Fall is a favorite of mine! My birthday, cooler weather, fall events and the new connections that a new school year brings are all special. I never liked Halloween growing up but my kids have made it grow on me. I look forward to it now. I no longer see it as a holiday that I should avoid but I see it as a holiday to shine a light and share the love of God with others. You have so many people walk up to your house all on the same day, what better time is there to spread joy! So yeah, I'm loving it now.
The end of September 2020 brought us our first cold front and my 32nd birthday. It was also a little strange because I was learning to be a mom with out a job to work at from home. That being said, almost all of the time I would usually spend working, I spent resume building (for me and Sam), networking and job searching. So I guess it wasn't all that different. I might have had an extra hour each day which I guess I spent sleeping! ;)
Our little storytime co-op turned into a science co-op! I decided to lead the first one of the school year. I’ve always wanted to try oobleck so that’s what we did! It was a big hit and I learned a lot about non-Newtonian fluids that I never knew. So much fun! If you’ve never done it before give it a try!! Just cornstarch and water and you’ve got a substance that’s both a liquid and a solid that changes when pressure is applied.
Fall is Perfect for park days. We love our park day family. Each fall it is so fun to see who our new regulars will be. It’s still a huge staple in our week. Also during this fall season my mom was working from home and she used her lunch break to come play with us on park days. It was the best!
In early October Jane finally made it back to kinderstars. The coaches were being even more strict with form than they were at the beginning of the year and Jane didn’t like that super rigid feeling. Then they released the longer class times and increase in price for classes and leotards for the upcoming kinderstars season. It took us another month to decide, but all signs were pointing to letting go of Rowland Ballard classes.
Since our beach trip in September was cut short by a tropical storm we jumped at the chance to get a little more beach time when our friends the combs' invited us to spend the day with them at the beach house they were staying at. It was a perfect day at the beach. So much fun with friends. Flynn decided to crawl all the way under their truck and back out the other side. Silly boy!
We always have the best time when my longest friend Mindy and her boys come for a play date! Our time together is always special!
Since I wasn’t working I decided to take the opportunity to sleep train Flynn. He was ready! he was never a big fan of co-sleeping. He was a little resistant at first but he caught on fast and after just a month or so he became a fantastic night time sleeper. So grateful.
We had been hearing about a new park in Atascocita that had a huge slide! So we decided to go check it out with our co-op group. The rope bridge and slide at the end did not disappoint!
I don’t remember how I found out about it but Grace church in the woodlands was putting on a Homeschool day with lots of fun activities! They had a big indoor playground, merry go round and train rides and a game and movie room. It was one of the only places at that time that you could be inside without a mask on and it was so nice! The kids LOVED it. We went twice that fall.
Mid-October always brings us our last swim of the year. Usually in wet suits because my parents stop heating the pool around then as well. We also had some fun adventures down by the creek that day.
The last few Halloweens we had done the trick or treat on the trails fall festival, but so many churches were not holding fall festivals in 2020. I still wanted to go to one fall festival! I found out that Woodridge church was having a fall festival still, so we decided to give it a shot! It was great! Free food vouchers, trunk or treating, live music, train rides and inflatables. The kids had a blast! Sam survived. Haha! Crowds are not his thing. We had a great time there as a family.
We had so many fun Co-op days in the fall! We had a costume book party with boo bubbles, then we had a skittle art and scavenger hunt the next time. In rhe last pics above we did bubble corn, horse toothpaste and Indian headdresses. We always have the best time at science co-op!
I used to meet up with friends at the 7 acre wood to play volleyball when I was a teenager. It was always a kid friendly place but they’ve added so much more for kids since I had been! We decided to check it out during their fall days. They had a pumpkin patch, hay rides and barrel rides. The kids definitely enjoyed the petting zoo, photo ops and the zip line as well!
Halloween 2020 was a busy one! We participated in the Heart Trunk or Treat for the first time! I made it Frozen themed with a little carnival snowball game. I dressed up like Anna and Jane was Elsa. My mom came and she walked the kids around to all the trunks while I handed out candy. Later that same day we had a Mini fall fest in my parents front yard. Candy, trunk or treat and a few games. After this year I realized that the mini fall fest is a fun idea, but people just don’t want to stop and play games while trick or treating or they think it’s a party that they’re not invited to and don’t stop. It was still fun though. Oh! And I let the kids trick or treat to like 3 houses for the first time. They were so excited!
Jane’s best friends started going to Alpha Omega for Gymnastics and Jane started saying she would rather just have fun with friends than compete in gymnastics. So we tried their Open Gym for homeschoolers and all the kids loved it!! So we said Goodbye Rowland Ballard and Hello Alpha Omega. Jane and Atlas tried the classes and Xan had fun at open gym with everyone. Atlas did not show much interest in classes. So he only did it a month. Jane keep going for a while. I can’t remember when but she eventually stop going to class too because it just didn’t challenge her like Rowland Ballard and she was bored in class. We continue to enjoy open gym to present day but only go when our schedule allows.
In November we attended Jane’s good friend Cambrie's Birthday Party. Jane drew her own card for Cambrie and all the kids had a great time decorating cupcakes.
We had another great play date with the Morgan’s! The kids had a great time climbing trees and playing video games together! I only wish we could find more time to be together, but both of our lives are so full! I always love when we can get together!
In mid November the big 3 had a Sleepover at Marmee and Pappaw's and I got Flynn all to myself! It was a sweet time with my littlest boy and the big kids had a great time. <3 So grateful to have parents close by and willing to do sleepovers. Such a blessing!!
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Our friends the Combs rented a bounce house and invited us to come play! The kids all had a wonderful time. We love our friends so much!
That’s all for Fall 2020, coming up - the holiday season of 2020.
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
