Happy Hallowe'en

Graham did a great job carving what the kids chose

Happy Hallowe'en!

It's pretty quiet on our street tonight.  I hope we get some more trick-or-treaters.  Our kids are all out with friends.  Graham is with Kohen and his friends and Lily-Anna is with her friend's family.  I'm so thankful that the rain has held off and it's actually a nice night, though I can hear the wind blowing the fallen leaves outside.  I think this is the warmest weather for October 31 that I can remember.  

Lily-Anna is dressed up as either Elsa or Cinderella depending on who you ask.  The sweet little girl who saw Lily-Anna dressed up before the bell rang at school this morning thought she was Elsa.  Her big eyes were a little in awe of Lily-Anna and she gave her a hug.  It was very sweet!  Kohen is dressed up as some sort of guard from Star Wars.  His outfit is mainly red if that helps anyone.

It's been a lovely fall thus far.  The boys have worn shorts to school the last two days.  It's hard to believe it's November tomorrow.  

Yay!  My wonderful neighbours just came by to drop off cookies so the only proper response was to put the tea kettle on (after we had a little chat).  Their sweet wee boy is experiencing his first Hallowe'en as a very cute green dinosaur.

I loved seeing all three kids reading while eating breakfast

October is always a month of birthday celebrations (6 of them) and Thanksgiving.  We were able to spend time with both sides of the family and enjoyed lots of tasty food.

I made rolls for Thanksgiving

We also started our small group this month.  Graham and I are co-leading with another couple from church and we're meeting at their home.  This is the first time we've been in a small group in which the children meet together (though separately from the adults).  Lily-Anna told me last week that she was excited it was Thursday.  I asked her why and her response was because it was the night for small group.  I'm thrilled that my kids are connecting with other kids from the church each week and it's really nice to be in a small group again with Graham.  

It was lovely to see my local nieces again over Thanksgiving as they are no longer local. 

They have gone off to university and I miss seeing them at church.

Well, my kids will be back soon with their stash of waaaaaaaaay too much candy.  Small sigh.  I also love that they'll have these memories of going door to door and getting candy.  It is fun to watch them organize their candy and trade and tell me their stories.

Kohen's lacrosse practices ended this month.  I'm really proud of him for trying something new.  I still don't know where the idea came from but I'm glad he was able to try it.  

I enjoyed helping with the Strong Start literacy program at the school this month.  I was able to do the pre-assessments with the kids and set up the binders.  Strong Start was just announced as a Platinum Winner in a Readers' Choice Award competition.  I look forward to meeting with the kids each week.  

Thanks for all the memories Shantz Family Farm!

Tomorrow is a PD Day.   I secretly think the teachers were asked to pick a date for a PD Day and they voted for the day after Hallowe'en.  That's fine by me.  I was happy to skip making lunches tonight.  

Oh, yes.  Kohen and Lily-Anna started swimming lessons again.  I'm thankful for all the progress they made in the summer and I'm happy they are able to keep practicing.

Lily-Anna and I may make a pumpkin pie tomorrow.  I have a couple of sugar pumpkins and I didn't get around to making a pie at Thanksgiving so we'll see how it goes.  I found a book at the library called Perfect Pies.  The author learned to make pies from her grandmother and she now has many award winning pies.  I've never been a huge pie person but I really enjoyed the peach raspberry pie I made out of this book.  Perhaps the pumpkin pie will turn me into a pie lover.  

Isaac played in his school's Coffee House and he helped out with setting up and cleaning up as he is part of the Music Council.  I'm thankful that he's willing to use his skills and gifts and I think he's brave.  He'd like to have more confidence but he'll get there.

I met my new doctor this week.  He's in the same building as my previous doctor but I didn't realize how jarring it would be to go in and see the changes.  I was wondering if I was going to get emotional when he came into the room but thankfully I was okay.  I was blessed to have my previous doctor for 20 years.  I can think of a number of times he called me at home or his receptionists squeezed us in when a child was hurt at school.  I'm also thankful he worked hard and found another doctor to take his patients.  Our new doctor is nice as well.  

So basically, sadly, I've forgotten how to add photos easily as when I try to add photos from Google photos, the last ones I can see are from May.  I will try to log into Graham's photos but if I've forgotten the password, he's asleep.

Good night!

Blessings,

Elizabeth

Deuteronomy 6:24

And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day.