Overflowing October

We have had a wonderful October!  It's been overflowing with activities, trips, laundry, school, and just the normal everyday things.  Our family has spent a lot of time together this month and one thing I noticed more than anything is that our October was overflowing with LOVE!  This year has been crazy.. you've seen the memes of how ridiculous this year has been.  Mostly, they are hilarious but I know there are a ton of people suffering in all different ways.  Our family is being cautious but we are also living.  My kids understand what's going on but it's not our discussion at the dinner table.  We have used this opportunity to spend time together and re-direct our focus on what matters.

 We went to see Doug and Brittney.  They recently retired and moved to Ruidoso.  We always had fun visiting them in Fort Worth but I have to admit it was a lot prettier drive this time.  The weather was beautiful so we went to play golf one evening.  They live in a golf course community and it was literally a golf cart drive from their house.  SO MUCH FUN!

Ruidoso was dry for this time of year.  We couldn't quit laughing at how staticky (is that a real word) our hair was the whole weekend.  It was worse in the hammock!

Real dad's let their little girls play hair salon.  Even if the comb does keep getting stuck and pulling hair out.  Real dad's take one for the team. 

Myles always has jokes.

"Momma, I forgot to brush my teeth last night.  Do they look a little yellow to you?"

Sydney loved playing store with a cash register Brittney got the kids years ago.  She was being such a princess making everyone come to her.  She fixed her parasol that she got at Fort Stanton so the sun wouldn't bother her too. haha

My handsome Bubby.

My beautiful girls ready for church.

We went to Flying J Ranch one evening and had the absolute best time!  We love chuck wagon suppers and the music and entertainment that comes along with them.  We are a Little House on the Prairie, Lonesome Dove, westerns type family.  My kids know and love the "old west" and think it's just as neat as I do to think about what it would've been like to live back then. 

Sydney riding Peanut.  She said she loved Peanut because he was just her size!

Panning for GOLD

On Sunday, we got to attend Doug and Brittney's new congregation.  We've heard a lot about the people and it was nice to put faces with names.  Brittney always has the kids fixed up with paper and crayons during worship.  Sydney drew "Creation" and I couldn't help but take a picture of it so I could treasure forever her perspective.  Adam and Eve with their "private parts" covered by a bush and her giraffe complete with rainbow colored spots.  Could it be anymore perfect?!

We've been rocking and rolling along with school.  Almost everyday, if not everyday, I thank God for the opportunity to homeschool.  I love teaching and I love teaching my children even more.  When we travel we take school with us.  It's wonderful!  

Myles is doing really well in first grade.  His favorite subject is history (just like his momma) and his least favorite thing is spelling (just like his momma.)

Sydney turning in her work for the day.

Sydney took her first test and made a 100.  She was so proud of herself.  She wants so badly to be just like the big kids!

Does anyone else's dog lay like this?!  hahaha 

He is sooo long!

We took a week long trip to Beaver's Bend, Oklahoma this month.  Just our family of six went this time and we had the most amazing week together.  We fished, hiked, rode bikes, took walks, had a campfire every night and just truly spent time together.  One night Tye and I were talking by the campfire after the kids had gone to bed and we decided that one day this will all mean more than it does now.  One day they won't want to sit in our lap and spend every minute of the day with us.  One day trips like this will force togetherness and conversation.  I know "one day" will be here before we know it so for today, I'm going to soak in every minute of their littleness. 

There were lots of trees which meant we could get out the hammocks.  The boys had one and the girls had one.  They loved relaxing and looking up at the trees.

Tye and I both ended up getting sick on this trip.  Looking back we think we had either severe colds or maybe even the good ole' fashioned flu.  Can you even get that anymore?! haha  Anyway, we go sick on the same day at the same time.  It was totally weird and hilarious.  We both felt like death was tapping us on the shoulder but the show must go on!  When you're both sick the kids have a lot more sympathy.  They took care of us and were super sweet.  We manage to go on a hike one of those days and I'm still not sure how I made it through.  The "worst" days only lasted a couple days and we were back to normal in no time.

Myles and Sydney have become such sweet friends.  On one of the days we were feeling terrible we let them bring their Game-Boy's out and play while Tye and I took a little nap in our chairs.  Sydney could not beat a level so her big brother, Myles, showed her how to do it.  They are so precious!

