October Fun

October 2020

I'm glad I have this space where I can document pieces of our life. I hope my children will find it fun and comforting to come and read once they're old. I wish my mom would have documented parts of her life ... from her youth and young adult life. I would have loved to have seen things she was interested in back then, homelife and everyday outfits.

Carving a pumpkin can be such hard work but the end result is usually worth it (as long as one doesn't mess it up, lol).

My daughter's cat Lila was curious about the pumpkin smell, so she jumped on the table and began sniffing.

She gave the pumpkin a few licks and she was done with it. 

So, Riley hollowed out the pumpkin and Jacob carved it for him. Dad's are the best!

I like to make Halloween fun and special for my children. One of our favorite treats is a cookie cake. I make sure to buy one every time. 

And another family favorite for Halloween is ordering pizza and wings for dinner.

We had an early dinner so we could go back to a local pumpkin patch and do the corn maze. 

It was nice that it wasn't too busy. We started out quite sure of ourselves thinking that we would know which direction to take but .....

.... we soon realized that we were lost. We let Riley lead, so he thought it was hilarious that we didn't know which way to go.

So, dad had to take over leading. 

I on the other hand like to hang back a bit to take in the moment, look for bugs on the corn stalks, birds in the sky when they do happen to fly by, and as I rounded a corner I looked up and spotted Mt. Rainier. She's a giant!

Still lost by the looks of it. Ha ha!!

Eventually we found our way out. That was a fun time. It was now time to get home to get Riley ready to go trick or treating.

I don't recall what his costume was called but it was an ugly scary one. He was obviously happy with it. 

Oh, the jack o'lantern on the right was the one Jacob carved for Riley. It turned out looking good. Good job dad!

We walked about four blocks. Not many people were giving out candy because of the pandemic, but he got enough to be satisfied.

After we checked his candy and he ate a few we settled down on the couch and watched "It's a great pumpkin, Charlie Brown". A family favorite!

Memories, one of the few things that can never be taken away from us. Make lots of them (and document them).

They chose me from my brothers: "that's the nicest one", they said. And they

carved me out a face and put a candle in my head. And they set me on the doorstep,

and the night was dark and wild; and when they lit the candle then I smiled and smiled and smiled.

Double Pumpkin Patch Fun

{October 2018}

For the past couple of years we've visited two pumpkin patches. One sells the best roasted sweet corn ever made and has two large pumpkin patches, the other has a large fun kids area and a fun corn maze. Theses two pumpkin patches are about fifteen minutes from each other so that makes travel time easy.

It was a cold foggy morning. The road that takes you to the pumpkin patch has pretty acreage properties that we like to admire. Some houses are very cute and cozy. There's one house in particular that has several horses and even has an arena at their property. How cool is that!

There was quite a bit of people at Bob's pumpkin patch by mid morning so after a few pictures we didn't waste any time and walked straight to the roasted corn stand before the line got too long.

Oh man. I'm telling you Bob's roasted corn is SO sweet, tender and juicy. I like to put some cayenne pepper or tapatio on my roasted corn ... super delicious and out of this world. Even my in-laws love them, they didn't come with us but we got half a dozen to take back to them.

Once we were done eating our delicious corn we walked to the pumpkin patch that's down the dirt road. There were so many big pumpkins to choose from! This time I did remember to bring my shears, good thing too because the stem is prickly and that hurts!
I love how fog can give the atmosphere that much more depth and makes a picture that much more interesting .... I believe that dark gray clouds give off a similar effect. I love it!

I try to get in pictures every now and then to have proof that I was there and part of the experience, lol. And I love wearing dresses more than anything else. Jacob's always so photogenic.

We got our pumpkins, paid and drove the fifteen minutes to Swan's Trail. Their property is flat which makes it easier to get around.
By the time we got to this pumpkin patch it was about noon and of course this place was packed but thankfully not chaotic.

They have cute little chicks to hold. Super cute!

And look at this cute calf.

These tall hay slides are pretty popular.

And this half bouncy dome is what every kid looks forward to. It's gotten so popular that it's timed by ten minute sessions (I believe) this way it's not overly crowded making it unsafe.

After Riley had his fun we drove to Redmond and had a late lunch at Garlic Crush (Greek food).
WA has a lot of yellow deciduous trees more so than the red/orange foliage ones. So pretty to see and it definitely pacifies the yearning for the gorgeous Autumn colors.

This boy loves his daddy so much and is always attached to his hip.

Sometimes I wonder if we'll continue to take part in all the wonderful Fall festivities once Riley no longer wants to go to them. But as I ponder on this I know we will. Jacob and I are big on celebrating American traditions and so I believe that we will continue to enjoy these fun American holiday traditions for years to come, God willing.

Happiness comes not from having much to live on,

but from having much to live for.

Roasted Corn and Pumpkin Patches

Autumn is such a wonderful season. The deciduous trees are beautiful to look at, the crispness in the air feels great, all the cool Fall activities there are to celebrate is like no other. I can't stop complimenting this awesome season! Thank You God for creating such lovely things for us.

We've been going to Bob's Corn and Pumpkin Farm for five years now. The hour drive to get there is worth it and my favorite thing about visiting during this time is their sweet roasted corn. They also sell some yummy cider and pumpkin donuts.

