Halloween

I can't believe we are already into November! October was a strange month that seemed at times to be endless while also flying by. I don't know if that makes any sense. In early October, Stuart was gone for 8 days out of the first two weeks. That. Was. Rough. I had never done the "single working parent" thing before, and it gave me a whole new appreciation for those moms that work every day and have to do all the childcare at night and weekends alone. Stuart went to Atlanta to the Catalyst conference that he attends yearly with friends, and they had a great worship experience. Then, he had to travel to Little Rock for his annual prosecutor's conference the next week!

After Stuart returned, Hudson got the flu and missed a couple of days of school, and then I got it. Yes, it was the flu, and I'm still not 100% (2 weeks later). I was in bed for close to three days, but then I had to return to work and dragged myself there for the rest of the week. I definitely hurt my recovery by talking and teaching all day, but I didn't have enough sick days to use in order to recover slowly. I stayed home until I had been fever-free for 24 hours, but I still felt like a truck had run over me for about another week. All I could do was work and then come home to bed. I am still coughing a lot, but my energy level is back to around 85% normal now, so it's much better. Arden has had a clear runny nose, but she hasn't had flu or fever symptoms.

I was still dragging last weekend for Halloween, but I did manage to go around with the kids to two different church festivals in town. Then, Stuart took them to a few neighbors' houses in our neighborhood before we called it a night. Owen was Obi Wan, Hudson was a cowboy, and Arden was a ladybug. The boys had a huge fall festival at school on Friday, and they had gotten to wear their costumes to school too! That was a huge hit! I enjoyed seeing them dressed up, but it drained my limited energy to be out and walking around for two hours outdoors, so I was back in bed again last Sunday.

I'm already thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas and counting down the days until I get vacation time! Only two more weeks until I am out for the entire week of Thanksgiving. I am looking forward to spending most of that time at home with my kids, just hanging out and playing with them. I do have to go to the dentist to get a couple fillings on that Monday, and I hope to get some Christmas shopping done that day too (when I will have childcare). I have done very little shopping yet since I didn't plan to return to full-time work until August. So, this next year I will definitely be shopping throughout the year instead and spreading it out.

We'll probably put up our big Christmas tree and the smaller kids' tree after Thanksgiving, and that is always fun. I haven't opened the ornament boxes since we we moved last December, so I hope we don't have many broken items in there. I did find a wooden kitchen used on Craigslist this past week that I plan to give Arden for Christmas. I got it for 1/2 off the regular price, and it is in good condition with just some surface scratches from normal play. I know she'll love it, and I'm glad I could find a used set that I won't worry about since it wasn't too expensive. Right now, it's in our garage under two large blankets. She hasn't seemed to notice it yet!

Stuart and Owen are going to their first Razorback game today in Fayetteville. We sure love living in this area. There is so much to do for families. I'm looking forward to some quieter time with the younger kids today and maybe a short trip to Walmart.