I've got my Halloween bag of Reeses and chocolate kisses ready to go. I've snitched some, but trying to save the bulk of them for Halloween and the weekend that follows.
I've been enjoying the fun vibes of the month as I've carried on with the practicality of life. I think I've figured out that Halloween is so popular, with children and adults, because you just get to go a little crazy for a little while. I've enjoyed the spooky-decorated houses in the neighborhoods. I've had my Halloween music playlist and slightly spooky movies on in the background all month. And even though it's my first year in decades that I haven't attended a Trunk or Treat or Halloween party, and technically we don't celebrate Halloween at our school, I get to be a part of "costume day" and all the fun and silliness around me this week.
I wish everyone an especially light-hearted, fun week, no matter what practicalities are on your to-do list or what fun things you have ahead.
One incredibly fun thing to do in Autumn is have a Harry Potter party! Audrey did just that for her birthday and we were able to attend. It was fun to see so many kids still into Harry Potter, along with their parents, and one of Hillary's childhood friends helped them set up all kinds of food and decorations matching that theme. Here are a few pictures.
(ps - One boy in our class asks me to read the note his Mom puts in his lunch box each day. Lately the notes have included a reminder to him of how many days till Halloween. Nine days to go!
Do you see the flying car stuck in the tree above?
More setting up
The castle, the flying letters - it was amazing!
Both sets of grandparents were there to help set up.
Every week I have the smallest, little goals that - just the thought of - keep me going. One of them is doing crafts and baking with my grandchildren. Maybe it's that I get great ideas at work, and as much fun as it is doing them with those children, I'd really like to do some with my grandchildren.
Beside having some good beach time with our Last family, I was happy that we read some of my favorite Halloween books and did a couple of projects with the grandkids - like making pumpkin spice play dough and doing a milk science experiment. We followed the play dough recipe until we got to the spices. Then I encouraged them to add as much as they wanted. It did smell like our favorite autumn treats, but without the sugar.
I also picked up a geo-board rubber band kit which Eli enjoyed a few weeks ago and Reggie & Avonlea spent some quality time doing together:
The 2024 flower project is over and done with, but Kai did her best to keep them hydrated as long as possible. I'm glad I got pictures of them.
Though it is easy to obsess on these little things, and be disappointed when they don't happen, I am going to continue to let myself look forward to them and rejoice when they do happen.
Therefore I forced myself to dig into my mental health bag of tricks. One thing I did was make a quick list of things going right, and it helped.
Thursday was 15 hours away from home; work, Costco, and work meeting. I did Costco in order to kill time rather than go home in-between work and the meeting. I ended up finding some Christmas presents which makes me happy. And at the meeting I won a raffle - 2 movie tickets - score!
I've been wishing I had written more about my other jobs. Maybe I can do some catch up someday - I love the memories. So now I've decided to write more about this job, and I love it. So definitely more to come . . . . for me and anyone who wants to read it.
I'll end with something I wrote on Facebook last year. It reminds me of a line in one of my favorite movies - "so I said to myself, 'self' . . . . . .
"Hang in there Nancy - all is well, or good enough. After all, it's autumn."
Why should I feel discouraged? Why should the shadows come? Why should my heart be lonely and long for heav’n and home? When Jesus is my portion my constant Friend is He: His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
The above are the first few lines of a hymn that has been around for some time. It has been featured by many gospel singers and a part of several movies over the years. I, however, don't remember hearing it before this summer. It is being added to our new hymnbook, and I have heard it several times recently. I think it is beautiful. The lyrics are taken from a couple of bible scriptures, and I just want to memorize the part in italics above.
The history of the song, according to Wikipedia is as follows:
The theme of the song is inspired by the words of David in the Psalms and Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew in the Bible: "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye" (Psalm 32:8). "Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" (Matthew 6:26)
Civilla Martin, who wrote the lyrics, said of her inspiration to write the song based on the scriptures:
Early in the spring of 1905, my husband and I were sojourning in Elmira, New York. We contracted a deep friendship for a couple by the name of Mr. and Mrs. Doolittle—true saints of God. Mrs. Doolittle had been bedridden for nigh twenty years. Her husband was an incurable cripple who had to propel himself to and from his business in a wheel chair. Despite their afflictions, they lived happy Christian lives, bringing inspiration and comfort to all who knew them. One day while we were visiting with the Doolittles, my husband commented on their bright hopefulness and asked them for the secret of it. Mrs. Doolittle's reply was simple: "His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me." The beauty of this simple expression of boundless faith gripped the hearts and fired the imagination of Dr. Martin and me. The hymn "His Eye Is on the Sparrow" was the outcome of that experience.[5]
a little bit more about our weekend: pumpkin bread, Halloween books, Monster's University, Hawaiian mix pancakes, car repairs, blazing hot weather, another beach visit with Reggie & Ross this time.
Friday Reggie, Samantha and I were supposed to leave for Lassen National Park. However, as we were getting ready Reggie started feeling really sick. We went to the doctor right away and they were able to help him and prescribe some medicine to take home.
So, plan B started. Reggie was feeling much better but decided to take it easy the rest of the day. Our Last family had come up the night before to beat the heat, so in the late morning Mariah and I and the kids went to the beach and stayed for hours. Since I had taken the day off already it was easier than usual to forget about my to-do-list and the clock and just relax. We played in the water, built a sand castle and went "dragon hunting", which was my favorite part. I had recently bought a baggie of dragon toys so we buried them in the sand, marked the spots and then tried to dig them up. It was harder than you'd think to find them!
In true form Samantha embraced Plan B like a champ. She always takes things in stride and is content to have Lassen back on the bucket list. She and I have been there once and she loves it, and looks forward to going back and sharing the beauty with her Dad. In the meantime, having a day off to catch up on her sleep is never a bad thing for our hard working girl.
That night we ate pizza and babysat the girls. It was nice having them play beside me while I worked on the backyard and basement. I wish I had a picture of Reggie building legos with them in the basement play room. I eventually went to bed to the sounds of Reggie playing his guitar and the family singing along. I thought about earlier, when we got home from the doctor, how 7 people were in the living room saying "what the heck Dad? What happened!" and him telling his story. Reggie and I had been talking about how strange it was that the shoe was on the other foot with me taking him to the doctor. I can't count the times he has taken me throughout the years, and while there he pointed out the rooms he recognized where he had taken Samantha for the tests on her heart, my Dad in for his x-rays, our Moms for various things, and on and on.
We have 2 more days for our Plan B weekend and I am grateful.
I'm ending this post with a song dedication for Reggie: it has always made me think of him and smile:
Why do the sight of pumpkins put me, and so many others in a good mood? It seems like there is just something special about October; maybe because it starts off the last 3 months of the year which are each so full of fun.
I've already started my 31 days of Arsenic and Old Lace, and other fun and lightly-spooky movies. I also think it would be really fun to visit places like Sleepy Hollow and Salem in October. Pictures of these places have been popping up on my Facebook, which is giving me the perfect amount of chills.