We got a BIG cooker (griddle) and I love it so much.  It no longer takes me an hour to cook breakfast.  I put TWO pounds of bacon on this thing at a time. 

We went fishing one day and had a blast.  We didn't catch anything but like Poppa use to tell me that I now tell my kids "it's called fishin', it's not called catchin.'"

The bobber's in the pond goin' up down, up down, UP DOWN...

Ryan could be a professional fisherman.

The girls and I watch the Pioneer Woman all the time.  We love her and have for years.  Sydney and I use to rock and watch her before she went to bed when she was a baby.  Since we were so close (about 4 hours) we decided to make a day trip to Pawhuska, Oklahoma.  We got there early to have breakfast at the Mercantile.  It was delicious!  We drove around and found their ranch, drove up to Kansas because we had never been and then came back for lunch at her pizzeria and ice cream at Charley's ice cream shop.  It was a day filled with eating and talking about how I need to be famous and be called the Farmer Woman. hahaha  I think my kids just want the free pizza and ice cream.  All of my boys were troopers and enjoyed eating all the things that day.

Sydney learned how to ride her bike without training wheels on this trip!  The last camping trip we went to she decided on the last evening she was ready to take her training wheels off.  We didn't have much time before dark so I told her we'd practice on this trip.  It's awfully hard to ride bikes at our house.  Our cliche road isn't the best riding experience.  

She didn't want any help from us, and in true Sydney fashion when she made her mind up there wasn't anything stopping her.  She tried and tried for about two days.  When she was ready we told us to watch and she did it.  ALL BY HERSELF!  It is so fun watching them grow up but sometimes it makes my heart ache too.

The boys made sure we had lots of firewood for the campfire at night.  They worked and worked with their little axes until they were sore!  The figured out how to chop in the same spot and work together to split the big pieces of wood.  They were like a well oiled machine!  They couldn't wait to tell B how much wood they had chopped.  One day Daddy won't have to lift a finger!

In the park, they have a couple who drive around with a converted golf cart that they made into a snow cone cart.  It was the neatest thing I've ever seen.  The kids of course thought it was a good idea to try a snow cone before one of our hikes. 

Myles say "CHEESE!"

Myles...STOP and say cheese.

hahahaha

Thank you for your efforts.  This kid makes me laugh and roll my eyes all the time!

Rusty and his favorite human, Ayden!  He lets her carry him on her hip like a baby.

The kids were playing and poor Rusty was kicked out of the room.  Myles made a sign that said, "dont inter" with blood dripping down.  He also got his skeleton to hold it.  Don't get too scared Rusty.

Daddy and his football buddy.  They both love Texas A&M.

We painted pumpkins again this year.  We've come a long way.  I use to give them a tiny bit of paint and Q-tips when they were toddlers.  Now they have five paint brushes and all the colors.  This has become one of my favorite things we do as a family.

The finished products!

Ryan is such a little hard worker.  He is always asking me if there is something he can do to help me.  He is also doing the same to his daddy.  The other day he was raking leaves in the backyard and got stung on the middle finger by a wasp.  He's allergic (not deathly) but more allergic than anyone else in our family.  His hand was swollen for TWO days.  It looked like it does when someone blows up a surgical glove.  He cried for just a minute and then the next thing I know he's back to racking leaves.  I told him he didn't have to finish it right then but he had a job to do and he was going to finish it.  I love this little boy and even more I love the man that he is becoming.

They waited all month for the 30 and 31st to get here.  Honey's Halloween party is a highlight for us!  We had the best time, with the best food and finished the night with a Halloween movie together.

Poppa and Ryan are TWINS!

Halloween 2020 was great to us!  Thankful for our little town and the people in it.

George Washington, old grumpy man, a piece of chocolate cake and a beautiful bride.

Our October overflowed with things going on.  We got our show pigs this month and that has been a lot of new responsibility.  It's overflowed with trips and laundry and WASPS (thank goodness for Terminex), school, farming but the most important thing that we have had an abundance of is love and thankfulness!!!  Well, I'm not thankful for the wasps that we have in abundance right now but everything can't always be perfect, right?!!