Things I Like - October 2024

I always enjoy hearing what works for other people and I like sharing things I like, it's part of the reason I have a blog.  I've been doing these monthly posts for 10 years and they also provide a nice little snapshot in my life at a moment in time! See more here!  Some affiliate links may be included! 

1) Exploding Kittens
One of my goals for the year was to learn a new game with the family every month (I will accept at least getting one of the kids to play with me).  We have a little catching up to do before Dec 31st but this month we learned Exploding Kittens and it has been a big hit.  I bought it 2 Christmases ago I believe but we didn't quite get the rules.  So this time we watched the highly recommended (per the instruction) instructional video and it made SO MUCH MORE SENSE.  We've played more days than we haven't since we learned it a few weeks ago.  It goes pretty quick, maybe 10-15 minutes and we're all pretty equally competitive with it.  It was definitely worthwhile learning how to play.

2) Tru Fru White & Dark Chocolate Frozen Raspberries
I will admit to being influenced to buy those.  Those stupid Stanley stocking videos (WHY ARE PEOPLE SO CRAZY ABOUT THOSE STANLEYS) where they pack the whole darn thing for a movie and these were in a few of them.  They sounded good so I bought some.  You all, they are very very good.  I can pretend they are healthy since they have raspberries in them and they are a perfect little treat, especially in that lull between school and supper.  The bag says they are best 10-15 minutes out of the freezer but I eat them straight from the freezer and they are never too hard to bite.  These are delightful.

 

3) Giant Bottle Brush Christmas Tree
Is it crazy writing about Christmas trees in October?  Sure but I started browsing Target's site for them in August and started buying some in September (and then I just found a bunch of new to me ones on their site last night!!!).  This is GIGANTIC (3 feet) and so sparkly.  I do not know where it is going to go, both during the Christmas season and the rest of the year (it's currently with the vacuum) but I LOVE IT.  The first one I bought came very bent up but the second one (it was 30% off!) was perfect.  I hear they are in stores now so if I get anymore I'll get them there since I can check for damage.  Do I need another? No.  Will I buy one? Probably. 

4) Shiny Christmas Tree
This one isn't giant but is SO SHINY thus SO PRETTY.  I have the 11.5" size and it's going to look beautiful...somewhere.  I am a minimalist about many things but not at all about Christmas decorations.  Or anything Christmas really (although we don't go overboard with gifts).  I am very magpie-ish in that I like anything sparkly or shiny.  And this qualifies. 

5) You've Got Mail
I have a list of movies that I watch each month, every year and have done this for at least 5 years.  Most months have 2 movies and I usually watch them while working from home.  One of October's is You've Got Mail, a movie I probably didn't see until many years after it's 1998 release but that still brings back plenty of nostalgia.  I never had AOL but was a frequent user of AIM for many years at the end of high school and through college which was just such a time.  I love the NYC setting and the mega chain fighting the little indie bookstore just feels so quaint.  It's such a perfect cozy fall movie.  And makes working or folding laundry or eating lunch a little more fun.  (We don't have it on any of our streaming services, I check out a copy from the library each year.)

What have YOU been liking lately???

24 in 2024 - 3rd quarter update

I wish I had a good reason why my list is slow moving this year.  Maybe it's because I've knocked off the lower hanging fruit, per se, of projects and now it's more nitty gritty??  Also, being home all day without kids, during the school year, doesn't quite free me up as much as I thought it might??  Also balancing 2 part-time jobs and various commitments and helping out at school.  Or maybe in 2025 I'll just give myself an easier list!

Original 24 in 2024 list
1st quarter update
2nd quarter update

Inside Home Things
1) Paint kitchen cabinets (0%)
Nothing is happening here.

2) Replace kitchen cabinet hardware (0%)
DITTO

3) Make a gallery wall over the couch (100%)
Did this in the 1st quarter!  And finally reprinted some pictures that I printed the wrong orientation the first time!

4) Hang pictures of MIL (100%)
Finished this is 2nd quarter.

Outside Things
5) Plant Dahlias (100%)
Did this and some came up this year!  It's very exciting.  Now I need to figure out how to winter them. (Is it already too late to do something about that??)

6) Run outside every month of the year (75%)
I am 100% on this through September (and have been running in October).  December is the only remaining month that should be hard.  I nearly always run outside in November anyways. (This was running at the Outer Banks...a post about that trip will be up at some point...)

Nagging Tasks
7) Finish our will (5%)
We need to finish this, so badly.

8) Buy cemetery plots (100%)
We did this in the spring. 

9) Get a dumb phone for home (100%)
Did this in early summer.  It's proven handy more than once already!  And glad it's a cell phone because there are times we can let Luke wander a bit more (like at our high school football game where there are middle school kids all over the place) and just text him when it's time to come back!

10) Sell a Lego Millennium Falcon (0%)
I have wanted one of these out of the house for nearly 2 years.  I need to get that done.

Food
11) Try a new chicken recipe every month (75%)
Have been successful on this every month through September and we have found some new favorites to work into our rotation!  I already have one planned for October too.

