Halloween 2019

Halloween is always such a fun holiday.  Even though Nina and Lyla are older, I’m actually still glad they enjoy getting dressed up for Halloween.  This year we had a spooky bride and a jellyfish.  

As is tradition, we started the day with a fun little breakfast of spider donuts then the kids headed off to school.  

Unfortunately, all the weather reports were warning severe storms rolling in on Halloween evening.  The temperatures were supposed to be mild, but severe storms, winds, and rain were in the forecast.  As a result, most of the kids in the neighborhood headed out trick or treating earlier than the normal start time.  I think everyone just assumed on getting an early start and hopefully getting in as much fun as possible for the storms.  I got some pictures of Lyla before she went out, but I got pictures of Nina once it got dark.

 

Despite a tad shortened evening out, both girls brought in a huge haul of candy!  I’m not sure how they managed that, but we heard there was a lot of running from house to house involved.  This was the first year that they went out with just friends and Mark, Cayenne, and I stayed home.  I have to admit, I missed being out walking around the neighborhood checking out all the cute costumes, but we managed to survive sitting back at home with a glass of wine and answering the door!   

  

 

 

 

Happy Birthday, Mouse!

Two weekends ago, we got together to celebrate my mom’s 70th birthday.  From looking at her, it’s hard to believe 1.) that she turned seventy, and 2.) that she was just over a month post surgery.  While it’s been a rocky few months for her since her cancer diagnosis in July, she has been such an inspiration to our whole family in the way that she relied on her faith in the Lord to sustain her, continued to devote herself to family, and battled through a tough surgery and recovery to be where she is.  We all just really felt like this birthday was more than a birthday.  It was a gift to all of us to see her recovering, enjoying her family being together, getting healthier and stronger every day, and looking forward to all that life has ahead for her.  It’s so easy to take our family and our loves ones for granted until a health scare comes along and really shakes you to the core.  However, we’re so thankful that God put her in the hands of the specialists at University of Maryland who were incredibly brilliant, capable, and thorough in their treatment of her cancer, and we’re thankful that He enabled her the strength to get through her surgery, the chemo wash, and be doing so well on her road to recovery.  It truely was a great day to celebrate.

 

While we were there to celebrate my mom, it doesn’t go without mention that she wouldn’t have been there without my dad.  Since her diagnosis, he has been there through thick and thin and walked with her along the darkest of paths when things seemed really bad.  He was there to support her, encourage her, be her friend and protector, and he cared for all her needs with the deepest of affection and dedication.  It was a blessing to watch his love for her manifest itself in such real and tangible ways, and we are so thankful to have the dad that we do to care for our mom.  We really are so fortunate to have so much love in our family.

 

 

On a side note, we got a sneak preview of Emme’s Halloween costume when she had to leave at the end of the party to go to her cross country team’s Halloween party.  We all loved Miss Mantis!!!  For being a carniverous insect who eats her mates, Miss Mantis was quite agreeable to a photo shoot. But, I was sure to not provoke her! :)

 

 

A Lot of Random in October

Seems like I’m in the habit of doing a lot of catching up these days.  October came in went in a flash.  Fall is such a beautiful season, and while I’m always sad to see the weather turn colder and the daylight grow shorter, it’s hard to deny the joy of taking Cayenne for a nice evening walk as the sun sets or watching soccer practice with a gorgeous back drop.

 

The girls have settled into their rhythm with school.  Lyla has made a great adjustment to middle school, and also has been committed to her soccer team again this year.  The fall season tends to be pretty busy for her between school, practices, and games, but she loves the girls on her team, and despite the season having some ups and downs, at least for now, this is what she says she wants to do, and we enjoy watching her do her thing!

 

   

 

Outside of soccer and school, she can be found hanging with Cayenne, playing outside with neighbor friends, playing her favorite video game (until her time limit shuts her down), and raiding the cabinet for snacks.  Rough life...

  

 Nina has also started off the year really well at school.  Being an 8th grade ambassador has brought her quite a few privileges and opportunties this year, including making up the design and painting the school rock.  The 8th grade dean asked Nina to come up with a simple design for the rock and then, along with the other ambassadors, she painted the school rock.  Her design had much fiercer bear paws, however since she worked predominately on the bear head, other kids did the paws.  So, while those didn’t end up like her original drawing, everyone was happy with the result.  The back of the rock had all the handprints of the ambassadors in red and blue paint.  It turned out very cute! (#CLIMB is an acronym widely used at the school for Create, Lead, Inspire, Motivate, and Believe)

 

Indoor track will start up soon, but for the past few weeks, she’s had some fitness sessions just to prepare for the indoor season.  I know she’s looking forward to getting back to jumping, hurdling, and running with her team again soon!

 

  

Cayenne can be spotted living her best life all day, every day.  Fall might possibly be her favorite season because of the insane number of squirrels around.  We finish her daily walk coming up through the neighborhood park where I have to budget plenty of time for squirrel stalking.  She loves it!  When she’s not out getting exercise, she can be found following me around, looking for attention, looking for food, and napping in the sunshine.  Again, rough life!