Live & Love Life 365 (November)

Day 305: Josh made dinner tonight, then he helped the twins with their school magnet projects, and then he went to Ammon's Parent Teacher Conference all just to free up time for me to get my own projects done that I'm behind on. I love him so much and I'm so grateful for his kindness!

Day 306: Josh, Kerry, and I went to Idaho Falls this afternoon to participate in the "Scratch for Schools" lottery. We won $165 for the elementary school, and we had fun, too!!!

Day 307: I watched old TV episodes of "Top Chef" and a chick flick in bed this evening. I was somewhat depressed after school, and after dinner, I put myself to bed. I'm so grateful for DVR, because the shows kept my mind off more stressful things, and I felt better after several hours.

Day 308: I worked most of the day at home for my golf course job, and it felt good to get things accomplished for it that I've been needing to do for a month! John took me out for a late lunch this afternoon for a break, and we had good conversation! After dinner, I took the boys to Family Fun Night at the Sacajawea Center put on as a fundraiser for the Alt School. The boys had a great time, and I was glad we went. Then tonight, Amanda and John and I went to see the movie "Moneyball" in the theater and sang karaoke after. The movie was inspirational and good, and we sang new songs at karaoke and had a good time together!

Day 309: Josh and Ammon went to Pocatello for the Salmon football playoff game, and I stayed home with the three younger boys. I played Super Mario Brothers on the wii with them for a while, and we had fun doing it! Then tonight, I took down all the Halloween decorations and put out the Thanksgiving decorations. I love decorating my home for holidays! It makes me happy!

Day 310: Because of Daylight Savings ending today, I got to sleep in a whole extra hour! I was so overjoyed!!! Tonight we watched Amazing Race together as a family; I just love watching that show! I made home-made seasoned popcorn for us as we watched, and it was yummy!

Day 311: Today was Josh's birthday, and even though we were unable to celebrate today due to work all day and meetings all night, the boys and I serenaded him while he was still in bed this morning! And then at the dinner table this evening, we all talked about things we love about him. I sure love that man!!!

Day 312: I found a remote that goes to my CD player at school, and it has really helped me be a teacher. It's amazing how a simple remote can make such a difference in my day. I've been wishing I had one ever since I took this job last year, and I found it over this past weekend in a bag stuffed in a drawer with all the manuals. I'm SO thankful I found it!!!

Day 313: I love watching Top Chef, and I'm so grateful a new season is airing on TV again. I watched the new episode tonight, then watched old reruns of music from GLEE episodes. DVR is definitely my friend!

Day 314: We finally started celebrating Josh's birthday tonight. The boys and I wrapped his gifts, gave them to him after he came home from work, and then I took Josh out for a birthday dinner at Bertrams. He had steak and mashed potatoes, and I ordered some pumpkin cheesecake for him, too. I had a bad day at school today, but I loved celebrating his birthday with him and my family tonight!

Day 315: Josh and I went to Idaho Falls this afternoon for an overnight stay that I gifted him for his birthday. We each got hour-long massages simultaneously at the massage school, and it was my first hour-long one ever! They were so relaxing! We ate dinner at Chili's and then we spent the night at the Destinations Inn in the Hawaii room!

Day 316: Josh and I went to the Idaho Falls temple today and did a session. Then we did some shopping and had lunch at Costa Vida. I LOVE eating there!! After we got home this evening, we went out with Amanda and John and karaoke and danced. It was a peaceful day and I had a spectacular night dancing with Josh!

Day 317: We ate the pumpkin cheesecake I made for Josh's birthday dessert after dinner today. It was the last of our week-long celebrations for his birthday. It was so yummy! The kids have been dying all week to have some! On Thursday, Kanyon even included in his dinner prayer to "bless daddy to like his cheesecake"!

Day 318: I had an awesome class today at school--my last class of the day with 2nd graders. They were the most perfect class that I've ever had. They listened when I talked, they obeyed when I gave them directions, they were kind and polite and nobody ever had to be scolded or reminded to do something. It was like a dream for a teacher! It's never happened before and it made me so happy!

Day 319: I was able to use my digital projector and new laptop this morning for the first time at work! I used it for the 5th graders' lesson and I loved it!

Day 320: I worked all evening making soup and pumpkin cheesecake for teacher's birthday treats to take to work tomorrow. I was glad that I was able to be home all night so that I could get everything done that I needed to!