12) Make a standard fall/winter and spring/summer menu plan with grocery list (65%)
The spring/summer one is done and I even made a standard grocery list to go with it.  Now that we are back to fall/winter meals I need to finish up that one. 

13) Host 6 Cookouts (83%)
At end of September we had done 5 (we've since done TWO more to exceed this goal!).  We didn't make this one last year so were much more intentional in getting it done this year!  It's one of those things we've longed meant to do but takes some intention to get done.

Fun Things
14) Go on 10 dates (80%)
We had done 8 by end of September (and another since).  Matt has A LOT of days off between now and the end of the year in order to finish school strong but it's not too hard to fit in a breakfast or lunch out too.  Although maybe we should do a few more extensive dates than just a meal out. 

 

15) Eat local once a month (75%)
Had done at least once a month through September.  These are often our dates but sometimes something with the boys too.  There's a local pizza place nearby that we all like.

16) Finish 4 photobooks (2023, Luke, Sam, summer 2024 vacation) (75%)
All are done and here besides our OBX vacation that I haven't even started but trying to get all our other current photobooks updated first.

17) Go to the Farmers Market 6 times (66%)
Have gone 4 times, twice indoors, twice when it was outdoors.  Matt & I walked through the outdoor one a 5th time but didn't buy anything so I'm not counting it. 

18) Get really good at family games we own but rarely play (1/month) (58%)
We are two months behind on this right now although in late September we taught the boys SPOONS and they really liked that one.  I need to plan out our last 5 so it's easier to do one when we have time on the weekend.

Helpful items
19) Buy a grey sweater (to keep) (10%)
I have bought many, none quite right yet.

20) Dye a dress (100%)
I did this the day before school started so I could wear it to the rehearsal dinner for our niece's wedding a few days later.  I was kinda nervous about it but it turned out really well and I got compliments on the color from people who didn't even know I dyed it!  I've worn it many times since, definitely was worthwhile.  (The color recipe I followed was Rooftop Restaurant from RitDye and those are the dyes I used.)

21) Figure out how to use Gmail better (clear-up inboxes) (0%)
I still have many more e-mails in there than I know I need.  This needs help.

22) Fix tags (25%)
I have started writing down the wrong ones when I come across them but need to actually work on fixing them.  A windows update a few years ago but this much harder to sort than it used to be.  I'm still a bit grouchy about it.

23) Art books (10%)
Are these going to be like the end table project that I have on here for years (it's already been on here for years) before it eventually gets done?  Or will it just never get done?  I'm still not sure.  But it's on my list to get to this month.  

24) Make a step on green project at school (50%)
We are working on a BIG step that needs some more time given to it...but it's something I have wanted for years, just need to finish the project!

56% Well, progress since June but not as far along as I'd like!  Maybe some motivation to just get some of these things done in the next few weeks before the Christmas crazy kicks in!

{9} Boo Picture Books

Halloween books is one of my favorite seasonal genres of books and I'm not just saying that because that's what I'm currently reading to my boys.  Halloween isn't even close to my favorite holiday and until recently I barely even tolerated it.  However, there are so many fun books that I really love reading every year that has changed my whole outlook on the holiday.  

I've done a few Halloween book lists in past years: 

{15} Favorite Halloween Picture Books (2021)
{9} Pumpkins Picture Books (2021)
{9} Picture Books Featuring Ghosts (2022)

And while there might be a little overlap between this list and some of those prior lists, these are all BOO books.  A subgenre I didn't even realize we read many of until I saw our library books all stacked up last October.  I don't always pull book flights to read to the boys but sometimes we do (like all books about pumpkins the day we went to the pumpkins patch) and I'm always a little delighted to find a book flight I didn't know we were already reading. 

 

B is for Boo by Greg Paprocki
Greg Paprocki has written and illustrated so many fun alphabet books, many of which we own.  My boys are, sadly getting old for alphabet books but I still read them because the pictures are so just so charming.  This one is all Halloween themed and now my 1st grader reads most of it to me.

Cookie Boo by Ruth Paul
Seven spooky cookies are just waiting in a tin for the moonlight magic to begin.  The cookies escape on Halloween night and will get into some tricks and treats before the night is over!  I wish I could make cookies that look as cute as these!

Just Say Boo! by Susan Hood, illustrated by Jed Henry
A fun story about trick or treating with lots of chances to shout "Boo!" for any kids you are reading aloud too.  My youngest can read the word now but when he was a little younger we still read this enough that he remembered where the Boo!s went (and I think the rhythm is fairly consistent that it doesn't take long to catch on). 

Little Boo by Stephen Wunderli, illustrated by Tim Zeltner
Little Boo is a pumpkin seed who is just too impatient to grow up.  It wants to be a big pumpkin and it wants that NOW.  Nobody is scared of a pumpkin seed but they could be scared of a jack o'lantern!  Great for any younger sibling especially who just wants to keep up with older brothers or sisters.

