October so Far

October has quietly snuck in. And I am here for it. I haven't taken a ton of pictures, preferring to live in the moment. Things have felt busy, but busy in a perfectly tolerable ordinary way. 

M's class went to the pumpkin patch this week. And here is my favorite thing ever, a side by side of my kids doing the same thing at the same age. My two first graders on the pumpkin patch field trip. 

I didn't go with. Husband went both years. Because traditions. 

I've seen 2 shows this month already. Both working shows. Tonight Husband and I are going out with some friends to see another show, this one is just for fun though!

M lost another tooth. The perfect first grade smile I think. 

We had pumpkin sugar cookies for dessert during our favorite Family Movie Night of the season. A double feature of Curious George Boo Fest and It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.

I saw this again on the internet and it has really helped me reflect and slow down. These moments, even the messy ones with big feelings are important and precious.

These are my girls. My Emmaus group. Franciscan University created this Emmaus Group Discipleship Program and our diocese began an initiative to launch the program. Franciscan created a 43 week study for same-gender discipleship quads. And it's free for use. 

My group said yes and on October 13, 2020 we had our first quad meeting. 

Scheduling 4 ladies can be complicated so we did take some weeks off, for Christmas, a funeral, some vacations and illness. But we poetically finished on October 12, 2021. It seems crazy to say we carved out time for fellowship and study weekly but we kept our Tuesdays sacred. We never met on a different day of the week! And we gained so much from being together. 

The material is so approachable (and free for use) and has truly led us to becoming better disciples. 

We celebrated our last meeting and I got a grown up juice box. It has been so life-giving to have an Emmaus group especially after COVID pushed community aside. I am truly sad to no longer see these girls every week, we have a few things up our sleeves yet but our weekly format has graduated. If this is even a little bit interesting to you, you should really consider forming an Emmaus group for yourself. I promise it will be great. 

So here's to growing in faith and friendship. It has helped me to parent better and to run to Jesus more. And looks like it's paying off. How much do you love this picture of my guy praying a rosary before Mass? 

And that's what October has brought to us on this first half. But no worries, there's plenty more goodness on the way.