Day 321: I went with Amanda to the midnight premier of "Twilight: Breaking Dawn" tonight at the theater in Salmon. It was my favorite Twilight movie yet! We had such a great time! Before the movie, we went over to John's house, and he fed us Tomato Bell Pepper soup and it was SO delicious!

Day 322: Today was the most pleasant Friday I've had in a long time. It snowed 2 inches during the night, so when the boys woke up, they were SO excited to see snow! They played outside in it all morning, and they got along, too!!! They made a snowman with Josh this evening in the backyard, too!

Day 323: We went to Amanda's tonight and Josh and I got our {much needed} haircuts. We sat around with John and Amanda's brother Billy and his wife. We giggled and chatted and ate, and then we decided to have Amanda wax us. I got my feet done, Xandi got her eyebrows done, and Josh and John got their upper arms done. It was so enjoyable to be together and try something new!

Day 324: Josh was called to be in the new Elder's Quorum Presidency today. He is 1st counselor again. As he got set apart after church, I felt so peaceful and surreal. I enjoyed feeling the spirit.

Day 325: I loved showing Thanksgiving youtube videos to my classes at school today. We had so much fun in music!

Day 326: Today was the end of my 2-day work week, and I am so glad...I need a break from school!

Day 327: We cleaned the house all day getting it ready for Thanksgiving here tomorrow. Josh was a great help and we got so much accomplished! It feels so awesome to be inside a clean house!

Day 328: We hosted our first Thanksgiving ever today! Josh made the turkey and mashed potatoes, I made the stuffing and gravy and pumpkin pie and pumpkin cheesecake. Kathy brought ham, rolls, salad, and drinks, Scott brought cherry and apple pies, Gid brought yams and salad, and Barb brought ice cream, salad, and little weenie wraps. Dinner was SO delicious!!! The turkey was cooked perfectly, the mashed potatoes were made with the red potatoes from our garden, and the gravy turned out so good! It was the most peaceful and relaxing Thanksgiving we've had in many years. After dinner, we all sat around watching home-movies and then played the wii together. It was just an amazing day!

Day 329: We got our Christmas tree this morning. We went with members of Josh's family to cut it down. It's a gorgeous and full tree! Josh picked it out and he did great! This afternoon, we played games with Josh's siblings and we had such a fun time! We played Scruples and Apples to Apples and the Dice #100 game. This evening, we saw the Parade of Lights on Salmon's Main Street, and it was the best one I've seen yet. I just loved today!

Day 330: Josh's siblings left today to go home, and the house seemed so quiet. We had the missionaries over for dinner, and they played Uno with us while we waited for dessert. Then tonight, Amanda and John came over for cheesecake and we played Scruples. Being with Josh, Amanda, and John always feels like home to me. I love my friends!

Day 331: I went for a day trip to Boise today with John and Amanda. We sang the entire car ride down and most of the way home! I love singing and harmonizing with them!

Day 332: Josh was home for Family Home Evening tonight, which is rare because he usually is gone to meetings. I'm so happy when we can all play and be together at FHE!

Day 333: Josh put the lights on the Christmas tree today while I was at school, and I'm so glad! I am the one who usually puts the lights on it, and it was so nice of him to do it for me this year!

Day 334: I do not like Wednesdays at school. The things that made me happy today all happened tonight after I got home from my long day...Josh had made dinner, I played wii with Kanyon, I got some laundry done, and I made some more pumpkin puree.

Do you know the Pumpkin Man?

I am married to a miracle grower. Josh has a green thumb, and is so good at growing plants! He's the reason  why our grass is green and our bushes are perfectly shaped, and why our garden and pumpkin patch are so bounteous. He amazes me with his ability to make things grow...because I am so bad at it!

This is the third year that we've grown a pumpkin patch. This year, we started working in it in May. Josh rototilled the area:

And the boys picked rocks out of the soil:

And then we planted our pumpkin seeds, and the vegetable garden around the perimeter of the pumpkin patch:

This spring, Josh built new sprinkler stands out of recycled mower blades so that as the pumpkin leaves grew, the sprinklers would be taller and be more effective in watering the pumpkin patch more evenly than in years' past.

The watering system worked great! By July, this is what the pumpkin patch looked like:

We worked together weeding it every week, and Josh did all the watering throughout the summer. By August, it looked like this:

Because of the warm weather we had so late into the early fall, by September some of our pumpkins were already turning orange. We began picking the ripe ones off the vines and putting them in storage in sheds. We grew 5 varieties of pumpkins, and I loved how colorful they looked together in the shed!

