Year 7, October: Fall In All Its Glory!

We have had a great October! The weather has been absolutely gorgeous and the kids are doing a great. We have had a few challenges but that comes with them growing up! Bad dreams, trouble sleeping due to excitement and changes in sleep needs, it has been a bit of a puzzle, but everyone has remained pleasant through it all. They are such a blessing and we are so thankful for who they are becoming!

We started small group up again, which is always a joy. The kids love everyone coming over, we love fantastic conversation and we have some great people who come, so it goes by very quickly! We also got to have a few different playdates, which brings everyone joy!

School has been going wonderfully! William's letter learning is going well and Amelia is working really hard on her writing and math. She is having a lot of fun with some of the activities, the actual handwriting is a little less interesting to her, so we are working on it! She absolutely loves reading and loves being read to, we have finished Little House on the Prairie, moved on to Farmer Boy. We are having a lot of fun and I am quite thankful we started all that we did.

Mowing is slowing down, so Jonathan is glad that is going away. We had a work day so I could get some more cleaning done around here and he could take some time to work on projects. It is such a lovely time of year, the weather has been just about perfect...though as of November it has been getting really cold! More on that next month.

We did some visiting, an evening trip to see our nephew, a visit to a local festival and some shoe shopping. The kids grew out of their tennis shoes at the same exact time, so it was a bit urgent! There were some doctor appointments squeezed in there, have to get the teeth checked! Amelia does a great job, we have to take William here soonish...so that could be a challenge.

Since we offered to do some hosting in November, we spent a lot of time in the barn getting some things set up. Mom and Dad gave us some assistance and we got it looking really pretty in there! I was really excited to get it looking beautiful in there. Other people have been able to make it look the way they want it to, but I got to do it for the first time!

We had a short stint with the stomach bug. It was quite nasty. William and I started around 4 hours apart, the girls seem to have avoided it altogether and Jonathan got hit two days later. Poor guy, he took the day off to take care of us and then had to take a sick day a few days later! The problem with stomach bugs is the recovery. It takes forever and is quite miserable. I kept feeling nauseous for a few days, which got very old.

Jonathan's aunt came into town, so we were got to go see her after we were feeling better! It was lovely to get to catch up and we got to see Jonathan's cousin too, which made it extra special! The kids had a great time playing with Grandpa. Jonathan had a lot of work to get caught up, so he spent some time in the evenings to get caught up, I was prepping for the different parties we were having. Lots of orders involved and finding all my things for hosting and party items since I haven't had one in a long time!

Enjoy this month, the start of the holiday season. We are excited to see what is in store as it also kicks off the birthday season for us! Lots to celebrate, such fun ages to celebrate, we will plan on having some fun reports next month!

Love,

Jonathan, Allison, Amelia, William and Vivian

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Year 7, September: School, Swimming and A Whole Lot of Joy

I am quite a bit behind this month, but here we finally are! September was a busy, but fantastic month for us. We have been thankful for a slight change in the weather, though ready for full-fledged fall!

We got to eat quite a bit of yummy food, trying to get the last of the grilling season in! It was a rough start to the month with some loss, but we tried to do some fun stuff too. One football game, Jonathan and I went on a date night and we went to the orchard as well! All in one weekend...we were beat by the end of that.

I have spent a lot of time cooking and trying to keep our kitchen stocked. It has been a task to get everything figured out with the whole being back to work and having to get three kids out the door thing. The best strategy seems to be taking my breakfast, so I am keeping things on hand for that, it is a lot of fun keeping up with all of it but also takes some time!

We have also been doing school this month, William is learning his letters and Amelia is working on handwriting, math, womanhood and practicing reading. Jonathan is doing some science with the kids and we are studying worldview as a family as well! They are having a blast with all of it and I am so proud of how hard they are working and the joy with which they work! We have been having such a great time with it. 

One weekend Mom and I took the kids to a cross country meet while Jonathan cleaned the barn up, then we had the fall fest at church, which was a lot of fun and we went swimming after that! It was a very big day, but so much fun. We got to see all sorts of people we love, which means a ton to all of us!

Slowly, but surely, we are getting the house cleaned for the winter. We had a bit of set back after I scrubbed the upstairs carpet, William damaged his neck. I know that makes no sense, but that's how life goes with a little boy! I spent a few days taking him to and from the chiropractor, which also gave us the chance to go get apples too! 

I got to take the girls to a baby shower, which is always a blast. Jonathan and William worked on some stuff outside and then the Landis' came over for supper and Jonathan grilled us some delicious food! The kids had a great time and we got to hear about their trip.

It was a great month, we got quite a few things accomplished and were so blessed by our time together as a family and with all the people around us. Lots of stuff going on around here this fall as we try to wrap up the outdoor weather, but we will get through it and enjoy every moment!

Happy fall!

Jonathan, Allison, Amelia, William and Vivian

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