Sometimes it’s good to get a time that isn’t busy, to do what you want to do. One day when all the kids but the baby were in school, I went on a walk down by the lake. The time alone was beautiful. Sometimes I fill up my life with more tasks and busyness. This was simply time to enjoy, time to reflect. A time to inhale, because if I always exhale, there’s not enough inside of me to keep going, or at least not keep going well.

One of the goals, when we started to remodel our home, was to have enough space to have everyone in my giant family over. We were working hard to get it done by Thanksgiving, and we had the big room done and ready to seat 40 people.

Before we moved here, I was adamant that I did not want to live in my childhood home again. It ended up being the best thing we could come up with so I moved back into the house I grew up in. But now, it isn’t so much my childhood home anymore. We’ve got more work to do, but it’s quite a dramatic change so far.

We mostly hung out over Thanksgiving break and worked on the house, but we also did go to a new park for fun one day.

I love to work. Good hard physical work, or mental engagement in a meaningful project. I am much more upset about things that keep me from working than I am about having too much work to do. I guess I’ve been pretty lucky because lately there has been a lot of work to do. We are trying to get the addition done for Thanksgiving. And we are on track to get it done!

The thing is, I don’t do much of the work. I sometimes help, but right now I have a full-time job raising five children. And I find if I don’t make that a priority, there are problems. Today we went out and played at the park, playing disc golf and on the playground. Because I knew if I worked on projects all day and didn’t do things with the kids, it would bite me later with grumpy attitudes from them. Last week I didn’t spend as much time with them as I should have, and I paid for it later.

So even though I really like work, I don’t spend as much time doing it as I might like to. There are more important things than simply getting items checked off a to-do list.

This year no one had much of an opinion on what they wanted to be for Halloween. Peter mentioned Spiderman, and I went for it. Here are our Spider-verse costumes. I’ve always loved Spiderman and loved doing this.

We went to a corn maze, and we’ve also stayed busy going to family events. And working on the house, trying to get it done before Thanksgiving!

I love the fall colors, the crisp air, and even the first snow. My kids were talking about how perfect the weather was when it dropped down into the 40s, and I had to agree. Do I always like the cold? Not winter cold. But when it’s just cold enough to need warm socks and a jacket, and you can come inside and be cozy.

We went down to the St. George area for fall break. I was a little reluctant to go, which is unlike me. I think life has just been very full, and I wasn’t necessarily looking forward to the work of packing, driving, and corralling kids everywhere. But once we got there we had a great laid-back vacation. We went on a few very small hikes, played in the sand dunes, and watched movies. I felt much happier after. Vacations are great to help us appreciate daily life and reset.

I love fall. The weather isn’t so hot all the time. The leaves change colors, it’s beautiful outside. The family stays busy. Flag football turns into basketball, and add a few clubs and wrestling. The kids’ school ramps up with projects and homework. The garden harvest is in full force, time to plant perennials and bulbs and take advantage of garden center clearance sales. There are fall leaves to go see before they turn brown, and parks to visit while the weather is good. The problem with fall is there are simply too many good things all at the same time.

When I have bad days sometimes I hate my life and want to change everything about it. But usually, I’m just being overdramatic. Bad days happen even when you have a good life. There’s often nothing much that needs to change, you keep going and it gets better.

We had a lot going on, and trying to fit in everything seemed impossible. But I really wanted to squeeze in a hike, and the only time it would fit was first thing in the morning. Usually, the kids complain about that, but that day, they all were quite happy to fill in the car at the crack of dawn and go off on an adventure. We hit two tiny hikes: climbed a hill called Potato, and a jungle trail that was designed for kids. Minus a bike crash (for the three-year-old who rides his strider bike everywhere), we all had a great time. It’s good to get out even when it seems like you don’t have time to. And it took less time than I thought and the whole day came together wonderfully.

Bonus pictures from the school fair, the baby because she is cute, and another outing to a new lake by my brother’s house.