Fall walk, life lately, and a Halloween witch

Happy Friday! October is almost over...only one more day to go. This month has flown by on most days although there have been some very slow crawling days as well. The kids have been going to school 5 days a week for the last 2 weeks and that is going okay. Means a lot more driving and running around but it is good. There has been 2 cases of COVID at the middle school in the last 2 weeks-- a staff member and a student, but we were never contacted so it doesn't look like Rebecca had close exposure. It is crazy but it is what it is. 

What else has been going on? Well, I have only gotten a couple walks in since I last posted. We went to Blackhand Gorge on Saturday to walk. This was before the week full of rain. Rebecca wanted to show Bill and the boys the path. It was just as pretty with all the fall colors. Ben was thrilled too when we saw a train come through over the path. After we stopped off at my parents' house and the kids had fun building leaf forts with their cousins followed by a pizza party for dinner. 

Other than that I have been tutoring and puttering around at home. Tutoring has been going well. I have 2 kiddos that are doing the digital academy that our school district is offering and it is a clusterf***. I am so glad that I didn't choose that option for my kiddos. Think sitting in front of a computer, having the computer read to you in monotone for 8+ hours for 4th grade and 5th grade work. It is insane. I am trying to figure out a way to get them caught up (they are behind) and to help them have a better school experience but not sure if I will be able to. 

I have been stocking up on some things for winter. I lucked out at a small, local thrift store when I found Benjamin a new winter coat, snow pants, and boots for both boys for under $10. Speaking of the boys, I have had to buy them both new socks and shoes. The socks are MENS socks! And Jacob needed new tennis shoes and he is now in a 7.5 in MENS. My sons are growing up!

 

Speaking of the boys, they have their Halloween parade at school today. I will not be able to be there as I have to pick Rebecca up from school at the same time. I will see them in their costumes tomorrow though as they will go trick-or-treating. Rebecca has decided she is too old to go and doesn't want to dress up. Makes me sad as my kids are growing up. 

Speaking of Halloween, I know some people decorate a lot. I know Linda, over at moreparsimony , has been decorating. I have a witch on my back door and that is about it. I really like the witch though, it makes me smile! 

Not sure what fun we will get into this weekend. I know there is trick-or-treat tomorrow but not sure what else we will do. 

Do you have any plans for Halloween or this weekend?  

Sloth Pumpkins and Fall Photos

Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope everyone is having a good day. The plan for today is to go vote and then head to the grocery store as we are out of milk and bread. I also want to stock up on some frozen chicken nuggets and stuff like that since our COVID numbers are getting bad again in our area. So today I am going to share some fall photos from this weekend-- including my sloth pumpkin, the kids' pumpkins, and some fall photos that I took from my walks! 

Enjoy and hope everyone has a good Tuesday! 

Well I need to get my day going! Hope everyone has a great Tuesday! 

Honey Haven Farm, Gorman Nature Center, and 500 Flags

Happy Monday everyone! It is a rainy, dreary day here. It is also the first day back to school 5 days a week for my kiddos! They were super excited to go back to see their friends. Their district did the first 9 weeks on a hybrid schedule, and now they are going green meaning 5 days in school. Rebecca said that the school was "loud" today with everyone there. 

This was after a busy weekend. Saturday, Bill and I took the kids to Honey Haven Farm in Ashland, Ohio so that Jacob could do a corn maze. He has been asking to do one and we were going to go for his birthday but since my mom was still in the hospital on his actual birthday we moved it to this past weekend. 

The farm was great. There was a small petting zoo which I think was a favorite with the kids. 

There were food trucks set up. We did end up getting pumpkin and apple donut holes and kettle corn. 

And then we did the corn maze. Benjamin was really good about finding his way through. I got us lost at one point! LOL I am horrible at directions. But we all made it out. Jacob said it was a lot of fun!

 

After we left the farm, we headed to Gorman Nature Center in Mansfield to walk the trails as the day was beautiful. 

Then it was home to watch football and relax. 

We did end up taking a break from football and we went to a flag display that our community was putting on at Ariel-Foundation Park. It was called "Healing Field: Honoring Heroes in Our Lives" and was a display of 500 American Flags. It was pretty neat to see and I was thankful that when I asked the boys who heroes were they said the military and police and not football players or basketball players.

When we came home we watched a couple of episodes of the new Netflix show "Sing On!" The boys, especially Jacob, love singing shows.

 

                    Overall, it was a good Saturday!   

Catching Up (Part 2): Storybook Trail, Pumpkins, Donkeys and Recap of Jacob's birthday

Happy Wednesday! As I posted yesterday, last week was a long week with mom being in the hospital. We are all very thankful that her surgery was considered a success, however it wasn't all rainbows. She had a bad reaction to her epidural pain meds and she was out of it for the first few days. Thankfully once they took the epidural out she seemed to be better. 

Because she was in the hospital I had to pick my niece and nephew up from school and watch them until my dad got back to town each night. That made for some long days. I tried to keep them busy and that culminated in a very busy weekend. 

On Saturday we went to a local park and read their new book on their storybook trail. We had a picnic near the pond and then walked a little taking in the fall scenery. 

After getting back home, I saw an ad on Facebook from a local lady who was selling pumpkins and had donkeys that you could pet when you came to get pumpkins. I decided the kids would like that so I told them we were going on an adventure. When we pulled up Bill was mad because she had a huge Trump flag in her yard. I told him I didn't know that when I answered the ad and I was just trying to support someone local. The kids loved seeing the donkeys. 

Then it was back home so the boys could watch football! 

Sunday was Jacob's birthday. After I taught PSR, I met up with my dad who delivered the kids to me. Then it was time to celebrate Jacob's birthday. We went to Ariel-Foundation to throw rocks and NOT walk which was Jacob's idea of fun.

 

After, we came home to carve the kids' pumpkins from the day before. The kids had fun. This was the first year of them doing all the cutting out themselves. 

While we were carving pumpkins, my dad texted me letting me know that my mom was released from the hospital and was home. I told him I would bring the kids home after dinner as I had promised Jacob that we would get his choice of McDonald's.

 

After dropping Lacie and Ethan off and checking in on my mom we headed back home to have chocolate lasagna and presents for Jacob. He requested chocolate lasagna instead of cake. It was super yummy! 

That brings us to this week. This is the kids' last week of hybrid learning. They will go back to school full time starting next week. So we have been doing schooling and just "normal" stuff. I have had 3 tutoring clients cancel this week which is okay. I have been feeling off for the past week and so having somewhat of a less loaded schedule helps. 

I hope everyone is having a good "hump" day. I need to go flip laundry as I was the mean mom yesterday. I took Rebecca's phone from her and told her that she wouldn't get it back until her bedroom was cleaned to my specifications. That cleaning gave me 2 baskets of clothes to wash as well as all her bedding. (and before you say anything she is not allowed to use the washer as the last time she used it she broke it and it was $200 to fix). Well, laundry is calling so until next time...