If I could assign some "O" words to October this year, they may be:
Orthopedic, Overwhelming, and Ouch!
Luke stubbed his toe and fractured it, which would not have been a big deal except that it was the beginning of soccer season, and he had to sit out for several practices and games. He also had to navigate middle school P.E. with an MD note for the month. The Urgent Care clinic gave Luke this walking boot and I thought, "No way does he need that for a broken toe", but we were the proud recipients of one anyway!
The very same week that Luke's toe healed, he broke his pinky finger when a football hit it the wrong way during a game of catch. This fracture was on the growth plate, and ended up being trickier/more time consuming to heal than some. He was casted up to his elbow (for a pinky finger!), and we were back and forth to the orthopedist's office several times over a 6 week period for follow-up x-rays and monitoring.
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| He looks too happy to have broken another appendage! |
At the same time, I dealt with an injury which was sudden in onset and resulted in severe pain and the loss of range of motion and use of my left shoulder. I had x-rays, an MRI, numerous doctors' appointments, surgery consults, and PT sessions. It was very difficult to manage life with a new puppy, our household, my volunteer responsibilities, and to take care of our family with this injury. However, things are much better now (it's December), and looking back, I have room for some additional October "O" words such as:
Hats off for it being over, and for outlasting this odd month, and even for the allowing us to have occasions for optimism, including the following:
We had our most exciting season ever as Wake Forest football fans. The Demon Deacons were amazing this year and won lots of games!
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| We had "fancy seats" for one of the games, which included free ice cream/snacks. These kids may never want go back to Deacon Hill again! |
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| Go Deacs! |
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| Festival on the Quad at WFU Homecoming. |
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| My favorite Junior Deacons. |
Leah had a successful fall soccer season with many October games. One of the dads of the Pink Prairie Dogs takes great pictures, and because of him, we have lots of fantastic action photos of Leah:
One afternoon after Leah's game, we walked across the park to explore our town's Heritage Day festival. Leah jumped right on this tractor and cracked me up with her serious expression (that's a lollipop in her mouth):
One of the high points of Luke's October was participating in and winning our church's Chili Cook-Off competition. He entered his chili under the Spiciest Category, and made a poster to warn the judges about its heat index:
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| Friends/Chili Cook Off Competitors! |
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| The winners of the Spiciest, Most Like Mama's, and Most Original categories! |
This is a special October weekend at our church each fall for another reason, too. We celebrated Reformation Sunday with our annual 24 hour Bible reading. Luke and Leah are pros now at participating in this tradition, but it still makes my heart explode each year to hear my babies read God's word aloud:
Leah had a lead role in "Stone Soup", the 3rd grade music performance in October, too. We loved watching our Peanut shine on stage, and this was an adorable program:
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| Singing her heart out! |
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| All of her lines were loud and clear, and she did an amazing job! |
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| ORES 3rd grade music performance. |
Right before Toe/Finger/Shoulder Gate 2019, I chaperoned Luke's first middle school field trip. This was an overnight outdoor adventure in 90+ degree heat (...we slept in cabins with no A/C!) and one of the first chances for me to meet Luke's teachers and spend time with his middle school peers. I lucked out by having a GREAT group of boys and am so glad that I was able to go on this field trip and observe/learn about the very unique species of 6th graders 😉.
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| Soil Studies during Outdoor Explorations. |
Bean and Poppy came to visit, and we had a fun weekend of soccer games, carving jack o' lanterns, and playing games with them:
Halloween also proved to be unique this October. The forecast looked abysmal, so our plans with friends were cancelled, but L&L insisted on trick or treating on Halloween night. Despite the thunderstorm (and tornado warning!) that occurred, these kids managed to go to every house in our neighborhood (and were the only people crazy enough to be out in the wild weather)!
Meanwhile, Millie-Doodle grew and grew. There were so many October "first" moments for her.
She watched TV for the first time. No, really! I didn't believe it myself at first either!
She learned our routines, and the times of day when her people come and go:
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| Looking out the window, waiting for Daddy to come home. |
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| Lying in her "spot" for me to tell her that Sissy is getting off the bus! |
She took lots of car rides, which were sometimes silly,
and sometimes exhausting,
...but they always contained her favorite backseat buddy!
She wore her first "outfits",
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| Donning her autumn scarf. |
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| Daddy's old t-shirts make the coziest attire! |
fetched her first tennis ball,
and sometimes, she was just a mischievous Tootsie Roll.
She curled up in Mama's lap and enjoyed the sunshine in the yard on most afternoons:
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| We're not great at selfies! |
She learned how to ask for and receive belly rubs:
and even offered to help with the laundry!
She indulged me by taking pictures while sitting in her toy basket:
and she told us when she was d-o-n-e with these crazy walks we encouraged her to take!
She also attended many of her siblings soccer games,
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| She wore herself out entertaining all the siblings on the sidelines! |
but her favorite game of all was stealing socks to chew on!
She tried to hide/blend into her surroundings when she didn't want to be found,
worked on leash training,
and was snuggled/smothered with love every single day:
If there's one "o" word that's certain about this wacky October, it's that we didn't miss any opportunities to take photos of Miss Millie!