We didn't visit Bob's for too long because we wanted to check out another pumpkin patch that has a larger kids fun zone.
This was our second time visiting The Farm @ Swan's Trail. This farm is only about ten minutes away from Bob's. It was crowded but things flowed easily. We didn't get bumped or stepped on, it was nice. We first checked out the pig races ... young pigs are so cute.

This half dome jumping structure was very popular. I kinda wanted to try it, lol. I purposely took several pictures in a row of Riley and when I looked through them I couldn't help but laugh at the many funny faces and poses he was making. This kid is such a character.

Him and Jacob spend a good amount of time throwing baseballs and footballs.

And he also enjoyed the slides. His face!!! LOL!

He's so photogenic, just like his father.

Pumpkin patches are so fun. The smell of hay has got to be one of my favorite scents especially after a good rain. It just makes me feel all cozy inside ... it brings such joy. We've been taking our kids to pumpkin patches for the last 21 years. I don't believe we've ever missed a visit to the patch. I hope we get to experience this fun tradition with our grandchildren one day.

One thing we always forget to bring with us is our shears. Sometimes pumpkin patches will have them but sometimes they wont. You know how annoying and difficult it is to try to rip off the vine? It's painful! The vine has these prickly things on it and they hurt! So I'm going to make it a point to remember to bring my shears for next year. I'm gonna have to put them inside one of my rain boots so I wont forget.

We had such a fun time here. We'll definitely makes this patch part of our tradition as well.


After the patch we drove to Seattle. This view never gets old.

My birthday fell on a Thursday in 2017 so Jacob took me out to my usual birthday spot as part of my birthday present that following Saturday.
I LOVE crab (and shrimp) and my restaurant of choice for my birthday (and anniversary) dinner is The Crab Pot at the waterfront. You have no idea how happy it makes me to eat crab. It is delicious. I like to eat it with salt, tapatio, and lime ... I don't dip my crab in butter, that's not tasty to me. I sure take my time on eating it though. This is about the only meal that Jacob is done eating before me. I love to savor each piece and it takes me about an hour to finish it all. So good!!

Totally grateful for such a fun day spent with Jacob and Riley and extra grateful for a lovely delicious dinner at The Crab Pot.

Offer thanks always for everything.

Scattered October Memories

We visited another pumpkin patch, this one is near our home. We visited last year and Riley had a lot of fun so this year Jacob was able to come along. He still had a cold but was doing much better. He would only cough whenever he would get agitated so we made sure that he took it easy. This water pumping duck game was his favorite.

He went round and round this maze like six times. Jacob got me a caramel apple and although it was good the apple had so much caramel that I feared my fillings would come off, lol!

We didn't let Riley go into the corn pit. I remembered that there was so much dust or whatever it is last year and I didn't want Riley to start coughing because of it. So we spent more time looking at their farm animals and tried to pet them even though there were signs that said not to. I think that's kinda lame. How can a pumpkin patch have farm animals and one not be allowed to pet them.

The following week after Riley's emergency room visit he finally went back to school but I did ask his teacher if she could keep him inside during both recess. I didn't want him running out in the cold. Thankfully his teacher was very nice and was able to find someone to sit in with him on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I volunteer at his school during recess and lunch two days a week so I was able to stay in the classroom with him for those other two days. He showed me all the fun games they get to play on the school tablet. He likes it when I'm there volunteering. All of his class mates call me Riley's mom, lol.

Sophie got into the Halloween spirit as well. I thought she wouldn't want to wear her festive Halloween choker but to my surprise she kept it on. Nathan would feel sorry for her and he would take it off but would put it back on before Sophie came back downstairs. I think it matches her fur colors quite well.

Whenever I go through those challenging days I like to look up at the sky and try to find the beauty around me. This view is from Riley's school playground. I love how all these colors compliment each other. It's a simple neighborhood but there's something about this picture that I find appealing. I love it when I can see some blue sky amongst the clouds.

And back in October I still had not completed my reading challenge for the year. I like to use the Goodreads app. It helps me tremendously to keep track of the books that I've read and the books that I want to read. It's so cool because it also has a scanning option so whenever I come across a book I like I just scan it and it'll show up and if it's something I'm interested in reading I just add the book to my to read list. I don't have to go through my long list of books to read, it's quick and simple to use.

I sure enjoy reading. So thankful there's so many great books out there. I like to read a variety of books. There are times when I'm in the mood to read crime or suspenseful books. I like them a lot. They keep my interests levels balanced. After reading one of those then I find myself going back to either self-help books or inspirational books.

On this particular day I remember I had crawled back into bed and began reading. Sophie always finds her way either next to me or on me. She's silly. Nothing better than having the wonderful gift of time and using it to feed my soul in my cozy bed and my cat by my side. I am sure so very thankful to have been able to enjoy this moment.

I did something I think I should do more often. Nathan had asked me if I could buy him MOD pizza for lunch. Usually I would say no because I have my own routine and plans but this time I said, why not. I asked him for his lunch time and off I went to get him MOD pizza. I got to his school a couple of minutes early and waited for him. When he saw me I noticed he had a huge smile on his face. It was nice seeing him midday. That made me want to do this again. Maybe I'll do this once or twice a month. Jacob will think I'm babying him but it's ok because I rarely do anyway.

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to

what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor

one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal,

but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.

-Romans 12:9-11