I hope you all had a very Happy Halloween. We have had a very eventful October, but I wanted to squeeze in a couple of fun family activities for us before the fall season completely passes us by.

(I don’t want to blog about the nitty gritty of my boys’ lives, but I do want to document the fun things we do together as a family so I can remember later.)

Last year we went to the Clinton Sease Farm with the Naturally Caffeinated Family. They have a pumpkin patch, hayrides, a corn maze, and have lots of fun other activities. The boys love it!

Hudson spent most of the time in the pumpkin patch looking for little pumpkins that he could give to “Hayesy-boy.”

Hayes liked to pick up the pumpkins and just throw them down on the ground.

Hudson (and Todd) love the giant slide at the farm!

The Riverbanks Zoo hosts Boo at the Zoo every October leading up to Halloween.

We went to Boo at the Zoo on Sunday night. It’s one of my favorite events every year. The kids get to trick or treat and see some of the animals. They have fun music playing throughout the zoo and it’s just a good excuse to wear your Halloween costume.

Boo at the Zoo is set up where kids trick or treat at little stations around the zoo. So Todd held Hudson’s hand and they did the trick-or-treating while Hayes and I maneuvered the stroller through the huge crowds. It’s such a fun event, but it was really crowded this year.

Hayes loved all of the music and had a good time just watching everyone. I’m sure he had no clue what was going on!

We dressed up last night to go trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. Hayes rode around on Todd’s shoulders most of the night and loved it. He would occasionally reach to get some candy, but he was perfectly content just to be along for the ride.

This was Hudson’s first year to walk instead of riding in the stroller or being carried. He loved it. We walked a long way through our neighborhood and he kept wanting to go to more houses.

We taught him about saying “trick or treat” and “Happy Halloween” and he’d go so excited to say it when someone opened the door. But as soon as they’d open the door he’d freeze up and forget what to say or just get really shy. But as soon as we’d leave one house he’d get so excited to go to the next one.

I hope you and your family had a great Halloween! We’ll be hiding the candy little by little– or Todd and I will just be eating it. Shhh!

p.s. I know everyone says that Hayes looks like me, but just looking at this picture shows that he looks exactly like his Daddy! Wow!

Okay, so the great thing about the 31 Days of Back to Basics Blogging was that it took the pressure off of me when I was writing blog posts.

The bad thing? I dropped the ball.

The good thing? We close on our house in about three weeks.

But this also means that my life right now is consumed with house hunting, packing boxes, thinking about where we’ll go if we don’t find a house by the time we close (and what we’ll do with all of our stuff), and just raising my sweet boys.

Oh, and did I mention I’m doing Holiday Market decorations again this year? That all happens right after we close on our house.

We keep laughing about God’s timing. Things are about to get really crazy up in the Carroll household. But we’re trying to stay really, really organized so we don’t just lose control of everything. We’ll tackle each little project with care and planning.

So if I’m quiet in the coming days (weeks?) it’s because there are only so many hours in the day and we’ve got so much going on right now.

Thank you for being gracious and letting me just say that I didn’t accomplish my goal. But it was fun to try it out.

I’ve also been trying to determine how much I want to continue to blog about my kids in a specific way, and what is appropriate to share. I’m sure that many, many bloggers have thought about this.

So while I’m quiet, I’ll be thinking about this, too, and praying about the direction we take.

(And let’s not talk about the fact that I haven’t figured out my boys’ Halloween costumes yet. Just giving myself some grace here. Or I’m trying to.)

Last weekend, my blog friend Julee lost her beloved husband Matt in a car accident. Julee and her daughter Preslee have a long road ahead and we are praying for them daily as they grieve. I know that this is when the body of Christ is most powerful, as we come together to show our love and support for other believers.

We all identify with Julee because she is a young mother like so many of us. She is a beautiful woman in every way and my heart just aches for her right now.

The blog community has come together to host silent auctions for Julee and Preslee, and all the proceeds will go into a fund for Preslee. This is all done very well and it’s very secure, so we know that sweet little Preslee will receive all of these gifts to help her future.

You can see all of the silent auction items here.

You can read more about Julee, Matt, and Preslee Turner here. And here is the link to Julee’s blog.

1. I’m absolutely loving my new Bible study. It’s hard work and it’s wonderful. This is probably one of the reasons I’m not putting very thoughtful blog posts together right now. But that is okay with me, because I am completely loving this study in Proverbs and the women I’m getting to know.

2. My new addiction is Pretty Little Liars on Netflix Instant. Rachel and I have such similar taste in TV shows, so when she said she was enjoying it, I knew I had to watch it. So while I’ve been ironing, folding laundry, and prepping dinner, I’ve also been sneaking in episodes of Pretty Little Liars. It can be slightly cheesy, but I like the characters and the suspense. It’s a fun show!

3. Speaking of Bible study, I hope I can put together a couple of posts soon so I can share with all of you some of the things I’ve learned.

4. We started speech therapy for Hayes this week. Once a week he will meet with an early interventionist for an hour and then for another hour each week he’ll meet with his speech therapist. I really like both of these women and I’m excited about what they can teach me to help Hayes get his little words out. I can see the wheels turning in his head, and we know he can hear us. We just have to help him form his words.

5. In a few weeks, I’m heading to Indiana for the Influence Conference. I’m excited to see my parents and Nina and get to meet lots of new friends who are excited about sharing the Good News on their blogs.

6. A few minutes ago, Todd sent me a text that he was listening to an old Trisha Yearwood song on our classic country radio station. We’ve both been loving the classic country station lately. He reminded me of a story I told him about when I was in the 3rd grade, and I called in to our local country station to request Trisha Yearwood’s “She’s In Love With The Boy.” I loved that song so much! And I listened to the radio all day waiting to hear my request.

7. I love that my husband remembers this story.

8. Sometimes it’s really weird to think that I lived most of my life without knowing him at all. Isn’t that incredible? It’s just a reminder to me to pray for my boys and their future spouses every single day. And the parents who are raising them.

9. Sorry to get derailed and emotional.

10. My 30th birthday is in less than two months!

11. I’ve developed a lactose intolerance in my old age. This is very sad. I have been eating dairy without worrying too much about it, but I always feel awful afterward. I have to stop doing that. I’m really going to miss ice cream. And cheese. It’s a good thing I like almond milk.

12. Today I said to Hudson, “I’m impressed!” And he said, “No, you’re Erin.”

13. Yes, he calls me Erin almost as much as he calls me Mommy. (Now I’m singing Call Me Maybe.)