I've wanted shelving/storage for towels in our bathrooms ever since we moved in (9 years ago). I finally decided to do something about it. I bought boards (my dad cut them for me), ordered brackets, and bought materials to make frugal baskets. It all turned out great!
It worked out very nicely that Greg got some extra time between chemo rounds (his dr had him wait two extra weeks more before starting the next round, to give his body more time to heal), because he was feeling good for our fall day of fun at the pumpkin patches. The place we went last year was amazing, but due to Covid, they're not able to do all the fun activities. The kids weren't passionate about finding a corn maze this year, so we ended up staying close to home and going to two different local farms. It was an absolutely beautiful day to be outside. We were so thankful!
Bushue's is where the kids all came for their kindergarten pumpkin patch field trips. The apple cider and pumpkin donuts are amazing! We bought dirt baby kits for old time's sake, and they put them together when we came home in between farm trips. We actually had to change into short sleeves for our second farm outing since it was so warm. Kate's family was out of town for the weekend, so she spent the day with us. It was fun to have her on our outing.
We enjoyed the farm animals at Dolan Creek Farm, and it was great to just be outside, enjoying the beautiful fall weather and the treats, of course.
School was delayed one week due to the transition to being completely online and then delayed yet another week due to wildfires in our area. The kids would never say they are ready to start school, but I was very ready for a routine again, even if it was strange and different. And it was weird that first day especially, with the kids logging on at different times to meet with their classes.
We made sure to have first-day-of-school cookies, like we do every year after school. Joel was the last to finish for the day, and Kari and Grant crawled into his room (to avoid being on his camera) to find out when he was going to be done.
We all adjusted to the new way of doing school after the first couple weeks. We increased our internet since all 6 of us were using our wifi at any given time of the day. The kids come down during breaks to get a snack or say hi, and we never have to pack lunches--a huge plus in my book! And you can't jump on a trampoline during class when we're at school. Kari created a rainbow of crushed Orbeez using a medicine dropper during class one day. Aubrey often has cats keeping her company while she's doing school. Lunch time is extra long, which allows for lunch time walks/runs. Online school isn't all bad, but it's not great. It's not what's best for kids. We look forward to the day they can all go back!
