HMJ: Yippy It's October Edition!

If you have followed my blog for a while than you know I LOVE fall!  However, this year I realized I think I enjoy October even more than September in the decention process of the autumnal equinox!  Orange orbs, cooler weather (it can still be pretty warm in September where I live), scarves, coats and warm boots.... ahhhhh, yup, October is where it's at!  So, even though Monday is usually our busiest day of the week with school and daily household to-dos, I couldn't resist the urge to do a little extra baking and roasting...

A household fave: clover rolls.  I need to put together a Bread Making post sometime and include the recipe for these mouth-watering delights!

October 1st just seemed to say "Beef Roast" to me, so I went with it!  I was out of carrots but baby potatoes and green beans made for the perfect side... along with a colorful salad.

I know everyone is talking Pumpkin Spice this time of year but me... I'm thinking CHOCOLATE!  Of course, I think chocolate almost any time of year!  These brownies, made with a Nestle Cocoa recipe I fell in love with years ago and frosted with some extra frosting I had leftover from hubby's birthday, were mouthwateringly delicious!

It was a cozy-glow sort of night and made all the prettier with these:

Here I digress to share our adventures since last week's post....

As per Brooke's idea to have an arts and crafts 'club', we went to Michael's on Saturday for their Make-it Break.  We LOVE Make-it Breaks at Michael's because all we have to do is buy the base and they provide the rest for FREE.  They always have great coupons and sales AND homeschoolers get a discount!  This week's was floral pumpkins.  We did these last year as well.  Brooke made one for her room then and I made a BIG one which rests on my mantel now.  This year I did two small ones (seen above) and Brooke made one for a friend...

In keeping with the idea of chronicling her high school adventures for a potential 'yearbook' we shamelessly did the whole selfie thing...

I was tiered and hungry so a Fit Frappe from City Brew really hit the spot (other than drinking something cold on an already chilly day)!

Sunday closed out September with this:

I know we live in Montana, but we are in SOUTH-central Montana and even when we lived in the NW corner I don't remember ever having snow in September!!!  We have more in the forecast this weekend and I am wondering if this means we will NOT have a white Christmas because all snow is coming so early!  (seriously, that is how it seems to work here!)

Call me crazy, but I love the white stuff and couldn't resist pulling off to the side of the road for a snapshot of our town's iconic "Rims" covered with low heavy clouds and dappled with the out-of-season flurries!

It didn't stick around though.  We were right back to the more typical fall scenery of amber trees and fading greens by the end of the day!

School went great this week.  Brooke aced her first Geography test and scored equally high on a Geometry terms and concepts Quiz.

I'm really proud of her for working so hard and plugging away.  She's been watching YouTube videos on tips and tricks with common items from around the house.  She found this one (above) for making circles using paper clips!  She even ditched her compass this week when circles ere needed!

Also this week was some impromptu board work... totally nostalgic! Our Abeka Grammar Comp 11 book was previously used.  We hit a section of sentences which had been underlined and I meant to re-type out the page but forgot.  Thankfully there was a post-it to hide the work.  During lesson planning this summer I had scribbled, "Mom Fix" across the yellow sticky-note.  As we sat down to do our lesson and I realized my mistake I opted to go old-school and wrote the sentences out on the board instead.

My geeky teacher side didn't want to erase because it looked so pretty!!  But alas, I needed the whiteboard space for other lessons so I snapped a picture to share here today and then erased away.

Brooke is also doing homeschool driver's ed this year.  In our state you have to be 16 to test for a permit (unless you take a certified driver's ed course through the state).  She is so anxious, she wants to schedule her written test for the day of her 16th birthday, which is in January.  So we've started working hard to prepare. I made the same deal with her I made with her siblings: For each chapter she studies in the rules of the road book, I will take her to practice driving in an empty parking lot so she can be ready to drive us home on the regular roads after her permit test!  You can bet she jumped on that!  This week was her first driving session:

I'm sure you can tell the joy on that lovely face!!  She did great and is a real natural.  I find it hard to believe my youngest is at this stage now!  *sigh*

Friday wrapped up our week by starting the day with the first meeting of our new Bible Study.  Brenden and Ashley are both available Friday mornings and wanted to dive in on a group study with us.  I printed off the Psalm 119 guide I put together for this month's newsletter* (see bottom of article for details if you would like a copy) and everyone has been digging in.  After our time of prayer and study discussion the kids commented how much they are enjoying the new study!  Being prompted to own their own study had actually caused them to dig deeper!  It warmed my mama's heart to learn that.

The day rounded off by dropping Brooke at the church where she hopped on a bus with the rest of her youth group to enjoy their annual weekend fall retreat.  She was excited to spend a weekend in Bible Study, Worship, and just hanging out with all her favorite non-family people!!

I'm sitting at home hoping she packed a winter cap and coat because it is getting even colder than last weekend!!  I did love her hair-do she was sporting, she's so creative.  Seemed perfect for fall+camp+friends!

And that's a wrap for us!  Next week is our first week off for the school year.  I tried to schedule a week after every 6, just so we could get a breather before plugging away at more.  I believe it has been well earned.  She plans to still work on her assigned reading (currently in Treasure Island) and scribble a bit on her semester project for Geography.  I plan to back-log some articles, catch up on extra cleaning, winterize the yard and possibly dig into my attic which needs desperate attention.

One of the articles I need to work on is a review of this book:

If you or anyone you know has a kindergarten or first grader who might be interested (public or homeschooled), tell them to keep an eye out on my blog.  My review will be raving and since teaching elementary age is a distant memory for me, I would like to do a give-a-way with it!

One last worthy mention for next week is that Hubby and I celebrate a BIG anniversary this Wednesday.  My parting shot has nothing to do with that but it is a nod his way none-the-less...

The new kitty is quite at home and hubby's heart seems to be healing well with cuddles like these!  I'd say it's the best gift for a cat-loving man like him!

I hope your week was full of warm, cozy, amber glows and sweet pumpkin pie spice feelings.  And if it wasn't, I hope and pray you will remember: next week is a new week to begin again!


Blessings,

You can click here to see some of the great blogs I am linking up today ...

By the way.....

*Are you subscribed to my newsletter?  You might want to be.  Why?  Well, the newsletter contains bonus material you won't find on the website... not to mention, in those busy months when I can't get regular blog articles up, you can count on this periodical popping up in your email in-box each last Thursday with all new content!  What exactly does the newsletter contain?

• Encouraging articles on Faith, Home(making), and Homeschool
• Free printables under different themes each month
• Insider info on the latest goings-ons with all things on my blog and writing related

You won't find all this great bonus material on the blog so be sure to sign up so you don't miss out!  It's Ok, hop over real quick, right there to your right, see it on my sidebar where it says, "Subscribe to my Newsletter" with a  picture of the "Faith and Home Times" logo above it?  Ok, now enter your email in the box labeled "email address" then click "Subscribe"....(don't worry, it doesn't hurt and I promise not to spam you!). You should receive a confirmation email from me.  

Also, with your new subscription, you will be entered into my latest drawing AND I will send you October's newsletter which includes a FREE printable Bible Study and bonus PDF!