It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Not to be cliche, but -- to quote Anne of Green Gables -- I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers!  Fall is my favorite time of year and this year is no exception.  Everyone is finally all better, the kids are back in school, and the weather is no longer oppressively humid and hot.  All in all, life is GOOD!

(Favorite quote of the week from Isaac -- 

ME: I love you to the moon and back times infinity!

ISAAC: Infinity is not a number, mom.

ME: Oh yeah?  What is it then?

ISAAC {thinking really hard, trying to remember what it is that he always hears me say}: It's a concept.

Hahahahahahahahahaha.)

To kick off our Octoberfest (not to be confused with Germany's Oktoberfest -- we'll be eschewing the dirndls and steins of beer) we went to our local "Pumpkin Patch" that's not really a pumpkin patch.  Hahaha.  Already-picked-pumpkins, conveniently located, and aesthetically arranged suited our needs just fine.  The kids were only supposed to pick out one pumpkin each, but we got a little carried away.  

Our fall fest continued into the first weekend of October, as we were able enjoy General Conference at home with our traditional Sunday morning breakfast feast sweetening up the deal.  Many cinnamon rolls and orange rolls were consumed alongside the pleasing word of God and it was an enjoyable experience all around.  Even for Maxwell.  What dog wouldn't like a few pieces of bacon snuck their way?  Hahaha.

(It's funny -- the cinnamon rolls always go first, but the orange rolls are just as good if not better in my book.)

(The only real "must have" items for our Conference breakfast are cinnamon rolls and buttermilk syrup.)

The girls created lots of Halloween decorations for the house while watching the Sunday sessions, and I think we're all excited for the beginning of the whole holiday season.  Surely 2020 will wind down nice and easy for us, right?  Hahahahahahaha.  J/K.  I'm sure that won't be the case, but we won't let that stop us from enjoying our traditions.  :)

Other than that, we're officially back into a routine now that "back-to-school" 2.0 has enabled Grace, Sophie, Jane, and Alex to head back to their actual school buildings post-quarantine.  Sophie was finally able to collect her dance team uniform  last week and cheered/danced at her first football game on Thursday.  Scott took Grace and Jane along for the adventure and I know they enjoyed a semi-return to normalcy as they watched on the sidelines.

Meanwhile, Ethan has been hard at work on college applications and was more than a bit surprised to receive an acceptance from Utah State University the day after submitting the application.  {Literally.}  His ultimate hope, though, is to get into BYU.  {Receiving a scholarship would be pretty sweet as well.}  He's still working on THOSE essays, but I think the deadline isn't for another month or two.  Knowing Ethan, I'm sure it will be turned in well before it's officially due.  :)

I really hope that this week we'll be able to enforce a viable virtual school schedule for Alex and Jane on the days that they're home, but I'm not going to hold my breath.  We're still going with a hard copy "to do" list for both of them with their daily assignments, but I'd really love to transition from ME writing it all out for them everyday, to THEM adopting these organizational skills and doing it for themselves.  A mother can always dream.

Speaking of which, I'm LIVING the dream now that I've got a couple of days a week of complete and total peace and quiet around the house while everyone is at school!  Hahahaha.  In all seriousness, though, it's awesome.  I've been keeping myself busy over the last month studying up on government and politics -- and everything in between -- and it's been so fascinating.   I'm currently studying economics and it is hands-down my favorite thing I've researched thus far.  Not even joking.  I kind of love it.  And if I had a more secure foundational knowledge of advanced math, I'd consider going back to school and studying it for real!  Hahaha.  For now, I'm just trying to educate myself one topic at a time and tell anyone else who is willing to listen all about it.  As for the poor victims who are in my most immediate path here at home, I'd have to say that Alex is the one whose interest has been piqued the most by my studies -- if only in the sense that he's constantly questioning why I'm trying to learn all this stuff.  Hahahaha.  

(When you're trying to explain a recession to a 9 year old.  Hahahahahahahahaha.)

I think that just about sums up the last few weeks!  I'm looking forward to more lovely weather in the future and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can get back up to speed (pun intended) on my half marathon training that was derailed by the coronavirus.  Wish me luck!

(I finished my virtual Flying Pig 10K on Saturday.  It was rough after not having really run for a couple of weeks.)

(My favorite sight -- the kids playing together without fighting.  Fall does wonders for incentivizing jumping on the trampoline.)