We opened for business the last 3 weekends in October. We were open Fridays and Saturdays from 11am to 5pm. We were blessed with really beautiful weather every day we were open! The pumpkin patch is a family project that we all work on together, and it's a good way to teach the boys how to work. Ammon mows lawns for people in the summer to earn money for his mission/college savings, so Jonah and Micah currently earn all the profits from the pumpkin patch for their mission/college savings. That's why I decided to call it the "Lil' Munchkins' Patch of Pumpkins" because it's all for our sons. 

We grew about 500 pumpkins in the 1/4 acre patch. The weekend before we opened, we picked all the rest of the pumpkins off the vines and put them in piles in the patch and covered them before the first hard frost. Due to weather conditions, however, we had to throw about 100 away because they became rotten. It was unexpected, and we were saddened that we had to do that; we'd never had so many rotten pumpkins before. Because it stayed so warm so long this fall, we had to keep watering the vegetable garden along the perimeter of the patch, and since the pumpkin's leaves were so giant this year, the soil in a section of the patch was very damp, and the pumpkins sat too long in it, and they began having rot spots which spread through the pumpkin.  

The friday morning of our opening weekend, we took the pumpkins out of the piles and spread them all over the patch. It was such a beautiful site to see all the pumpkins laying in the field!

Each year we are open, I like to add something new to the patch. Last year, we added the haybale maze. Edward (my father-in-law) built a new maze for us again this year! It's fun for the kids to run around in play in!

This year, there were a few additions to the patch. At the check-out area, we sold pumpkin pies that I'd made with pumpkins from the patch, and customers played a guessing game to win candy prizes for correctly guessing the weight of the largest 3 pumpkins we grew.

The largest pumpkin was 111 pounds! That's our biggest pumpkin we've grown yet! This is a photo of the biggest and tiniest pumpkin together!

And here's a photo of the boys hanging around the ginormous pumpkin!

Another new addition to the patch was the cinderella pumpkin carriage backdrop that I created. After stressing over the project for weeks, I was happy with the final product!

And we still had the guessing game where if you can guess the weight of your own pumpkin with 1 pound, you get 50 cents off. People were so excited when they guessed right! And we still had a seating area for families to take photos in. This year, we made it out of straw bales instead of regular benches:

We had really great sales this year. We piled the pumpkins into piles in the field each Saturday night until the following Friday, when we'd spread them all out in the field again.

By the final weekend we were open, we'd sold a majority of the pumpkins and the field starting looking more empty rather than mostly full:

And by the last weekend, sales had slowed down, so the boys and I spent a lot of alone time in the patch. To fill the the time, they played different activities. Jonah and Micah played in the wagons and wheelbarrows that they used to help carry pumpkins to customers' cars. 

Ammon liked to hit some of the rotten ones with a golf club:

And Kanyon liked playing the nintendo by himself at the house when the rest of us were in the patch! Once in a while, he came down to visit and during one slow time when all four boys were around, I coerced them letting me take their picture!

When closing time came on the last day we were open, we only had 20 pumpkins left of the 400 that we could sell. We were so happy with sales this year! It was enjoyable for all of us! All of my favorite pumpkins in the patch got sold. I love funky pumpkins!

We only had one tall pumpkin this, which are Josh's favorite. Here's the Pumpkin grower with the tallest one we grew:

I love butt-crack pumpkins, and this year we had two:

This one was so adorable, it was all flat and bent over, and it looked to me like a kid pouting in time out!

This white one was in the shape of an apple! It was so unique!

We are already looking forward to next year's patch, and we're already talking about new ideas to include! We love doing the pumpkin patch! It's a great family project and it is so much fun!

We Three Sing

I love to sing.

And I love to be with my friends John and Amanda.

About once a month (sometimes more, sometimes less), I get to combine both loves, when my friends and I go sing karaoke together!!! Half the time, Josh comes too (he doesn't sing, but he sure can dance!!!), and when he joins us, the night feels perfectly complete!

The three of us love to harmonize with each other, and there's songs that we've found that match our different voices well as duets, so there's some songs Amanda and I sing, some that John and Amanda sing together, and other songs that John and I sing. There's also certain songs that we can ALL sing together, and we sing them quite often because we've learned 3-part harmonies for them, like: Landslide, Suds in the Bucket, Total Eclipse of the Heart, Rolling in the Deep, and I Think We're Alone Now.

