Halloween 2025, a shift in parenting era

 I've always required all 3 kids to trick or treat at home. They are allowed to invite friends, but must stay in our neighborhood. This has worked well to avoid running all over and feeling some level of safety for the kids on Halloween. 

This year, as Ellie approaches 18, after a long discussion and back and forth, we agreed to let her go to friends in another part of the county to enjoy time with her friends and trick or treating. It was a little hard on me. 

All 3 kids also went out at different times and so I didn't get the traditional picture of the 3 of them together dressed up. It makes me sad. I hope that when they are older they remember time with their siblings on halloween. I believe that relationship is one of the most important in a lifetime. 

Ellie and her boyfriend were skeleton cowboy/cowgirl. Ellie demonstrates her artist skills with beautifully applied makeup for the occasion. She also puts together great outfits with minimum bought pieces. 

Max was a Banana again. He didn't really care much about the outfit, just going out with his friend to collect candy. I was happy not to buy another outfit, so I didn't push for something new. 

Clair came up with a creative idea and how to execute it. She was "The Candy Monster."  This was a variation on the Cookie Monster, inspired by her brother's consistent candy theft over the years from her stash. I helped a little with the build, but It was largely her. I simply sewed the pillowcase inside upon her request. As she trick or treated, she collected candy in the mouth of the monster- eliminating the need for a bag or bucket. I thought that was pretty genius. 

Here are some picture from the festivities, including pumpkin carvings and customs. They are in reverse order, starting with the aftermath of candy counting - 176 pieces for Clair. 

Ellie the artist

 This week Ellie and her boyfriend painted pictures of each other one afternoon. I'm so impressed with her painting of him. She has captured so many of his features in this small picture. 

She also has found a nice boy who enjoys doing these fun things with her. I'm happy for her.

She has so much artistic talent in her. She's an artist and linguistic at heart. I look forward to her finding her path and how to use these skills as she grows. 

She also got a 100% on a big paper for her English class and the teacher asked her if she could use her work as an example for others. Good job Ellie!

Max is my social butterfly

 Max has always been the kid that loves hanging out with friends. Recently he's been making sure his social calendar is extra packed. 

He enjoyed a group outing for homecoming with friends this year. He decided he wanted to wear his black suit with a bowtie. They met at a friends house to get dressed. Did pictures at the park. They went out for a big group dinner. They went to the dance (for which I'm proud of them since apparently no one goes anymore which I think it's dumb.) He even got to enjoy a bit of a an after party. 

He has a nice group of friends and is enjoying his high school journey. 

He's also been working on his grades. He has continued work to do to meet his full potential, but I do see him growing and maturing. 

Here are a few pictures from Homecoming. Isn't he handsome. I love the picture of him a year ago and then this year. It's not always easy to see the daily growth, but boy a year has seen a lot of growth.

12 u fall Softball

 I'm coaching again this season and enjoying almost every minute of it. I have a group of girls that I've coached for many years. There's always some new girls and there are some who have moved on, but there's a big group that's stuck together. I've had the pleasure of helping them grow in the game I love for a long time. 

Clair decided she wanted to put in the work to take pitching serious this season. She's been one of three pitchers this fall and has pitched some in every game. She is hitting somewhere around 40-55% strikes which is a huge improvement. She's doing pitching lessons 1-2 times a week and practicing at practices as well. It's fun watching her determination and I support her struggle and efforts to surmount the challenges. Pitching is hard. It takes a lot of extra practice. 

Granddaddy has been coming to all her home games to support her at the park. I love that he enjoys watching her play. 

Rocking my babies

Yesterday Clair had a sleepover with some friends - Lila and Jocelyn. She had so much fun. I love when she finds kids she's able to be her authentic self with. When I picked her up she was tired, very tired. 

When we went upstairs to get ready for softball practice,  I sat down in the brown rocking chair in her room and she crawled into my lap. She settled herself sideways and curled up fully on my lap. She then fell straight to sleep within a few minutes. She was out. 

I knew we needed to go to practice and I needed to waker her up. But I also realized this would probably be the last time I rocked any of my babies to sleep. So I sat there, admiring her beautiful face and closed eyes. She was so peaceful. She was breathing slow. She was so comfortable and happy. 

This picture is not of her sleeping in my arms. I couldn't reach my camera and didn't want to disturb her. But this was one day after a long tough softball game. She fell asleep on the couch. 

It wasn't that long ago that I was rocking a crying baby on a daily basis. Time flies. Kids grow up. Habits and patterns and routines all change. 

I am so thankful I get to be Mom to my three kids. It's my favorite role and the best part of this journey called life. 

Orchard Adventures

 

This fall I woke up one day and decided we needed to go apple picking. We used to do it together each fall but haven't gotten to do it for a while. This year was the year. We tried a new orchard and came home with $60 worth of apples that took up two large bags. The apples have been very nice. 

I always enjoy seeing David in an orchard. He's focused on finding good fruit. He used to particularly love apple orchards, but it seems his love affair with apples might be waining a bit. 

I told the girls that I remember why we stopped going. There are so many gnats in an orchard from all the spoiled fruit. It was pretty gross.

Once we got done in the orchard we also tasted their adult cider. It was quite nice. I would go back for more. While we were there we saw the barn cat and the girls enjoyed petty it. 

Max did not join us on this adventure. He was spending the afternoon with some friends. We missed him. 

A family walk

We also managed to visit Cunningham falls one Saturday as a family. It's been years since we did the walk. The kids finally convinced me that they were old enough to go down on the rocks. It still stressed me out, but they all made it without breaking anything. 

There was some resistance to the idea, but I think everyone enjoyed it. It's a short walk. We never go when there's a lot of water. Each time David suggests that should be a priority, but I think that would mean early spring and it's cold at that time of year. 

I always get nice photos there. I love the one of me and my girls.