Other than basement work, carpet installation and Halloween... We did some other fun things in October.
General Conference
General Conference was something I looked forward to as a kid. I know, strange huh? We had special food we always ate, we had special activities we always did, and I knew we'd all be together as a family for two whole days (no soccer, no church meetings).
Now I am trying to start traditions with my own little family. We eat the same food I did growing up: appetizers during the sessions - carrots & ranch dip, apples & caramel, black olives (Collin's favorite), chips & salsa. And between sessions on Saturday - ham sandwiches and potato salad. Between sessions on Sunday - ham and cheesy potatoes. Yum.
I have always tried to create some activities for the kiddos to do so Ryan and I can listen. Last Spring and now this past month, I have used 15 ziploks with a picture of each of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve on the outside of each.
Inside each bag is a different quiet activity for the boys. I know it would be better if the activity had something to do with the speaker, but I haven't gotten to that point yet. :-)
They did great this time around. Miracle of miracles was that Collin and Brennan both slept concurrently DURING ALL of the second session on Saturday. C hadn't napped in three weeks at that point, and B never had napped for two hours straight, ever. It was totally awesome.
Tanner's Orchard
In accordance with tradition, I took the boys to Tanner's one Friday morning for playgroup. We bought cider donuts, a jug of cider and a bag of Honeycrisp apples (my fave).
They wanted to play and play and play, but I forgot my coat and was cold and crazy grumpy.
I finally dragged them away after two hours.
Leaf-Raking
The day after carpet went in, Ryan took one more day off work and painted all our baseboards, door and closet mouldings, and stair handrail on the driveway. Our neighbor across the street commented on what a work horse he was. If you only knew, Kristen!
While he painted, the boys and I raked and played in the leaves.
They were the cutest. Playing in the leaves is one of my favorite photo-taking opps. Can you tell?
Nauvoo
Last weekend, Ryan took off Friday, and we headed to Nauvoo for our ward temple trip. There is a hotel there (Nauvoo Villas & Vacation Condos) which will rent in the off-season to temple district patrons attending the temple for $50. Awesome, eh? We got a two-bedroom, two-bath, full kitchen with dishwasher, and living room with sofa bed all for FIFTY BUCKS!
Saturday morning we went to the temple while the youth and young single adults from our ward watched our kids at the Nauvoo Stake Center. Thank you to those who volunteered their time! Ry and I hadn't been to the temple together in quite some time. Peace like we hadn't felt since before Joliet.
Museum of Science & Industry
On our drive back to Peoria from Nauvoo, Ryan's youngest sister Mallory called to say she was in Chicago for the weekend for her boyfriend's best friend's wedding. Could we come?
So Sunday afternoon after church, we headed to Chicago. We stayed on Marriott points and picked up Mal & Friend Monday morning.
We headed to the Museum of Science & Industry, but we only had about three hours before our kids (who had only slept from 9pm-4am) expired and Mal had to go to the airport. We were a little disappointed, but ironically we selected the one day in November that was free for Illinois residents, and the worker let Mal and Blake in free too. For free, it was great.
It was so fun to get to see Mallory though (who lives in Brooklyn) and meet her new boyfriend. Who would have thought we'd be the first of the family to meet him?
Conclusion
So despite my lack of blogging this month, we have been QUITE busy. Life will slow down soon, right? After Christmas maybe?
Oh and don't worry - I haven't forgotten about those pictures of my
new house. ;-)