John is the High School music teacher and every year in the fall, he puts together the Salmon Idol competition as a fundraiser for the music department. He needed a special musical number for the Junior Show this year to fill time while the judges were tabulating scores, so he convinced Amanda and I to join him in singing one. I wanted us to sing a song that would be very easy for us to learn because I was already pretty busy and didn't think I could memorize a new song, so I requested that we sing Tiffany's "I Think We're Alone Now". Thankfully, Amanda and John agreed with my suggestion, so we began practicing.

We edited and shortened the song, then we decided who was going to sing which solo parts, then we practiced all our 3-part harmonies individually and collectively. After we had the singing down, we began choreographing dance moves ourselves. This took us several hours and a few practices to get, because we changed our movements multiple times. After the singing and dancing were all decided, then we discussed our costumes. We decided to go with an early 90's theme: John dressed in a turquoise and hot pink track suit, Amanda donned the rainbow-striped sweater, and I wore faded denim and a KISS t-shirt.

In the middle of October, the day finally came for the Salmon Idol performance. Amanda and I got our hair done at the salon she works at, then she did both of our make-up and touched up our hair, and then we got ourselves in costume. We looked ridiculous!!! We couldn't stop laughing--we were so giddy!

I can't remember the last time I had my hair ratted so big, or the last time I wore blue eyeshadow, or had red blush on my cheeks...perhaps not since the 90's?!!!

The Salmon Idol show is now divided between a Jr. Show and a Sr. Show. The Jr. Show is for ages 14 and under, and the Sr. Show is for ages 15 and up. We performed at the half-way point of the Jr. Show, so by 5:30, our performance was done and we could enjoy the remainder of the shows.

I was so proud of the three of us! We all remembered our choreography, and we had such a fun time performing! I've competed in the Idol show for 3 years, but this time I loved everything about being on the stage, because I didn't have to stress about being judged!

Double Baptism

Jonah and Micah's baptism day was the first Saturday in October. As a family, we'd been preparing for and looking forward to the special day for weeks! Jonah and Micah were so excited to finally be baptized! And we were so proud of them for making the choice to be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

The baptism service was so wonderful! Josh's sister Tiffany played the piano, and my sister Trina led the music. My dad gave the talk on Baptism, and Josh's dad gave the talk on the Holy Ghost. And my mom and Josh's mom gave prayers. Amanda and I sang a duet, John played the flute, and Josh played the piano for the song "I am a Child of God". Josh baptized and confirmed both boys.

Jonah was baptized first...

and Micah was confirmed first.

After the baptismal service was over, we hosted a dinner at our home for family and friends. Even though there wasn't a lot of people in attendance, we sure enjoyed the company of our family and friends who did come. It was a special day, not just for Jonah and Micah, but for all of us!

Little Savage Pride

Ammon played football this fall for the 2nd year. He plays in the Little Savage football league, which includes 5th and 6th grade boys. There were two teams again this year, and he was assigned to the orange team. Last year he was on the black team, and there was only one other boy who was on his team this year that was also on his team last year. So this year, he was basically competing against his previous teammates! He liked his team, and he liked his coaches, too. He was just so happy to be able to play football again!!! He loves this sport!

He started out the season as a Receiver and a Defensive End. The season was 7 weeks long. Practices were every day for 1 and a half hours, except for the days that they had games. During their season, they played 8 games: 6 against each other, and 2 against a team from Anaconda, Montana. A few weeks into the season, the coach changed Ammon's positions to Linebacker and Fullback. Ammon  loved playing the Linebacker position because he liked tackling players and sacking the quarterback, and he was great at it, too!!!

His team only won one game this year, but they were great ball players, and it was so fun to sit in the bleachers and watch them play their hearts out! I was so proud of him for all of his great sportsmanship and for the way he handled the ball and tackled the players!  

The only two times that I didn't enjoy watching them play was when we played against the Anaconda teams. They play unfairly, their coach is rude, their players are disrespectful, and they took the fun right out of the game. I was so disgusted; I even got into a heated argument with one of the players and his mothers at one of the games...

During Ammon's football games, the younger boys would run around and play with their friends, Josh would usually help on the sidelines, and I would sit in the stands and cheer for the players and chat with the other moms. They were happy nights for all of us!!!

The second to the last game against the Salmon black team, our orange team finally won! It was so exciting for all of us! Josh even took our family out afterwards to celebrate the momentous occasion!

