"Ah, lovely October..."

 "...as you usher in the season that awakens my soul, your awesome beauty compels my spirit to soar like a leaf caught in an autumn breeze and my heart to sing like a heavenly choir." 

~ Peggy Toney Horton

Warm hellos from chilly Western Pennsylvania! 

I thought I'd drop in quickly to say hello! I have some clothes to fold and floors to sweep before I head into the gym this evening but wanted to stop by my blog and share some photos from lately! :o) 

October has started out wonderfully for us in PA weather-wise. We enjoyed comfortable temperatures and lots of sunshine. The temps have now gone down and it's starting to feel more like fall! I love how autumn makes me feel....all cozy and cheerful. I don't know *what* it is...I just really enjoy this weather. I guess I like not being so hot that you feel grumpy and yet, not being so cold that you can't put on an extra layer and still sit outside in the rocking chair!

I've got fall candles burning. The boys finished their schoolwork and headed off to work a short time ago. So I've got the afternoon to finish my housework and then head into the Y to exercise and teach spin. Speaking of exercise...Chris, talented and handy man that he is, made us these racks for our weights in our basement gym...

If you go HERE you can see a pic of our gym if you missed it! Oh...I almost forgot to tell you about that top photo! That is an upside down cake I made to celebrate a birthday here at our house this past weekend. Madelyn's beau turns 20 this week but with his work schedule, we decided to celebrate it early! It is absolutely delicious (and yes, even I had a piece!). You can find the recipe HERE if you are interested! 

Anyone who has read my blog for a while knows I'm not a huge fan of Halloween. I just act like it doesn't exist. I'm not into gory decorations and costumes etc. It's just not my thing. Morgan (X's girlfriend) loves to carve pumpkins though. She and her dad grew some huge ones in their garden and brought them up for the kids to carve. (She also brought me smaller ones to decorate with!) So below are some pics from yesterday afternoon. First we had worship at church in the morning...followed by tomato soup and grilled cheese for lunch. Then out to the porch we went. It was *cold* out there....but they carved on...

Me and Madelyn (can you even believe this girl of mine is 20!?)...

 

Me with our cocker spaniel, Mickey (yes...I was decked out in sweats ~ it was SO cold outside!)....

So, absent from these photos is my son, Xavier. He and Morgan had carved pumpkins at her house a week or two ago so he opted to work on his truck instead. So, we have Morgan on the right, in the background there. To the left in the black sweatshirt is Madelyn's beau, Caleb....then Madelyn and closest to us (in a TSHIRT no less!) is Jaxson! 

I tried to convince Jax to put a sweatshirt on but he claimed he was totally fine...meanwhile, I'm freezing sitting in my rocking chair and watching...

The porch with the small pumpkins Morgan gave me to decorate with...

And the finished pumpkins...aren't they huge!? And bonus: Cash in the background...haha! He's 14 yrs old! I think he may just live forever! 

I hope you each are doing well and enjoying October. I know things in the world are crazy right now...but we just keep living. We just keep doing our thing. We take each day as it comes...glorifying the Lord in all we do and keeping our eyes constantly on Him. Isn't it so nice to know our hope lies in the sovereign Creator? The omnipotent King that is in complete control....always faithful. 

Thank you for stopping by today. I have housework to finish so I best be scooting off this computer! I hope you will come by again soon! I'll try not to be so long between posting....but I can't make any promises! :o) 

Warmly,

Katy