think because sometimes I would bring them their lunch up there and they would pretend to be kitties while they ate?

Anyway.

So it is fitting for Scout to hang out up there.

And to travel completely vertically down the ladder.

As long as Scout was going down the ladder, I guess Ben decided to go up the slide!

On the subject of Scout, this is what he likes to do when JC comes out to witness playtime.

JC sits in his chair under the balcony.

Scout wedges himself between two bars and props up his front paws. 

And watches JC.

It is tradition.

Also tradition?

Laughing on the swings.

Great.

Now I'm nostalgic and sad we don't have the swing set.

But I still have the kiddos.

That's a good thing to have.

I forgot about this!  I love pictures for that reason haha.

Bethany helped James learn to tie his shoes.

Well, her shoes.

But . . . shoes.

I love how excited she looks, helping him.

He was proud.

One of my favorite things about last year was spending time with Benny Boy.

The other two were in school all day and he just had preschool twice a week at this point.

So, lots of time for the little guy and me! When the weather was nice, we spent lots of time outside together.

He loved for me to push him on the swing, singing the same song over and over.  It would be different songs on different days.

Sometimes we got to have a friend over.

This is our neighbor Brookie.

She is two years younger than Ben to the day!

He loves to play with her.  I have noticed that he loves playing with younger kids.  It gives him a chance to be the helper, the watcher.

And here is James with Brookie's older sister, Shorey!

We have lots of fun with her too!

I believe this was the first day of fall break!

We had a bunch of friends over to celebrate and kick off our week off from school!

And here's the whole bunch!  Neighbors, friends . . . it was a wild time!

The fun even spilled into the backyard!

James and Lexi facing off on the slide . . .

Cute.

Bethany, as always, finding a friend in Scout!

During Fall Break, we also went to the zoo with our friends, The Foote's!

They have since moved away and we miss them!  But we had a great time with them on this outing.

Especially on the Carousel.

Bethany loves any kind of horse, even if it is make believe!

James is just happy to be along for the ride!

(Ben doesn't do carousels haha)

Also during Fall Break, we went out to spend some time at our good friends' house!  The Lunts!  We love getting together with them!  With all the kiddos growing up, things are busier between the two families, but every time we get together, it's like we were never apart!

After Fall Break, JC had a hunting trip!

One of the nights he was gone, Bethany and I gave the boys a boy movie to watch and we got out the Fall decorations!  It was fun girlie time.

The boys appreciated the new decor of course.

We also did something a little crazy while JC was gone.

Well . . . about as crazy as we get.

We filled up the pool and got swimsuits on and went swimming.

In the cold.

Good times.

I love her face.

It was this whole beach theme.

Which is fitting since every time I have been to the beach, I have been freezing.

But I have never played on a swing set on the beach, so I suppose Ben has me beat there.

When they were done playing, they all lay in the sun to get dry and warm!

Scout took shelter under the slip and slide.

Which had been 'hanging to dry' for like, two months.

It's called being on top of things.

The kids had gotten some chocolate rocks from Grandma.  One of their favorite things!

They also got some chopsticks!  Those were courtesy of Grandma and Grandpa's trip to San Francisco!

They did great with the chopsticks!

They used them a lot for a few months.

Then they got broken.

Surprise.

But we loved them while they lasted!

And here we have a sick day.

These happen.

I am determined they will happen less this year.

But they can be kind of fun.

As long as nobody is too horribly miserable!

And back to the great outdoors . . . 

One day they decided to decorate the swing set.

With sidewalk chalk.

Call it swing set chalk.

Lovely saturation.

Side note - 

Is he not a beautiful boy?

And just because I tend to fixate . . .

The garden.

A few plants to go with my dirt.

It looks empty but it's really not . . .

the sprouts are just too small to see!

Here is some spinach coming in!

And sweet little radishes!

And . . . that's about it!
It's hard to remember what else we had going on last October, but it is definitely fun to see some old pictures and enjoy a reminder of what kind of fun this time of year brings!
This year will be different . . . recovering from a back injury rules out much baking or gardening, which is a rotten shame. The swing set is gone and we probably won't do a lot of running around this Fall Break.  However, it is still going to be wonderful and we will most certainly still enjoy it together!
Ooh, and don't forget Halloween!  That's coming up too . . . and will be my next post about last year!
Soon to come. (No, seriously . . . I promise . . .)