Field Trips, Fall, and 4H

It's the middle of October, but I still don't feel like there's been much time to catch up on life since school has started.  I've had this list of "things to do once all of the kids are in school all day" for a few months (maybe even a few years) and I haven't made much headway on it yet.

So far the biggest accomplishment from that list was finally getting myself a back-up pair of glasses since my previous ones are at least 15 years old and no longer have the correct prescription. 

Somehow it feels like I should have more time to tackle other tasks.  But then things like taking the van in for maintenance happens, or field trips with the kindergarten class, or running errands to purchase necessary items like underwear and socks, not to mention hats, gloves, and boots.

I keep telling myself that one day I'll be able to do some of the non-urgent tasks.  I'll let you know when that day happens.

Last week included a couple of walking field trips for Ethan and Kate.  The kindergarten classes visited the fire station while the 4th graders walked to the public library.  Both groups had beautiful balmy weather for those trips ... before the frosty mornings began towards the end of the week.

Last week also included a few late nights due to 4H activities.  Thursday was the regular meeting whereas Friday night was the (rescheduled) family fun night at a local pumpkin patch/corn maze/farm fun location.

We were all excited to go and thought we could make the most of it with both of us parents around to help Anna as necessary.  But, somehow we forgot that she's extra tired on Friday nights ... and farms aren't exactly accessible locations ... and once Anna starts getting cold, she can't warm up very easily.

Kate was able to run around with her 4H friend, which meant that they missed the hot dogs at the bonfire and ate graham crackers and chocolate for dinner while they did the corn maze.  Hmmm ...

Ethan ended up having fun with a couple of the younger kids, especially when we went through the corn maze.

Anna ... not so much.  The small corn maze was okay, but then she was done.  Lesson learned.  At least Anna was able to recover over the weekend.

The other two didn't need much recovery time.  Kate had an extended birthday party on Saturday night; Ethan had a soccer game in the morning on Saturday and another birthday party on Sunday afternoon.  The girls and I wrapped up our weekend with our monthly book club.

After a few weeks of failing to take any pictures, here's a few I snapped in the last week or so.

Our fine, feathered friends are still doing well.  The girls are averaging about 2 eggs a day right now, but we're still waiting on the fourth chicken to start laying.

I've been encouraging everyone to get as much fresh air as they can in the afternoons, since the cold days of winter will be upon us before we even know it.  We'll work on enjoying the sunshine for as long as we can!