Life in General and Fall Plans

As I hung the calendar for October up, I have many thoughts running thru my head.  One being... where in the world has this year gone???  Really, I have been so busy, it is just flying by.  Every year, as I have aged, seems to go by faster and faster.  Since the toddlers arrived in February, I have just lost all track of time.  My life is joyful, hard at times and just swallowed up in child care and appointments.  I was filling out my home school attendance record for September and saw I only had one weekday, in the whole month, I did not have to be anywhere last month.  All of the other days, I had at least one or more appointments.  No wonder I have been so tired lately.  October has several empty days.  Here's hoping they stay that way!  

Tim has been home for a month now but Chick-Fil-A is done with their remodel.  He is there helping to put it all back together right now as I write.  Tim goes back to a "normal work schedule" tomorrow morning.  :(  Even though he was not home much in the month he was off, it was nice to have him sleep next to me till morning every day.  He always gets up and is gone by 3:00 a.m.  So having him here every morning has been really nice.  He is a workaholic and was gone to other stores, making a lot of phone calls  and busy doing paper work much of the month.  He did help me, by going to several appointments with me.  Having an extra set of hands and spending some time together was nice.  I don't like him to shave but Chick-fil-A has a strict dress code on facial hair, mustache only.  So for the whole month he did not shave.  We all loved it!  He also looks really good in a short goatee.

We will all miss Tim but it will be very nice to get back into our normal routine again.  When Tim was home, if he slept in, I allowed the kids to do so as well.  I did it so the house would be quiet for Tim.  I, as quietly as I could, got up with the baby and toddlers when they woke up and just let everyone else sleep.  When we do that, it throws the whole entire days schedule off.  It is harder to get in chores, Antonio's care, schooling and meals in a timely manor.  So even though we enjoyed Tim being here a bit more, it will be good to crack down and get our household in order.

The weather has been much cooler lately.  Absolutely gorgeous for being outside.  This means we will be taking several days off from schooling for fall clean up and getting the farm ready for winter.  A deep cleaning in the barn and all the stalls is in order.  We do it every year.  We already trimmed all the goats hooves, dewormed and bred them for spring milk.  We will be stocking up on hay and making sure every animal will be warm and dry for the winter months.  When Tim was home for the month, he did give me three mornings off by watching all the "littles", so the "middles and I could attack the gardens and yard that have been so neglected thru the summer.

Yes, I am totally embarrassed.  These are my raised beds.  I knew better than to plant anything this year because of the challenging needs and behaviors of the toddlers.  I knew they needed me every moment and then baby "K" came along and nothing much has gotten done outside at all.  We did have a few tomato plants a friend gave us.  We got tomatoes from them all summer. 

On the back of the raised beds I usually grow cucumbers or beans.  Carolyn and Zeke are unwinding all the morning glory vines that took over.

We took one full truck bed load down to the compost heap.  It is not totally cleaned up yet but we put a huge dent in it all. I won't even show you the rest of the gardening area!

I am also going to attempt a fall cleaning in the house on rainy days this fall or once the weather turns to cold to be outside.  I feel like doing a huge purging again of all we do not need or use, to try to simplify our lives a bit, in the area of clutter.

Now that the intense summer heat is all but gone, fall festivals and outdoor events abound in this area. We normally don't go anywhere on Sabbath.  We don't buy, sell, or trade if at all possible but their was a free Health Fair at our local Home Depo.  So we packed lunches and ventured out to enjoy the beautiful fall weather enjoying all the displays at the Health Fair.

The fire department was there with their trucks, giving out things and talking about fire safety.  We saw Uncle "B".  He works for the fire department!

So were the first responders and the ambulances.  The gas company with their trucks were there talking about safety.  The wrecker service was there, the forestry department talking about forest fires.  Insurance companies were there and Home Depo had free activities for the children.  There was so much to see and the children were allowed to climb in and on all the equipment.  "B" even sat on a police motorcycle and that made his day!

If you have followed my blog very long, many people know of Carolyn's deep seeded fear of clowns and people in costumes.   All of her life, since she was a baby, she has always shook and cried when a clown came around or a mascot of a company or team.  It has been an ongoing issue she just could not conquer.  Just last month, at Chucky Cheese for "B"'s birthday, Chucky Cheese came out to see the children and she literally dove under a table, nearly knocking everything off of it.

She will try to climb up me or anyone in the family if one comes near, tears just streaming down her face.  When we were at the Childrens Hospital, for baby "K"'s MRI a week ago, the hospital clowns came by.  They interacted with the rest of my children, doing their funny routine.  All of my children loved it but Carolyn.  She stayed glued to my side peeking around my arm.   One very kind woman clown, saw her and blew bubbles toward her from a distance.  I could see she was trying to help her over come this.  Before they left, she walked up to Carolyn, not looking at her and reached her hand toward Carolyn giving her a postcard with her picture on it.   It must have really helped Carolyn because on the day we went to the Health Fair, I told her that there are always these mascots walking around.  She said she was going to do well and give one a "high five." I have heard her say this before many times but to not dowse her enthusiasm, I said "Good I will take a picture and put it on the blog if you do!"  She was scared at first but but slowly walked up to the Chick-Fil-A cow and gave him a high five!  Tim had told her it would be there and who would be inside.  She did great.  Later on we were at the forestry tent looking at the bulldozers they put out fires with and Smokey the Bear came up and Carolyn let it hug her and then smiled big and agreed to have her pictrue take with him.  Her smile says it all.  I have never seen this smile before.  She was so pleased with herself!

At the end of the Health Fair they always do a emergency simulation.  They do it every year.  They have a wrecked car in the parking lot and some actors get in and they do a wreck scenario from start to finish.  They start with the sound of a wreck on the loud speakers over head and then the 911 call and the police and ambulance come and they all simulate what their jobs would be.

They use the jaws of life on the car and bring in the Life Force helicopter

It gives me an oppertunity to talk with the children about what to do in the case of an accident and see that the police, firemen and ambulance workers are not scary and just doing their jobs to help. 

It was a lovely outing and we all had a great time.  I love all the seasons we have here in the North Georgia Mountains.  Fall is very refreshing and welcomed after a hot summer.

Psalm 67:6  Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us.

Blessings,
susan