hello October

October always brings the return of Cinnotti's pumpkin donuts! They are my favorite, even though they aren't Matt's. (Our local donut, Daily Donuts, shop has really spoiled us with two different types of pumpkin donuts, and I didn't even make the drive out the the beach this year to buy Cinnottis. Next year for sure.)

Hayden enjoying his Motortrend Magazine.

Little David is just a wild man. He lost his first tooth, but not only that, he lost his first TWO TEETH at the same time!! I couldn't believe my eyes. He said he was wiggling them together, and he just pulled them out during soccer practice. He ran over to me & gave them to me. I am still shocked.

Our sweet Young Life club- My sweet senior girls on the front row.

I found a recipe for Pumpkin Spice foam for my cold brew coffee, and it is so good! Thanks Feel Good Foodie. I would make these all the time just to watch the colors while it combines.

For an early birthday gift Matt took me to see Hamilton while it was in town! I was so excited, and I absolutely loved it. The show is just incredible. The set changes are seamless, and no action is wasted on stage. Everything is purposeful and fun to watch. It really was probably the best show I've ever seen, and it remains a favorite. Thank you honey for a fantastic gift!

These boys were so silly and having so much fun. James is teasing David about hugging him.

Hayden's soccer team were champions again! This tournament was in Jekyll Island.

Calvin started making a character from one of his favorite books, Dogman. This is going to be an '80-HD'.

My sweet friend Kate brought David a Spiderman webshooting glove to the soccer field. He sprayed silly string with glee for about 5 min, but it was really adorable.

This picture is of my computer screen as I tried to begin again with our family blog. I have been behind in keeping up with it since I ran into a terrible glitch with my blog printing company, Blog2Print. They have always printed from blogger, and still advertise that they do, but it stopped working. I waited for months, checked back infrequently, and let myself get sooo far behind in printing my annual books. I am now playing catch up. I ended up exporting my blog to wordpress and then I was FINALLY able to print my 2020 book. It was so great to finally have in my hands! 

Ok, back to this photo. I took it during October of 2021, but it is of our last Young Life club late February or early March before covid hit and everything shut down. It was an emotional block for me to get past in writing these blogs, but it was also really sweet to look back on how much I loved those kids and what we were able to be a part of in their lives. I am very grateful for those opportunities and memories! 

BY FAR, the best part of October 2021 was my sister Michelle's wedding!! She had a beautiful ceremony, but the best part is her husband Brendan. He is just such a great, considerate, caring, kind, sweet, guy. I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to see my sister being loved and taken care of by her spouse. It has been really wonderful to get to be a part of her life again and share in her happiness. We were to happy to celebrate with you Michelle & Brendan!

Matt and I, looking awesome. My beautiful momma & I, looking awesome.

The backdrop Brendan built for their ceremony. Michelle designed all the silk flowers, and they turned out lovely.

Darcy and Corrie, and Josh to the right. Madeline couldn't come because of a commitment to a play, and we all missed her! It was the first time we had seen them since before Covid!

My sweet James & me. It was a selfie kind of day. This face gets me everytime.

My gorgeous sister's wedding photos by Clark Berry Photography. He was my wedding photographer too!

My photos from Michelle's wedding. I really loved how they turned out!

The wedding reception meal, and I really think you can see how gorgeous Michelle is and how happy Brendan is in this next photo.

Cheers to you & wishing you many happy years together!

Michelle made her own wedding cake, and she and Brendan hosted a meal at their house the following day were we had gifts and cake. This was a beautiful example of how you can have a really lovely wedding in a small, intimate setting. It was a labor of love by Michelle and Brendan, and we all got to share in it.

Michelle and Brendan are 'newly webbed'!!

My boys enjoyed seeing Uncle Brendan's car, playing their video games, and seeing Aunt Michelle's snakes. They are for sure the favorite house to visit.

Here is a picture of my boys with my cousin Lucas' kids! He and his wife Delana live in Columbia as well, and they were able to come to the brunch to visit. We loved getting to meet their sweet little ones!

James saying goodbye to Papa, and really working on those crocodile tears.

We drove home a back way from Michelle's to i-95, which let us skip i-26 all together. If you've ever driven either in SC, this is a great idea. haha! and it was really beautiful.

I clearly liked how my nails were looking. I think I had used a nail kit, but to be honest, I don't love those kits after just a couple of days.

I am soaking in the lovely Fall glow while the boys have one last swim. We usually don't swim later than October.

My OPHS young life shirt, and my sweet puppy wanting snuggles. She really does this quite often!

James' soccer tournament in Statesboro, GA. His team won their first medals! Unfortunately, they got runner up to a team from our own club. But it was a cool thing to watch them play.

This is often where I find my dog.

Halloween club for Young Life, and I borrowed James' Jedi costume. It was his costume last year, but he has definitely out-grown it since.

The annual storybook parade ( aka their halloween parade) for our boys at their school! David was supposed to be a scarecrow, but he was not having it. He said he was a farmer and that was good enough. I said sounds great, and I thought he looked adorable!

Here come the inflatable dinosaurs!!

David's precious little soccer team, coached by our favorite, Coach Christ!

Mimi and Grandpa sent the boys a little gift to celebrate Halloween. It is so sweet of them how they want to celebrate holidays with the boys from a far. I know the boys will remember their effort!

We made a quick stop to the pumpkin patch to pick up some pumpkins to carve. It used to be that we would always go, but the boys are getting to be past the stage where this is fun for them. They were goofy and good sports for their momma.

One of our favorite things: Trick or Treat! They got to go with their friend Zac from our neighborhood, and even Hermione dressed up this year.

The boys carved their own pumpkins this year. It does make me nervous to let them do this, but it is also a lot of fun to see what they come up with. I wish I could remember who made which pumpkin, but if I had to guess, I'd say the top two are Hayden and Calvin, and the bottom is James. But I could be wrong! 

Thank you Lord for this month of memories. I am hurrying through these posts to try and catch up, but the reality of how much as changed in two years is truly remarkable. I simply cannot believe how little all my boys look. These years have brought so much change, so rapidly. But the gift of being their mother just keeps growing. Thank you Lord for all you have given, Amen!