Finally! A Chill in the Air

The kids are still wearing shorts and t-shirts most days, our temperatures are still in the upper 70s. That is until Saturday when a cold front arrived! It was so nice to relax in warm comfy clothes for a change. Our trees dropped all their leaves overnight. The amazing "3-D" trees are in full splendor this week with deep red outer leaves, orange leaves in the middle, and bright yellow leaves near the trunk. Evelyn and Nina went on a walk gathering fun fall leaves for a meditation exercise. Evelyn was very excited for that. 

Monday night Phillip and Everett amazed us with their instrument skills for their band concert. They went early as "Band-Aids" to help Mr Burton set up the gym for the concert. Everett bopped to the traditional "We Will Rock You" AND played his instrument. He has a funny habit licking his lips and wiggling his nose when nervous, he was all sorts of twitchy! Phillip played chimes, drum kit, and xylophone. They are quite dedicated practicing their instruments and piano. Columbia marching band and flag company wowed us with their talents. I hear they are competing this weekend in a statewide event. I love how the percussionists danced while playing...and used four mallets at a time. After cleaning up the boys earned a treat from Sonic...the little girls and I earned a treat for supporting them. Justin attended the boys performances then left early to pick up Mia from piano lessons. A big thanks to Sara for taking her to piano. 

Amelia worked really hard on her travel speech presentation. She partnered up with another girl in class, the other girl did not do a darn thing. Makes me so mad, probably because I was that kid who always carried the group worried I would earn a bad grade because the rest of the group sucked. We went through old photos and trinkets in search of tchokies Amelia could use. The diversion was so fun, looking at old photos in my box from the days when life was filled with travel and wanderlust. 

Thursday I photographed Sy and Liam Caruthers, newly born into our ward. Little Eleanor (literally small) and Caffrey were amazing siblings to their new brothers. I am glad to hear that Tessa's parents moved into a home nearby. The twins were very sweet, though not keen about naked photos together. LOL. I had enough time to clean up my mess before meeting my new doctor, Mary Kerr. It's been tough navigating one of my prescriptions without a doctor. Dr Kerr is very nice and was quite receptive. I busted out my sewing machine in order to hem MCO concert clothes for 7 kids. Evelyn was in a mood so I was not able to finish my work, it's still in a pile waiting for another spare moment.  

Ambree and Phillip got their inflatable dino costumes this week. They are nerdy level excited for Halloween! Phillip wanted to wear his costume several times this week but I won't let him because last year he split the seams of his inflatable before Halloween. Everett finally decided on an inflatable costume that looks like a ninja is on his back. Evelyn and Josie helped me make hair clips for their costumes, which ended up looking chintzy instead of cute. We are all ready for Halloween. Phillip and Everett joined the Young Men for a trip to Haunted World. Brother Finch allowed Everett to tag along. Phillip did not have a good time, I struggle to find the value in gore, jump scaring, and creepy stuff like Haunted Houses. Phillip has not slept well since, Everett? He loved it. Evelyn wanted to join the Ostlers for a "family friendly" haunted forest. NO WAY! She can't even handle a fire drill at school, no way will I let her go until she can drive herself. She was crying because she wanted to go, instead we went to Walmart to get a birthday gift for Logan. Evelyn spent her birthday money on a doll and safari AG doll set. Josie spent her allowance on a laptop toy with earbuds. She set up her laptop just like I do when she watched some PBS kids in the office. Made me laugh. 

I finally got the tabletop whitewashed and started on the polyurethane application. Saturday the girls went to a fun craft/antique store to buy paint for the bottom, I decided to stay with the Tuscan red/orange color. I also got a brown wax in case the paint is too bright. We oohed and ahhed over the cute gnomes, Christmas decor, and funny signs. Amelia made slime with the little girls and Finlee who was over while her parents were at the hospital. 

I am feeling very overwhelmed with a full piano studio AND fall photo sessions racking up. It seems I am grasping for minutes here and there editing between piano lessons...then being present for the kids once they get home. I spent 10 hours editing between Friday and Saturday, and I am still behind.