Oh October!

October came and went with a flurry of events and activities - Eliza's birthday, General Conference, the Primary Program, Pajama Day, the Pinewood Derby, a new instrument for Clayton, Halloween, huge school projects, and every kind of weather.

I always look forward to Conference weekend and now that the kids are older, we are not just enjoying it more, we are learning, absorbing, and remembering more.  My kids still loved doing the Conference packet - especially Conference Bingo with candy.  Eliza took pages of notes - mostly documenting the goings on of the people around her and less about Conference itself.

The Primary Program was fabulous. (minus the violin accompaniment by me which I flubbed) And Isaac's picture made the front cover.

Clayton joined the band (dashing my dreams of having a cellist in the family) and landed one of the coveted spots in the percussion section. Yes, right?  Drumsticks are easy to carry - second best instrument to piccolo, right?  Nope.  Turns out he needed not only drumsticks but several different mallets and percussion instruments including a full-size marimba - which arrived in October.

 Turns out, a marimba is kinda fun to have around.

October meant Pinewood Derby time!  These two worked hard to design and create their own derby cars again this year.  

Isaac painted his like his favorite candy bar and Brigham named his racer "blue lightning".

And we're off to the races!

I loved the food display. . .

So did the girls who served themselves multiple helpings.

Here's the lineup:

Isaac took first place!  He was on cloud nine.

Brig was a little disappointed to not place but he still loved his car and had a good time.  He was a really good sport despite all of Isaac's bragging.

October brought beautiful sunny weather which called for picnics (and naps) outside.

And lots of bike riding.

While the older boys headed off onto the wilderness trails, the other kids and biked closer to home.

Lydia's face when it's time to go in.

October also brought rain.

Plenty of rain.

So much rain that are yard started looking like a pond, and the streets rivers.

Which meant playtime moved mostly inside.

Mermaids!

I asked Clayton to keep an eye on the girls upstairs, when I came up to check on them I found them wrapped and tied with blankets.  "We're mermaids!"

Truly, they are.

Lydia got to run lots of errands with me.  Which meant pizza at Costco on occasion.

The boys (and by boys I also mean Nate) have been battling it out with the Legos.  They are each building up their armies (this game has been going on for years) and when they're not designing and building new ships or walker or control centers, they're refurbishing old ones, outfitting their armies, and rethinking battle strategies. 

The girls, on the other hand have a completely different idea of fun. . .

Dolls, ponies, princesses, and mermaids occupy their time.

October brought hot weather.  Hot enough that everyone just wanted to get wet.

which we most certainly did.

Cool rainbow.

Eliza was in the full swing of school in October and loving it!

She learned about Community Helpers.

(does a princess count as a community helper?)

And all the kids brought home lots of handmade Halloween decor.

Brigham got to do the morning announcements in October.

And Eliza got to wear her pajamas to school for "Pajama Day"

She also became very particular about her hair and requests elaborate hair designs which I think she mostly makes up.

I practiced my photography skills and took some "professional" pictures of Nate. Which look darn handsome, if I do say so myself.

Goodbye to a fabulously full October!