Apple picking October 8
Sandals at church October 9! We loved the warm weather while we had it!
A week later we needed coats and mittens to enjoy NEW SCOOTERS! The girls had been working to earn enough to buy themselves scooters since the beginning of the school year. They've done almost nothing but ride scooters ever since!
2 weeks later and the girls needed tights, long sleeves and coats for church!
Traditionally, the last Thursday and Friday of October are days off from school for a teacher convention. The last 3 years we've gone away for a night during that break, down to Key Lime Cove for watersides and fun. This year, with life exceptionally crazy, and no great discount on rooms,we decided to stay home and have fun here. The girls have talked about going camping, and since they will almost certainly never go with their parents, we thought we could "camp"in our own house. We brought out tents, lit a fire in the fireplace, and let the girls have fun. Thanks to Katherine's coughing, Maggie and I didn't exactly sleep. But everyone had fun.


Not sure you can tell, but Maggie ended up on the couch to get away from Katherine in the big tent. Abby had her own private tent and actually slept the longest in the morning.

We also went to the Art Museum for a story time. There's always something new to see there - and this exhibit was perfect. From across the room it looked like a boring suitcase. But if you got close enough, you discovered that it actually is 2 stories deep, with a pond down below. The girls might have stayed there all d ay if we let them!
HALLOWEEN - We had fun for Halloween too. The weather did not cooperate - wind, rain and cold for Trick or Treat. But the girl had fun dressing up, and they didn't seem to mind that we only visited the houses on our block. The biggest disappointment? We didn't get enough trick-or-treaters at our house. And the ultimate insult for Maggie - she was upstairs, naked, just about to get in her shower when the doorbell rang for the last time. (Only the 4th time all night) Her wail of "Trick or treaters? Seriously? And I'm naked?" was pathetic and hysterical at the same time.

I love this picture of Abby - just kicking back, enjoying a Tootsie pop - not even bothering to remove her gloves before digging in.
October was a blur, honestly. Chris and I joked that we were really "tag-teaming" as it seemed that we were literally never home at the same time except to hand off the kids. His schedule this year means that he is leaving much earlier each day, and he has a few different committees and other meetings each month as well. Plus his usual church stuff in the evenings.

I am almost done with orientation for my new job at West Allis Memorial Hospital. I'm happy that my manager has been flexible in my hours there, but it still has meant a number of 10 hour days - putting the big girls on the bus at 9 and not getting home until 730pm. (Those days Abby left at 0645 with Chris) I've also been doing my minimum at my other job.

And classroom volunteering? Who know that schedule could get so complicated? Every other week in 2nd grade? Every third week in Kindergarten?

I know that many other families in the world do all of this and more on a daily basis. And I'm not writing to complain at all --- I am thrilled to have the flexibility to be home as much as I am while also enjoying the new challenges that come along with a different job. It's just crazy to look back and see that an entire month has passed in the blink of an eye. We're just taking it one day at a time! Hoping that we can settle into new routines soon!