Pumpkin Picking in Vermont!

October was great and went by way too fast. I thought I would be able to travel as much as I did last year driving all over New England to see the fall foliage as well as in upstate New York but because of all the rain we got for the past seven weeks it was impossible for me to venture out and capture all the halloween decorated stoops that the city has to offer. The upper east side had a ton of decorations and I only got to capture these ones. They were lovely but I wish I had more time to go and see more. However, I was excited that we were able to go to Vermont to do some pumpkin picking at Armstrong farm. All the pumpkins here including the huge ones are way cheaper than the ones in Jersey. You can buy a ton for under 20 bucks! And the jam and the syrup are top notch! Although it drizzled a bit while we there we still had fun picking and Noah felt like a little kid again dragging around the radio flyer wagon. 

O C T O B E R !

As much as I miss September and that it flew by so fast "I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers." October is so cozy and colorful with all the different colored hues of autumn. I love all things fall-ish and going from farm to farm, garden to garden, and orchard to orchard has been the funnest thing ever with this kid. We have a whole month to do this and exactly five weeks until his 13th birthday. He's a November baby and before you know it October will be done and November will be here! We will surely be enjoying these October moments in hopes that it goes by slow because the season of Fall sure is short and man do I want to appreciate it and savor it!

Happy Friday & Hello October!

Felt the fall vibes way before October arrived a couple of days ago when I awoke to a morning that was misty and cold with temps in the50's. I love those overcast days. The temps get as high as 70 and even that feels nice. Lexie and I went exploring and found ourselves a quaint little farm called Delicious Orchards where their apple cider slushes are sooooo good. Add some ice cream to it and it tastes amazing. Oh, and some apple cider donuts in the mix and you have a perfect concoction of an autumn treat. So looking forward to more days like this and really hoping that these autumn days go by super slow. So let's bring on the gourds, mums, pumpkins, and all the apple cider slushes and donuts we can eat! 

The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze

For family night this past Monday we had tickets to go to the Great Jack O' Lantern Blaze and it did not disappoint! This was our first time going and to be honest don't know why I never bothered taking all the kids when they were younger and living at home. Well, once Sierra and Lexie are home for a visit we will definitely take them there. There are over 7,000 carved pumpkins displayed. From The Statue of Liberty, to the headless horseman. A unicorn, carousel, dragon, dinosaurs, sunflowers, and a graveyard to name a few. There are sooooo many pumpkins that are tastefully displayed in this blaze and it is definitely worth the price. It was a perfect beginning to start the witchy season. I love how New York does Halloween! You can see a little snippet of it on my tiktok here. More photos below...

The Carving Of The Pumpkins.

As each new week begins one of the things that I look forward to is our family home evening. The older the kids gets, and the older I get I feel that it is even more crucial to keep up family home evening. Granted Jon and I didn't have our own family home evenings as a couple when we were newlyweds, nor for the first five years of our marriage! It wasn't until I got sealed in the temple with Jon and our girls is when we seriously committed to have FHE every week no matter what. No matter how older the girls got, and no matter how big our family gets we will have always continued to have FHE. There have been days in the past when we'd have it on Sunday rather than monday only because Jon worked Monday nights, but hey...at least we still prepared for it! 

This past week has been so crazy! Heck the whole month of October has been crazy. Crazy in a sense of juggling life as a mother, wife, friend, neighbor, daughter, daughter-in-law, and sister in the church can make someone nuts!! Nonetheless amidst all the many hats I wear I've managed to contain my composure in not worrying about the little things, and to strive to have faith in not worrying too much about the big things!! Luckily we have three kids still left at home who reassure me that life is good, that each day is new, and that every Monday brings a new week to do better regardless of any circumstance. It's the week of Halloween for crying out loud, and shouldn't we be having fun instead of sweating the small stuff, in trying to forget the bad stuff for just that one day, and have fun!  

Well...this week we did just that! 

We picked pumpkins this past weekend, and for our FHE this past Monday we finally carved them!! Finally! Better late in October than never right? The last time we carved pumpkins was like three years ago!! We did paint pumpkins last year, but it had been a while since we carved any, and so I'm glad we got to do that this year! 

You'd think the girls would be the ones to not want to get their hands dirty, but instead it was this little guy. Such a goof. I hope that as he gets older he'll want to get his hands dirty! Papa helped him...for now! 

This was also Noah's first time carving a pumpkin, and all he did was carve. Carve, carve, carve. He carved, and drew the face of how he wanted his pumpkin to look like with the help of papa.

As usual Chelsea went to town with her little 'kin gutting and scraping him to the core!

We also made popcorn balls for our trunk or treat we had our church this past week. Another tradition that we have kept up for the past eight years! Noah and Chelsea made them this year, and they had too much fun! 

^^^ Don't worry trunk or treaters...their hands are clean! ^^^ 

This year for the first time instead of throwing away the pumpkin seeds we decided to roast them. We baked them and seasoned them with chili, garlic powder, cumin, seasoning salt, sugar and cinnamon! It was delish! 

Reason why you don't see Lexie in any of these pictures is because she was doing homework. I know...this was our time spent as a family, but at least she helped dad as to what she wanted carved on her pumpkin that best described her. Even though this was our FHE for the week it was more of a "fun night" than an actual "spiritual" night. Our lesson was on building traditions, and continuing to keep them in hopes on passing them on down to our posterity. 

