First Half of October

Homeschooling seems to require constant change. On this particular day, we had to disrupt our normal routine and move school time upstairs to accommodate our need to get the tomatoes canned! If you weren't working on school, you were manning the tomatoes. It's always a little more chaotic that way, but it works. Hopefully it only enriches the schooling experience for the kids.


Benson and Dad snuggling. Super cute, except for the fact that Benson's been a little stinker about sleeping lately. Naps are such a struggle, and bedtime is no different. Sometimes Richie and I just have to completely give up any chance we have of spending time with each other that night, and laying down with Benson to get him to sleep.


The 2 littles, and Grandma Garner and I spent a lovely fall day collecting grapes. Mom has a friend with tons of grapes from whom she has been gleaning for years. There were so many! And even though we had already canned a bunch of grape juice, these were Concord grapes, so we couldn't pass them up!


Conference Weekend is always a treat to look forward to. Richie grew up doing a work project during the Saturday session, and the tradition continues. Which typically means we make applesauce while listening to the messages. We had so many apples, we ended up busting out all the apple cider as well! It was a busy, tiring, wonderful day.



Miles had his first concert with his uke band! He did a great job and it was so fun to see him perform in this type of venue. He is really enjoying the experience learning to play in this setting and making friends in his group.


I ordered a ladybug kit from Canyon Grove. We've done butterflies, I thought it'd be fun to watch the life cycle of a ladybug. It was a new experience for us all. I was expecting the release to be more magical though. We were getting ready to release them, and while I grabbed my camera, Benson opened their "house" and let them all lose in our home. :) We found a few, and snapped a few low quality pictures before releasing them outside. :)


The past few years, we've been selling the pumpkins that the Garners grow to help the kids earn money. Both years, the activity day girls have bought nearly all of them for a Daddy-daughter pumpkin carving activity. I'm in activity days now, so here's me hauling 17 pumpkins to the church! And those 17 are just for the girls in our 8-9 year old group. There's almost as many in the older group!


This last weekend was fun. We told some friends (The Andersons) about making apple cider and they wanted to try it. So Saturday they came over to the Garners and we showed them the ropes. It's such a perfect fall activity and the kids get along so well. That weekend the Lambs were also staying with us! They came up for my Aunt Kay's funeral and for their fall break. The kids were in heaven with their Lamb cousins to play with and I got to hang out with my sister. :)


My friend Sam came over with her little girl the other day and joined us in our yearly tradition of eating Apple Dumplings (Grandma Crosby's recipe) and watching "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". Can't go wrong with that plan!


I'm well into the 2nd trimester yet and haven't snapped an official picture yet. I actually put some effort into getting ready on Sunday and thought, "I'm going to have Richie take a picture for me", and then I never did. So here you have the classic bathroom selfie, at the end of the day, when I no longer look put together. Maybe I'll get another picture at some point, but this is here just in case! :) I had my first Dr.'s appointment the other day, and I'm measuring 22 weeks instead of 20 (best news ever), and everything looks good. Aside from the fact that I'm already huge and I'm kind of dreading the next 20-ish weeks. This isn't my first rodeo, and I know exactly how uncomfortable it gets. But for now, I'm in the sweet spot. Not too huge, not sick. So I'll enjoy it while I can I guess! I've started feeling baby move a bit, but it's very cushioned and slight. Apparently the placenta is in front, so we won't feel more defined movements till later.