October part 2

Lee and I were invited to a Scavenger Hunt. It was awesome. Unfortunately Lee was really sick so he couldn't go. He actually thought he had COVID but luckily that test came back negative. I went by myself because it sounded like too much fun to miss. It was a blast. There were clues all around downtown Murfreesboro and we all ended at a local Soda bar place where people chatted and hung out after. It really was so much fun. The real kicker was no one knew who was in charge. Everything was done via a secret email address and we thought at the end they would reveal themselves. But nope. There was a note saying they wanted to do it again next year so they stayed secret. There are many theories but none have proven true. But it was truly a lot of fun. These are out of order, but our team ended up winning. We won a gift card to the soda place and bragging rights. 

I cleaned out my deep freeze. The worst item found, frozen to the bottom was cupcakes that expired back in 2016. Yikes! (We didn't even live in this house in 2016, which means it came over from the old house. Oops!)

Will did a Spooky House project for school. Amy helped make the tombstones. I thought they were really cute. The names she put on them were: C. Ya Later, Hugo First, RIP Headless Mike, Here Lies Zombie Zack, Al B. Back, M.T. Tomb, Noah Scape, Izzy Dead. 

We got new neighbors so Lee decided to do a little spying. 

The youth at church did a pumpkin carving night. They did a good job! 

Then the kids did a little carving of their own on Halloween night. Will broke my favorite knife in the process, which I was not happy about. But oh well.

This year I needed costumes that were really easy. Between doing all the above, I've been subbing a lot and working on the downstairs of the house. And I'm a mom, and a wife, and a daughter and a sister and all of that other stuff. I've come to realize I'm not superwoman, which I like to believe from time to time. Anyway- we convinced the kids to be Pacman ghosts and it worked out just fine. 

Different neighborhoods did do trick-or-treating this year. Most had bowls of candy on their porches. We went to the Olsen's and it was perfect. They love Halloween so they set up an outdoor movie and had these cool talking pumpkins that were projected. A fun time was had by all. 

Phew, that was October! 

I'm another month behind....

 I don't know how time flies so quickly. But it does. I've been especially busy this past month so I guess that's my excuse. Now to go back in time and pray I remember the reason I took these pictures! 

October, October.... what happened during you? 

The month started off with a visit from the Allen family! They were on their way moving to their new home in Indiana. They stopped by mom and dads for a few days then came here for a few days. And since I'm the designated "middle man" (which I LOVE) we will be seeing a lot more of them, I'm sure! Adeline celebrated her 11th birthday while they were here as well. I'm sure it wasn't as fun as celebrating in her own home, but I hope it was fun at least. I kept our kids home from school that day and they all played and played and played. 

The kids crowded around our kitchen table while the adults went outside to eat. 

Abe and Tyler rolled down our "hill." Which made me laugh because while it looks like a slight hill in the picture, in reality there is barely any hill. So they just rolled to roll. 

Adeline organized the boys bookshelf. Bless this child! I need her around more often! 

Abe ran naked all around. I sent pics to his father saying this was "his" child. 

The upstairs was perfect as we had the Allen's sleep up there. And during the day we cold banish all the little ones up there while Anna and I sat in the living room in peace. All the hard work was worth it! 

Will and Grayson cracked me up sleeping on Grandma's chairs. I have no idea why they chose that spot, but they did. 

Happy 11th Birthday Adeline! 

We celebrated with a waffle bar for breakfast. 

Amy and Adeline spent many hours painting in the garage. Yes, that's the state of the garage. Geesh! 

Amy always heard tale of how grandma wanted a daisy painted on her tree stump. So Amy painted one on her own. 

The big candle I found burst confetti! It was awesome. 

This pack of boys. They are cute, aren't they. And so funny running around together. 

Finally it was time to say goodbye. Stratton was waiting in Indiana and they needed to move on. I laughed at all the stuff packed into their van. 

We'll see you guys again soon!! 

One of the Young Women at church celebrated her quinceanera and invited Amy and myself. They had a little dance party in their backyard and it was fun seeing Amy dance up a storm. Love these kids. 

Mom and Dad came for another visit. The last power-through carpentry one to get us to the inspection. Mom said hanging wood out the window was "old news" in her book and we laughed all the way down the highway. There was more painting, hanging all the door trim, hanging shelves and a few other odds and ends. We passed inspection that next week. The guy said it was "perfect." With Bill Nagel involved, did you think it would be anything but? :) 

Dad put the boys to work carrying down wood. I have no idea why Will had the ear things on. I think Dad was using the tablesaw or something. 

Tyler was holding wood for Dad to cut. I thought it was funny. 

Dad always rewards their hardwork with a trip to Nachos! The boys love it. 

I got to go with Jette Halliday from church to pickup some food from the store house and deliver it to a local organization. It was a lot of fun to spend so much time with her. She's awesome and I loved learning about her life! The store house told us it was ton of boxes so I removed our back seats to have room. Turned out, while yes, it was a lot of food, it wasn't so much that the seats needed to be removed. Oh well.  

I hope Aunt Donna never reads this, but when I went to get the kids, I had forgotten to put the seats back in! So the boys had to ride, illegally, in the van on the way home. I even had them lay down so no one would notice in the pickup lines. hahahaha. We arrived safely and I put the seats back in right away! 

Marty does not like small pillows or stuffed animals. He shreds them to pieces. I can't remember what he destroyed this time. But he also got into my lemon tree one day and I was not happy about that. 

Marty loves sitting outside in the sun. he really is a good dog, he just has his quirks. Like any child. :) 

The boys had a Hop on Pop morning. 

Alright.... that's half of the month. I'll continue in the next post.....