October Little Things

Wow...October!!!  Between teaching full-time and Tod traveling and all other activities, we managed to stay pretty busy.  The month flew by.  I felt like I barely had time to get out my camera and then every time I did, Luke tried to take it from me.  But I did get a few pictures of some of the things we did.

The first weekend was our church's general conference, and we always enjoy hearing from our church leaders and staying at home to watch the meetings on TV.  The fall weather was beautiful.  The only picture I took was of the aftermath of our traditional cinnamon roll breakfast on Sunday morning!

Ashton's school orchestra always has a Masquerade concert each year where all participants dress up.  The audience is encouraged to come in costume as well.  It is always a fun concert and a fun way to usher in the Halloween season.

 Cole and Regan loved the costume parade during the concert.

Regan did a cheer leading clinic and then got to cheer at the high school football game.

Luker (our lastest nickname) is growing up.  He is totally obsessed with shoes and wants them on first thing in the morning.  I had to take this picture of him because I knew I had this picture of Regan when she was close to the same age.

We said good-bye to some favorite sister missionaries.  We are going to miss them so much and loved having them in our area.

Ashton had an outstanding choir concert.  I love choir so much and am so thankful for my children's musical opportunities.  Tod was out of town on this night and looking back, I never should have attempted to take Luke.  Let's just say the professional audio recording features a very loud baby in the background!  He will not be attending the Christmas concert.

My teaching sub job was in full swing, and I really enjoyed it.  We made these fall trees using our hands and also pumpkin mosaics.

Jordan attended a very fun 5th grade Halloween party.  She went as a scarecrow.  Tod was out of town and we had left her costume all to the last minute...but we managed to come up with a pretty good outfit (thanks to a helpful neighbor.)

That same day, Ashton got to go to the temple in Nauvoo with her youth group.  She was so excited and had a great time.  I am so proud of her and cannot wait to go with her.

About the time that we felt that we couldn't handle our hectic life anymore...we had fall break!

We went for an awesome hike and enjoyed the last little bits of fall.

That night, the entire family (except Luke) came down with a stomach bug....it was a warm welcome home for Tod who returned the next morning from his 2 week trip to the Middle East!!

Pumpkin carving is always a messy adventure...this year...well, I did the best I could.  I decided to start with the younger kids while Ashton was at soccer practice.  We got a good start.

Then, when she got home, we discovered that her pumpkin had already rotted...we ran to the corner store but all pumpkins were gone!  So she had to wait until the next day...so the pics are missing a few pumpkins this year.

The next day, Ashton did get hers done...Luke, well, it is good that he won't remember that we never actually carved his!

Regan had a fun Girl Scout Halloween party.  

And then it was Halloween and time for trick or treating!  This year we had:

A witch:

A Scarecrow:

A Clown:  (wearing the costume my mama made many years ago)

A Ninja:

And Batman?  I literally pulled the pieces from our costume box 5 minutes before we left.

The whole gang for Halloween 2014!

We had a lot of fun trick or treating with pretty decent weather for Iowa.

And that was our October...always one of my favorite months!

Back to Blogging...

Maybe you noticed that my blog has fallen a bit silent lately...after all only one post for the month of October!  (Or maybe you haven't really noticed, which is just fine too since I mainly keep this blog for myself and my family!)  Either way, I have lots to write about and lots of catching up to do.
The main reason I have been missing....

These are pictures of me with my kiddos at their school where I took a long term substitute teaching job!  The job ended up lasting for 7 weeks from mid September until Halloween! And that is where I have been!  It is hard to even put into words this experience...very challenging, very rewarding, humbling, overwhelming, enjoyable and everything in between!

I actually got my sub license updated at the end of last year "just in case".  My intentions were just to sub a couple of times a month...if I got around to it.  Well, when this opportunity came up to teach Kindergarten art and physical education (I would get to teach Cole!!), I just could not pass it up...even though I had no idea how we were going to pull it off.  Of course, by far the hardest thing about the whole experience was leaving my baby Luke.

I did not like being away from this boy!!  But thanks to a fabulous babysitter and supportive hubby, we all survived.  As a side note, in a rare twist of timing, Tod ended up being out of town for 3 of the 7 weeks!  That was a bit rough, too.

My favorite things I learned:  I still LOVE teaching.  After being away from it for 11 years, I wondered how I would feel, but my heart is still in education.  I loved interacting with the kids on a daily basis and challenging myself to come up with better techniques and methods.  I love spending time with children.  My children go to a fabulous school, and I loved having a behind the scenes look at their lives there (I was actually teaching at 2 schools and really enjoyed the other great school, too.)  I got to eat lunch every day with teachers whom I consider to be "legends".  I was almost star struck lots of the time (many of the teachers have taught my own kids through the years).  I loved being in the school environment.  Teaching again made me feel alive and energized and was very fulfilling.

That being said, there were challenges!  Wow, education has changed in so many ways.  Teachers work so hard in difficult situations and settings.  It is certainly not for wimps.  And working outside the home...well let's just say I was exhausted and so glad that I have gotten to be home with my kids all these years!

And so we made it through that experience, and it was good.  For now, I plan to keep teaching here and there, but no more 7 week stints for a while!

Looking Back

The beginning of the school year seems like it was a long time ago...and it has actually been a couple of months!  But life has been crazy, and I really wanted to get these "back to school" pictures posted.

This year we had four excited kids ready for back to school...three at the elementary school and one at the middle school.  For the first time in years, we don't have a preschooler!  Strange.
With so many heading to school, shopping was a major ordeal...but here they are with all their supplies and gear ready for "Unpack Your Backpack" a few days before the actual start day.

First stop was the elementary school to meet great teachers.

And then on to the middle school where pictures were strictly prohibited (by my daughter!)
Then we decided to start a new family tradition...we took the whole family to Outback to celebrate the upcoming school year.  It was a special splurge and something we never do...but such a fun treat for everyone.

We had debated leaving Luke with a sitter but decided to take him along....he was just fine because there was food involved!  He ate so much bread!!!

On Sunday we had our traditional back to school feast.

 We chose for our theme a scripture from the book of Timothy.

And I am so glad to have this treasured back to school decoration.  My Grandma Betty was an elementary school secretary for many, many years and she had this pencil on her school desk.

Jordan made some special sugar cookies for our dessert (apples with a bite out of them and letters!)

 And Luke thoroughly enjoyed the lasagna!

After our meal, Tod gave the kids their special priesthood blessings for the year...it was a beautiful reminder of how much they are loved by us and by their Heavenly Father.  They are all going to have a great year- full of fun, challenges and growth!

And then it was time to go to bed...early, because our school start time changed this year by an hour and half!  The bell rings at 7:35 AM!

Cole- Kindergarten

Regan- 1st Grade

 Jordan- 5th Grade

 Ashton- Middle School

Baby Luke- Enjoying a snack in his car seat.