After we got home from our journeys in the middle of September, we…
resumed school books
dug into lessons we had waited to start until a more convenient time
picked up the felting needles and wool and made clever little creatures during history lectures (the girls, not me)
went to volleyball practice with a bunch of other homeschoolers
celebrated Olivia’s sixteenth birthday
blessed her as much as we could while simultaneously catching up and sprinting ahead
picked the beans pretty often because I planted them late
dug the potatoes, two bushels and another row to dig someday when we have stamina
pulled the tallest weeds in the garden
mulched the empty spaces with grass clippings
trimmed the raspberries that were growing through the privacy fence into the neighbor’s yard
dried the rose hips for tea
made corn relish with the big kernels on the cobs of sweet corn that weren’t ready when we left for our travels
fixed a car exhaust system (that is, Gabriel did)
washed the grasshopper goo off the Suburban with (hot tip alert) Totally Awesome from the Dollar Tree, which is the best degreaser of bug innards we have ever used
roasted chickens and new potatoes and shared some of it with new moms
held the most delightful babies, twins and a newborn
loaded up the tents and gear again
staked a claim at a park with friends in the sites around us
shared campfire stories and goals and hopes
ate a lot of great food
put it all away again in our camping totes (we’re getting good at that)
collected our first pullet eggs from our half-olive-egger hens and gloated over the colors
gleaned apples from an abandoned orchard (with permission)
loitered on the Erie shore and explored as far as we could walk
picked three bushels of grapes in fifteen minutes
steamed those grapes into juice, fifty-four quarts
bought more jars and got some extras from my mom
caught a pike! in our tiny creek in the backyard
crammed the month full of living
opened our hearts just a crack to fall, and lo and behold,
It is October! (Technically it has been for a while. I’m still working on the catching up part.)
wocket in my pocket 
Love it! We’ve spent a lot of time with home renovations and cleaning this fall, and we just checked off getting our area rugs cleaned, which was the last thing on our list! Now I want to reward my kids with some fun activities this winter and I appreciate your inspiration for always having something for them to do!