Chutes and Ladders

Not long ago, I read where someone compared her weekend to a game of Chutes and Ladders. What a fitting way to look at all those little ups and downs we face in life. We just have to pray for more ladders (or at least bigger ladders) than chutes.

October Chutes and Ladders-

I am enjoying working. The children are such fun and it doesn't feel like a "job". Heck, I get to play, sing songs, read stories, make crafts and have a snack. - AND I get paid to do it! (Ladder)

Chris also seems to be enjoying his new job. He says he is not feeling the stress he was feeling before. Unfortunately, he is not home much right now. He leaves before sun up. While the rest of civilized society is still sleeping he is catching the train. He gets home after most of us have gone to bed. He has lots of meetings etc during the day so I don't really get a chance to talk to him until the weekends. We all miss him. It's temporary though. He's still getting the company up and running. (Chute and Ladder)

Charles had a "mysterious" accident. He woke one morning and couldn't/wouldn't use his dominant arm. He held it close to his body and did everything (including writing) with his other arm. I took him in to the Dr who, after lots of probing, prodding and questions, decided he wasn't sure what the problem was. Charles was sent for x-rays and blood testing (which he refused to cooperate for) (Chute, scary chute)

Two days later, however, he was fine. It was as if it never happened. The Dr thinks that perhaps he had a dislocated elbow ("Nursemaids Elbow") and that when I was trying to see how much movement he had before bringing him in, I actually (unknowingly) popped it back in to place. (Ladder)

The boys and I took several days and headed South to Maryland to see my parents. My dad had a little date and went to the Symphony. It was really nice to spend some time with him. Plus I got to get dressed up and wear my "fancy shoes"! The entire trip was very relaxing which is exactly what I needed. (Ladder)

I got a fabulous package from my Secret Pal. I'll post some photos and details on the package. (Ladder)

We were all sick with Fall colds. Not fun. Once those left, we were hit with allergies. It's that time of the year. The leaves are turning and the weather is changing. The cold and allergy combo will hit again in the Spring. (Chute)

We got together with some friends for our monthly Couples Night. This month we did desserts and appetizers. Unfortunately the babysitters cancelled so Couples Night turned in to Family Night (We hire a few high school girls to babysit all the kids together). Most of the food ended up being "kid snacks" instead of adult type appetizers. The kids also kind of had the run of the place so it was chaotic. No one could talk or visit. We left early and came home to a little quite time together. (Chute)

The rain finally stopped and the sun came out. We were able to take a trip to our favorite farm to pick pumpkins. It was a beautiful day and we had a lovely time. The drive up was nice and we spent quite a bit of time walking about and enjoying the outdoors. We came home with some gorgeous pumpkins, mums, and a variety of winter squashes. While there, we treated ourselves to apple cider and giant pumpkin cranberry cookies. (Ladder)

My sister came for a weekend visit. We haven't seen her in quite awhile so this was really special. The boys had such fun with their Auntie. She is wonderful with them. (Ladder)

After much anticipation, Halloween came. Topher had a little party at school with costumes. The parents were invited and the children sang some special songs for us. It was so cute! My sister was still here (she came on Sat and left on Mon) so she got to go too. Charles and Edmund's school did a costume parade around the school for the parents. Topher and I went and Oo'ed and Ah'ed over all the clever costumes. Charles' class also had a Halloween party at school with lots of treats and crafts. Edmund's class didn't have a party but they did spend the day as "Mad Scientists". They had to bring in shirts to use as lab coats and they did lots of messy, smelly and exciting science experiments. (Ladder)

Halloween night brought no one. We didn't have any trick or treaters and we didn't see anyone while we were out. I have a bowl full of little bags (about 90) of pretzels shaped like pumpkins and bats. There were only 4 houses in the neighborhood with lights on. Since this is our first Halloween in this house, we didn't know what to expect. As it turns out, most of the neighborhood is members of a rather large local church that is very publicly opposed to Halloween. The houses that did give out treats more than made up for the others. The kids came home with just enough. (They don't eat a lot of candy anyway) They were a little disappointed not to see anyone else walking around but they weren't too disappointed in the number of houses that we went to. (Ladder and a little Chute)

I'm sure there is lots more that went on in October but those are highlights of the things that I can remember. Some chutes and some ladders. Some were big and some were small. In the end it looks like I made it to the top row or at least pretty darn close to it. October was busy month but not a bad month.

If you hit a chute, look for another ladder to bring you back up again.