Goodbye October and Hello November

 

Goodbye October.  It was fun, but I am happy to see your friend today.  Hello November!  November brings lots of excitement.....or stress whichever way you want to look at it.  Lists are made to begin Christmas shopping for some.  November also brings a special intentional time of thanksgiving for many.  And the beloved FEAST!  Hello November.

As we say goodbye to October we turn the page on Halloween.  It was just plain different this year for us.  Maybe because we decided to do this whole Halloween thing and had high hopes of such fun.  On Wednesday we took the boys to a church function.  "Light in the Night" it was called.  It was basically a carnival/trunk or treat.  And it was very obvious the boys are too old for this kind of thing.

All the games were for much younger children in my opinion.  But the boys had to check it out.  Their favorite part inside was the face painting.  But truly all they were concerned about was trunk or treat.....the candy part.  Once that started they made their rounds to all cars and trucks, filled their buckets and we were gone. 
We had planned to go trick or treating on Halloween, but our weather was the pits.  100% rain all around us.  It stayed dark and gloomy all day and rained, and rained and rained.....we knew trick or treating was out of the question.  So yesterday morning I did what any mother would do.  I got up and put on my costume and encouraged the boys to do the same.  They may have had candy for breakfast too.  I was determined to make it a fun day regardless of the rain!  We also ran to Sonic for fifty cent corn dogs for lunch....in costumes.  And then made a stop to see my mom at work.  And of course paraded all around in costumes to visit everyone. 

My crystal ball showed rain most of the day, but I was seeing an end to it right here.

It did indeed stop raining by dusk, but it was too wet, too soggy and we were ready to get comfortable and settle in for the night.  As promised I made kettle corn and we all piled on the couch to watch Tom and Jerry cartoons.  And we I decided this would be a new Halloween tradition---kettle corn and TV....all piled on the couch together.  Cartoons are optional :)

Perfect ending!

As we begin November I quickly put out the "Thankful Acorn". We started this in 2009 and it went well.  I started sharing it here on the blog the next year.  I love going back to see how it has changed (not much) and getting a glimpse of each year past.  I love reading the "thankfuls" from years past.   The little stem on the acorn basket has seen better days, but we press on with it.

I'll spare you another year of explaining it and just say, be thankful.  Make an effort to really think about all the many, many blessings you have been given.  Although we thank our Heavenly Father daily, we like to spend this month setting aside a time every night to talk about and discuss those blessings. 
If you are interested in learning more about the "Thankful Acorn" you can read about each year HERE or HERE or last year's post HERE .  It is a fun and meaningful way to be intentional about being thankful. 

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
    “Great is Thy faithfulness,” Lord, unto me!

Happy Friday Y'all!  Enjoy your weekend.