Pumpkins and Bobble Heads

"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers." 

Anne of Green Gables.

We've been enjoying the beautiful fall weather and colours! We've done field trips - to the pumpkin patch where we took a wagon ride out to the patch to handpick our pumpkins, story time in the barn with apples to snack on and lots of fun playing on the hay! 

Zanna also got to go on a dragon boat ride! It was a really neat experience for her.

Our Nature Corner shows the colours of fall. Zanna even went out and put together a really neat bouquet of leaves to display. 

October also brings Reformation Day and a celebration of all things German along with remembering how God used Martin Luther to rediscover the true gospel message that had been lost in the church at that time in history. 

It's also an excuse to bring out my Marty and Katie bobble heads and display them at the place of honour on the mantel. I like to ask them deep theological questions and watch their heads bob up and down. I need to get out more …

Zanna and I took a day trip on a Sunday at the end of September so I could be present for the baptism of our new god-daughter Ellie. It's such an honour to be a sponsor to this precious baby and she will hold a special place in our hearts as we pray for her and do our best to nurture her faith.  

We went along with Wayne to pastor's conference in New Hampshire which was bee-u-te-ful!!! The scenery was breathtaking. Unfortunately, other people have the same idea so hotels are really expensive this time of year. So we were stuck in a hotel that was NOT cheap and the fanciest amenity was the bottle opener in the bathroom. Classy. 

Will has put a couple months now into high school and is plugging along! He's been good about texting us and Face Timing on the weekends. It's been such a huge transition and we are so proud of him! He's learning how to manage multiple classes and organize himself accordingly. We talk laundry now. He's finished his first football season. He's had his first standard school picture taken - I passed on the "bubbles background" and the one with the fake school bus and went with the plain blue background. For posterities sake. 

We miss him like crazy and can't wait to see him in a month when we go down for American Thanksgiving.

I've been learning to let him earn his own grades and not internalize them as my own. I try not to notice that he's wearing pajama pants when I talk to him because he hasn't done laundry yet and all his jeans are dirty. And I've only called the dean of students once to freak out for no reason. Of course, we're only two months into it. But I think that's still pretty good, right? 

Coming soon … an Advent announcement!