My random, crazy, busy life....

So I have realized in looking back at my blog posts, that it has been almost two weeks since I've posted anything not related to a review. I apologize. So here's what's been going on around here lately complete with photos.

We took a tour of our "local" fire station (the town I live in doesn't actually have a fire department of any kind - a couple towns over has one - volunteer only). Their junior axillary showed us the ins and outs of the various engines. It was a late night but a fun night too.

I looked outside the other day to see this.....

I never asked him to do this. This was totally self-motivated. He is barely making a dent in the amount on the ground, but he loves doing it & loves to work. I'm very blessed by this child.

Speaking of N8 - he played recreational soccer this fall. He loved it. It was tough. This league is a step up from last year. Last year it was all about learning skills and having fun. This year is all about learning skills and playing hard! His coach is great though & they ended the season with a winning record.

Fall is really here. Here's some evidence:

And since hunting season has started (birds when we went for our walk but now deer) - we now go out with our orange on during walks/bike rides:

We spent a very fun morning at a "local" (i.e. 1+ drive) corn maze. We've never been and I've been wanting to go. We went with my sister & I had the little ones along as well. We spent about two hours there and had the place all to ourselves. Bonus!

We had another science class. This time we talked about mollusks. The boys even made their own sea shell collection. We only have one more left & I'm not sure we'll make it since hubby will have my truck that day. It's hard to fit six people in a subcompact car.

I spent last Saturday (the 24th) at my baby sister's wedding. It was, um, an interesting event. I'm glad she's happy.

my niece, my sister, her new hubby, and his best friend

The Sunday after the wedding I spent the afternoon at a baby shower. It had been an interesting few days. On the 22nd I found out that my 95-year-old Grandfather had passed away. So in the course of only four days I attended a wedding, a baby shower, and a funeral.

Although my Grandfather was 95 it was still rather sudden. He had been doing well but had a fall in the shower & broke his hip & ended up with pneumonia. He passed away only a few days after falling. He was such a happy man & going to his funeral this past Wednesday showed how many, many lives he touched with his joy. My own included. As my cousin shared, I have no memory at all of my Grandfather being anger. Annoyed maybe or slightly peeved, but never ever angry. Imagine that.

My oldest brother & his family flew out from California for the funeral. They arrived last Tuesday & had a whirlwind visit while here. They spent some time at my older sister's house, my dad's house, and even managed to stop in here for a brief visit yesterday afternoon. Friday night we had an early Thanksgiving dinner since they were all here. It was good to have all the family together but also sad since it was one of our first big gatherings without my mom. Just hard.

Since we don't "do" Halloween around here (for various reasons), Saturday night was a great night at home and by that point we all needed it. It's been a lot of long days lately for my kids. Wednesday we went to Massachusetts for the funeral (down & back in one day). We left around 6am (well - really almost 7am but they were all up & moving by then) and didn't arrive home until almost 9pm. Then Thursday night was our AWANA Fall Fest and another late night (home by almost 9:15ish). Friday night was the dinner at my sister's (home by 9pm again). My kids don't do late nights well. Of course, then we added in the time change and I think we are all back to normal on our sleep today.

So that's it - in a long nutshell - busy probably doesn't even cover it does it?