The last home game of the season was played under the lights, with an announcer calling the plays over the loudspeaker, and the scoreboard was all lit up. It was homecoming week, too, and the little savages were all pumped up!!! Unfortunately, that was one very long and cold and rainy night! We all came home frozen!!!

Ammon's last football game of this season was played against the poor-sport Anaconda team. The other team played dirty, but our boys stayed strong and scored two touchdowns. Despite the other teams rude antics and giant sizes and higher score, our boys came out the true winners of the game with smiles on their faces!

Congratulations Ammon on an awesome season! We are so proud of you and your team! We look forward to next year's team when all the 7th graders will be playing together instead of against each other!

Live & Love Life 365 (October)

Day 274: Today was the twins' baptism. It was so peaceful and wonderful and nice! The program was perfect, the food was yummy, and the company was pleasant! I was so happy with how it turned out! Tonight I saw "The Help" in the theater with Amanda and John, we ate cheesecake afterwards, and Josh joined us for dancing and karaoke! I truly enjoyed the whole day!

Day 275: I enjoyed listening to General Conference today. I felt inspired and some of the talks really touched my spirit. I'm grateful for the opportunity to see and hear the General Authorities speak! This afternoon, I finished canning freezer corn. I now have 30 quarts of it made from 150 ears of corn. And that wasn't even half our crop! I love the harvest season, and it feels especially bounteous this year, for which I am so thankful!

Day 276: I had a great work day at school. I got to walk with Amanda tonight around the track while the boys played together outside. And FHE was pleasant tonight.

Day 277: The last song on Glee tonight was just brilliant! I DVR'd the show and watched it after the boys went to bed, and I rewound it and watched the ending song 5 times--I loved it that much!

Day 278: I usually do not like Wednesdays at school; they are my hardest day. But I managed to stay composed the whole day and I was very proud of myself! After school, I did errands for an hour until Jonah and Micah were done with their first scout meeting. They were so excited to go! I was so happy that they were so happily anticipating it! Tonight was Ammon's last football game against the black team. They played at a later time, under the stadium lights and the scoreboard was lit up and an announcer called the plays over the PA. It was raining the whole time, and we were all wet and freezing, but Ammon had a great game and I was so proud of him for all his tackles and ball carries. After the boys went to bed tonight, I watched "Steel Magnolias" and cried, and it felt good to let out the tears. And when Josh came home late tonight after being gone for 3 days, I was so glad!

Day 279: Today began a 4-day weekend, and I was glad to not have to school. I have so much I have to accomplish this weekend, and I had a large agenda for today. But three things that weren't on my list of things to do, that I did, actually made the happiest: I ate a hamburger lunch at the high school, I put out my halloween decorations this afternoon, and I watched TV with John tonight.

Day 280: We went to the Homecoming parade today and watched Ammon go by with the Little Savage football team. It was a great parade! The kids got a lot of candy, it was short, and we had fun! This afternoon, the boys helped me pick all the rest of the apples and all the pears off the trees in our yard, and I made 4 batches of spiced apple/pear freezer jam. I can't wait to eat it! Tonight, we went to the Homecoming football game, and it was packed! The game was awesome, the half-time show was great, and we had a good time sitting behind the Tarkalsons and Kauffmans. Oh, and of course our HS team won again!

Day 281: Ammon's last football game was today against Anaconda in Salmon. Although his team lost, they played their hearts out and scored two touchdowns and I was so proud of him and their team! We had a weanie roast over a bonfire today with Josh's family and Malachi's friends and it was a fun lunch! This evening, our neighbor Frank helped me with a project I'm working on for the pumpkin patch. He did some welding and cut a piece of wood with a jigsaw, and I was so grateful! His kindness really made my day!

Day 282: I was grateful to give my Sunday School lesson today about the Sacrament, and it really helped my current perspective about taking on the Savior's name. This evening, Amanda came over with her brother Lance and his wife Amber and we played board games and laughed and laughed! We had a great time!

Day 283: All my classes were good today, and I didn't have to yell once! I was so glad--especially because I just got sick with a sinus infection. Tonight, Amanda and John and I practiced our special musical number for Salmon Idol, and we got a lot accomplished in an hour!

