October is my favorite month, and this October has been among the best of the best. The weather has been perfect, Ethan's soccer season was awesome (and now it's over, glory hallelujah). We've had some incredibly full, gorgeous, perfect fall days. Here's what I've been into this month:
Read and Reading
I set a goal to read 60 books this year and I just finished number 60 this week. Feeling super accomplished about that; we won't talk about the state of some of my other goals this year... More about what I've been reading lately here.Listening:
In the car we've been listening to selections from the Jekyll and Hyde soundtrack and the Have A Great Day! playlist on Spotify.
My current favorite podcasts are:
What Should I Read Next. Always and forever I love this podcast. It's all about books and readerly things. My daughter and I pounce on the newest episodes as soon as they air.
The Lazy Genius. Seriously, this is right up my alley. Productivity and intentionally living in a super approachable way. It's the best.
At Home. Love, love, love this upbeat and inspiring show. It's focused on homeschooling families, but I think even if you don't homeschool you could gain a lot of insights in positive parenting techniques by tuning in.
Just finished The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place and I've just started Lonesome Dove, which I've been hearing is amazing for years and I've just never gotten to it.
Watching:
Like everyone else in the world, we're currently watching season two of Stranger Things. It's just outside my comfort zone. I enjoy intense movies, but not gory/frightening/monsters. In other news, I am slowly wearing Jason down and I'm hoping we can watch Gilmore Girls next. He almost agreed to it yesterday. What are the odds, do you think?
I've also been watching a lot of Creativebug and Skillshare classes with the kids.
Favorite Instagram:
The house is quiet. Just as I'm ready to finally drop into bed, Little Edith wakes up fussy. An unusual occurrence for this super-star sleeper. We've all had colds this week and she's teething to boot, so I think she's just feeling yucky. The only way she wants to sit is snuggled up into my neck. And while I'd love to get some sleep myself, I'm happy to be right here. Smelling her perfect little head and reflecting on the miracle she is. This sweet, content, happy little ray of sunshine will not be tiny forever, so I'm going to soak in this moment of motherhood when all she wants and needs is me. (follow me on Instagram)
Creating:
Still plugging away on my third Year of Creative Habits challenge. (I am painting or drawing in my sketchbook every single day for the third year in a row.) I haven't missed a day yet. Though, I'll admit, sometimes I don't post a photo every day. Follow my progress on Instagram.
I'm knitting the gorgeous Find Your Fade shawl. I discovered something about myself this month. I really love long mindless knitting and crochet projects. I generally only knit in the car or when Jason and I are watching an episode of our latest show in the evenings. I can't do much where I need to count stitches in the car due to motion sickness, and by the time we finally sit down in the evenings, my brain is not ready to do something challenging. But I love to just sit and knit an endless expanse of something easy.
I'm also half-working on a Christmas stocking for Edith and I am just about ready to drop everything to make some mittens for myself. It's the time of year where I start to realize that winter is coming. It's going to be cold for a long time very soon and I've got my eye on a few beautiful, warm mitten patterns.
I'm knitting the gorgeous Find Your Fade shawl. I discovered something about myself this month. I really love long mindless knitting and crochet projects. I generally only knit in the car or when Jason and I are watching an episode of our latest show in the evenings. I can't do much where I need to count stitches in the car due to motion sickness, and by the time we finally sit down in the evenings, my brain is not ready to do something challenging. But I love to just sit and knit an endless expanse of something easy.
I'm also half-working on a Christmas stocking for Edith and I am just about ready to drop everything to make some mittens for myself. It's the time of year where I start to realize that winter is coming. It's going to be cold for a long time very soon and I've got my eye on a few beautiful, warm mitten patterns.
Things I love:
- Early mornings. Always, always love getting up early (it's been about 4:30am lately) to have some time to myself to read, write and work on projects.
- Autumn hiking. We've been spending a lot of time on the trails around here lately, and I just love it so much. The weather has been so nice lately.
- My kids have awesome friends. We've entered into Birthday Season in our house. All 4 kids have birthdays within about 9 weeks, and we had birthday parties for each of our big kids this month. Love seeing them with their friends and watching them grow into pretty awesome people.
- Afternoon walks. The Littles and I have been heading out in the afternoons lately and it's been absolutely lovely. Elijah rides his bike, Edith sits in the jogging stroller and I listen to a podcast or my current audiobook as we crunch through the leaves. My favorite.
- Have you heard of Cleo Madison clothes? They are super cute, modest and well made and I might be a little obsessed. I received the Lucy Long Sleeve (in red) to try and I absolutely love it. It's soft and comfortable and very flattering. In fact, my cute husband has started calling it my "cute shirt". As in, "Hey! You're wearing your Cute Shirt!". I like to think I have other shirts that are also cute, but this one is certainly at the top of my list.
- Our Elijah (3) was diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder this month. He's a sensory Seeker, rather than an Avoider, which is more common. It's something we've just begun to learn about; one thing that has been tremendously helpful is his chewing necklace. Previously he was constantly chewing on a wad of paper or string or any number of other things he shouldn't have in his mouth. This necklace has made a huge difference with that.
- Early mornings. Always, always love getting up early (it's been about 4:30am lately) to have some time to myself to read, write and work on projects.
- Autumn hiking. We've been spending a lot of time on the trails around here lately, and I just love it so much. The weather has been so nice lately.
- My kids have awesome friends. We've entered into Birthday Season in our house. All 4 kids have birthdays within about 9 weeks, and we had birthday parties for each of our big kids this month. Love seeing them with their friends and watching them grow into pretty awesome people.
- Afternoon walks. The Littles and I have been heading out in the afternoons lately and it's been absolutely lovely. Elijah rides his bike, Edith sits in the jogging stroller and I listen to a podcast or my current audiobook as we crunch through the leaves. My favorite.
- Have you heard of Cleo Madison clothes? They are super cute, modest and well made and I might be a little obsessed. I received the Lucy Long Sleeve (in red) to try and I absolutely love it. It's soft and comfortable and very flattering. In fact, my cute husband has started calling it my "cute shirt". As in, "Hey! You're wearing your Cute Shirt!". I like to think I have other shirts that are also cute, but this one is certainly at the top of my list.
- Our Elijah (3) was diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder this month. He's a sensory Seeker, rather than an Avoider, which is more common. It's something we've just begun to learn about; one thing that has been tremendously helpful is his chewing necklace. Previously he was constantly chewing on a wad of paper or string or any number of other things he shouldn't have in his mouth. This necklace has made a huge difference with that.
What have you been up to lately?