The end result of the carving of the pumpkins...

Ta-da! Can you tell whose is whose? The one with the music notes & tennis ball is Lexie's, and the smallest one is Noah's. And the one with the very sharp teeth...is Chelsea! I think they all did a good job with carving their pumpkins! 

***It's the day before Halloween...have you carved your pumpkins yet?

transitioning into autumn with a boy who's growing up way too fast.

The moisture was still lingering in the air as the day was dawning. The windows had not been rolled down once because of the warm weather we had last week. I woke up to a chill, and I could smell the dew...it's officially autumn.

As I woke up to close the windows I noticed the roads were a little wet. It had rained that night. Transitioning in between seasons may be hard for some of us. I have to admit that the transitioning of summer into fall has been a little hard on me, and I blame it on the first week of October.

Although I didn't mind the warm weather we had this past week with sunny skies, and without any rain left me in a slumber of having to expect warm weather for the rest of the month.

For a moment I was beginning to think that Jersey was going to be like Texas. Summer all year round with cold fronts hitting every now and then, or like North Carolina...a little bit of fall, with hardly any winter. Perfect weather for any one who doesn't like the cold.

Truth is I have been waiting for this day since September.

As I was driving down the road the other day I was getting giddy, and looking forward for some fall foliage. I can see that some of the leaves are hanging on to their branches while others are dying to change in color, and fall to the ground.

The fact that I have a "fall baby" helps me get in the mood for "all things fall" and to prepare for Halloween.

And so yesterday I took my little boy out to a nearby park in the Haddonfield area where we found the millionth walking trail to capture moments of this kid who in exactly one month from today will be turning four. (Sorry for the fragmented sentence folks.)

As I look back at these photos from the year before compared to the ones I'm posting now my heart swells, and he is growing up way too fast. He's taller, and his face is beginning to change.

Besides my birthday watching our son grow with my favorite season is not always something to look forward to, but it's inevitable, and I have to accept the fact that he is no longer "a baby". He'll always be my baby, but not "a baby."

But knowing that these two special occasions happen in the fall helps me transition easier into my favorite season of all. 

"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers."

~anne of green gables

Autumn...the most beautiful season.

Picture by yours truly.

Next to summer, Autumn is by far my favorite season.

I can't believe how quickly Autumn sneaked up on us. With the crisp, cold feeling in the air that only means one thing...actually a lot of things. 

Pumpkins, apple scented candles, mums, and family fun. It's so nice to take the kids out to a pumpkin patch and have them pick out their own pumpkin. Leaves them feeling with a sense of accomplishment. Buying colorful mums to spruce up my little front porch makes me feel as if I'm walking up to a different house (at least for three months). 

I get giddy when I go into my green hope chest and like a Christmas gift open it up to find things that I forgot I once had. Chunky sweaters, and scarves, gloves, earmuffs, and a few of Noah's size four sweaters that he'll be able to wear this year. Like opening up that hope chest, I'm opening up my life to a whole new season, and with it comes renewal.

Renewal to make my favorite season the best. This is my season of hope. Hope that these next three months will be filled with positive outcomes, and family adventures! I look back at the summer moments of 2013, and can't believe they vanished that fast. There are days when I'd like to go back to that time, but am happy that the kids are back in school. Chelsea pulled out her back to school list so fast that I myself got excited when we were out buying them. She was particularly excited in buying the colorful composition books and pencils. What is it with pencils anyway?

Watching movies that are filmed in the fall such as Autumn in New York, You've Got Mail (my absolute favorite), The Four Seasons, Dan in Real Life, and the Lake House brings me satisfaction, and the motivation to live happily. I'm grateful for movies like that. It always gives me hope that there is a happy ending to such a dramatic story! I'm especially thankful that I live in an area where fall foliage is too common, and the colors are gorgeous! The kids look forward to more leaf wars, picnics in the park, apple picking, baking cookies, drinking apple cider, carving pumpkins, and making caramel corn balls. 

Oh...and we can't forget our Halloween moments. These kids sure like to dress up.

The kids are looking forward to Halloween this year, and I'm especially excited because their costumes will be made. Chelsea and Noah will not exactly be twinning, but will be dressed like characters from the same movie, and they are thrilled! 

Fall...it truly is a happy season, and with that comes change. Change in making it the best month, and season ever!

Happy October to you!

Noah in October.

"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers."

~L.M. Montgomery in Anne of Green Gables

Can I just tell you how much I love October. It is the month before your birthday, and the month in which the foliage becomes vibrant. We are so lucky to live in a place where fall exists in the most exquisite form. 

I am so glad that I dragged myself out of bed, and gave up our nap time just so I can take you out to the park.  I didn't mind the wet leaves clinging on to the soles of my keds. I didn't mind you running through the park, and the wetness that was left on your bum because of sitting on a wet bench. 

While you are very photogenic, I couldn't have you sit still for a picture, and that's okay. You are a boy filled with enormous energy, and love how that keeps me fit. You keep me young at heart, and wish this day would last forever. 

No matter rain or shine I enjoy every single waking moment with you. No matter how tired I am I will always try my best to please you, and make your young life the happiest. I am truly cherishing these moments.

Boy...you are too handsome!

Love ya,

Mom