Day 284: When I got home from school, I noticed that Josh had added wheels to my cinderella carriage project I've been working on the last 3 days. I was so glad! Then when I walked through the door, I realized he'd made grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for dinner for us. I was so relieved! I was in the mood for soup because it was a cool day, and I was ecstatic that Josh had made what I felt like!

Day 285: Kanyon and I ate lunch in the elementary cafeteria today. The students around us were so nice, and I liked my lunch date with him!

Day 286: I came home during my prep hour today to clean the kitchen and do the food prep to feed the missionaries this evening. I listened to a Tori Amos CD super loudly as I cleaned, and I truly enjoyed being alone for an hour and I got the kitchen all clean while singing and jamming out with Tori!

Day 287: We opened the pumpkin patch for the first time this season today. We had several customers, and business was steady for most of the day. The weather was so beautiful, and it was so peaceful for me to sit in the patch and converse with people and watch families having fun!

Day 288: We were so busy at the patch today, and I enjoyed being around the customers and seeing all the fun they were having! The weather was good, and I was so happy today!

Day 289: I tried to teach by the spirit today during my Sunday School lesson on sacrifice. I'm thankful for how this church calling expands my learning and spiritual growth. This afternoon, we had a marathon of watching "Amazing Race" and I enjoyed just sitting around with my family in the warmth of my home while it rained outside.

Day 290: We had a nice Family Home Evening tonight! Josh wasn't gone to a school board meeting, and he was home for it too, which is rare! We talked about reading the book of mormon, and we watched the end of our "Amazing Race" marathon to catch up, and we played games and ate ice cream!

Day 291: I performed in the Salmon Idol Jr. Show tonight. John, Amanda, and I were a trio singing "I Think We're Alone Now". We all dressed in 80's apparel, and Amanda and I had big hair and bold makeup! We choreographed it and I loved singing and dancing and performing with them on stage!! I was on a natural high all night!

Day 292: It was a long day, and Wednesdays have become my least favorite day of the week. I had a meeting after school, and when I got home, I noticed that Josh had made dinner and had left a plate for me, too. I was so grateful!

Day 293: Twice a week I play piano for the show choir during their class time as part of my teaching schedule, and today in show choir, they played group games for an hour. I played with them and had such a ball!!!

Day 294: I was alone in the pumpkin patch all day today with Jonah and Micah, and although the weather was blustery, we had several customers who came and had a great time in the patch and they lifted my spirits!

Day 295: The sunshine today was awesome and dispelled the cold, cloudy, rainy morning. And I was so glad! Because of it, we had a LOT of customers today at the pumpkin patch! We sold out of white pumpkins, mini pumpkins, pumpkin pie, and apple cider! We all had a great day in the patch!

Day 296: The Forsgrens came up from Stanley today to Stake Conference, and the boys played with them for a couple of hours in the beautiful weather outside. They were all so happy! I enjoyed the sunlight, and took our family photo for the year in its rays this afternoon.

Day 297: Our dessert for Family Home Evening was oreos and milk. It was simply delicious!

Day 298: Josh made a yummy dinner of grilled pork chops and mashed red potatoes! And cousin Mikey made a surprise visit right before dinner was done, so he joined us at the table! And then he played with the boys for an hour after and it was so wonderful!

Day 299: I played the wii with the boys after dinner tonight--it was fun! Amanda came over tonight and we looked at photos and videos and reminisced.

Day 300: Tonight was the ward party, and we had a great time! We all dressed up, and played games, and the boys were so happy to go trick-door-treating! It's been a while since we had a ward party and we all came home happy!

Day 301: The weather was beautiful for the pumpkin patch today, and we had several customers come out. We are down to slim pickings now, which has never occurred during previous years, and we are happy with the amount of pumpkins we've sold.

Day 302: It was another beautiful day, and it was so peaceful for me to sit in the pumpkin patch and observe the fall colors and be among the calming surroundings. I was so grateful that today was our last day the pumpkin patch was open! It's been a lot of work, and I'm ready for my weekends to be freed up again!

Day 303: We carved Halloween pumpkins today, and they looked great!

Day 304: I dressed up today as a "witch dressed up as a music teacher" for Halloween. When my first students of the day came in, one of the boys looked at me and said "that looks just like you--it's very fitting for you". I laughed so hard! I helped the twins with their class Halloween party this afternoon, then I picked the boys up from school and took them trick or treating on main street, and we all went to the carnival. I ended up volunteering to work at the carnival for an hour and a half, and I had a great time. It was a crazy busy day, but I had a fun time all day long!!!