Boo! Haiku by Deanna Caswell, illustrated by Bob Shea
My favorite part of this book is that it introduces kids to Haikus!  I've probably learned what they are many times in my life and I know I've had to write some as school assignments but I still couldn't tell you the exact rhythm.  Anyway, I'm sure my kids will come across them in some English class at some point and maybe they'll remember this book.  Great for the preschool-kindergarten age group, read the little Haiku and they guess which Halloween character it is about!

The Little Ghost Who Lost Her Boo! by Elaine Bickell, illustrated by Raymond McGrath
This is in my top 5 favorite Halloween books.  A ghost goes to scare someone in the woods and realizes that the ghost has lost it's BOO!  It can't scare anyone without a boo!  The ghost goes around to different animals who offer to share their sounds (Moo! Cock a doodle Doo! Who-whoo!) but none of them are quite right for the ghost.  As the night fades to day, will the ghost find it's boo??

Click, Clack, Boo! by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin
Some of the Farmer Brown books are better than others but this is one that worked it's way into our constant rotation (I think the election one is the most clever of them all).  The barnyard animals are getting ready for Halloween and scaring Farmer Brown a little.  These are just fun seasonal books to read.  Not at all scary for kids.

Boo Who? by Ben Clanton
A shy ghost is having trouble fitting into the group, the other creatures are welcoming but they can't always SEE Ghost which makes playing a little hard (although Ghost is GREAT at hide and seek).  Celebrates being appreciated for who you are!

A Wee Boo by Jessica Boyd, illustrated by Brooke Kerrigan
Wee Boo is a ghost who just can't wait to scare like all the other licensed ghosts.  Once Wee Boo is accredited she is devastated to learn that she is just too cute to scare anyone!  Not a problem that a ghost wants to have!

I have been saving most of these to read all in one sitting, it's a fun little theme!

Reading Recap - September 2024

Back to reading!  I read a lot of places this month: in the car at a cross country meet (waiting for it to start...I took 5 books), in the car at cross country practice (waiting out the rain), at SkyZone waiting for my nieces to jump, and then also at home.  But usually I only read at home or at whatever place we've traveled to!  It was nice to be able to read a book those places and not just mess on my phone. 

I'm very active on Goodreads here, somewhat active on Instagram here, and linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy on the 15th! 

What I've been reading:

28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand
This is one of my favorites of hers and I've read it every Labor Day weekend (ish) for 5 years straight now.  Takes place almost entirely over Labor Day weekend, over 28 summers, as two people are each other's "Same Time, Next Year", where they have a passionate affair for one weekend every single year.  The end still makes me teary.  4.5 Stars

Heavy Hitter by Katie Cotugno
This was Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce but make it baseball instead.  Like...that was the big change.  It was under 250 pages so it didn't drag on, which I appreciated, and just enough time to get to know the characters, all that.  Sometimes a quick read is really nice.  3 Stars

The Floating Feldmans by Elyssa Friedland
I've read many "family drama" books by this author, most of them taking place on some sort of vacation.  This one was a cruise with the whole family where everyone has secrets and they all come to light over the course of the cruise. Interesting although sometimes I get impatient just waiting for all the truths to just come out.  Also made me want to go on a cruise.  3.25 Stars

The Frindle Files by Andrew Clements
A follow-up book to Frindle which is one of the best books I've read and made me cry both times I've read it.  This wasn't quite as good but I still teared up reading it.  4 Stars

Ella of All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
Finishing up this series and it's been delightful to read this over the last few months.  This book mostly followed the oldest daughter (Ella) and her romantic relationship but in a very 1910ish way.  Also stories about the rest of the family.  Just a sweet, charming series I have enjoyed this year.  3.75 Stars

What Your ADHD Child Wishes You Knew: Working Together to Empower Kids for Success in School and Life by Sharon Salin
This was a bit of a drag to get through at times, just a lot of info and trying to take it all in.  Not the most fun read to pick up but I really did learn a lot and, if anything, gave me more patience in dealing with my ADHD kid, knowing his brain just is working differently than mine. 4.25 Stars

The Ex Vows by Jessica Joyce
This is a book I wish I had given up on about 50 pages in instead of sticking around for almost 400.  First, it didn't need to be 400 pages.  Cut at least 100 pages, maybe 150.  Maybe I've just read too many books lately in the "we were formerly in some sort of relationship, now we think we hate each other and haven't spoken in years before we are stuck together again and will be falling in love even though we think we hate each other.".  Honestly, that sums up most of the romance I've read this year and this one just didn't gel for me.  2 Stars

Tangled Up in You by Christina Lauren
Just a fun, fun take on Tangled but current day and a pretty closed door story.  Not much happens here, romance wise, that didn't happen in the Disney movie.  And that's a top 5 animated movie for me so this was an enjoyable read.  3.75 Stars

Women at Ground Zero: Stories of Compassion and Courage by Susan Hagen
I purposely read this in September and it was harder to get through than I thought.  It was published in 2002 and most, if not all, of the interviews took place in late 2001 or early 2002.  The work these women did around Ground Zero was still very very fresh.  It was heart breaking and very heavy at times but ultimately these women did amazing work on a terrible day, all just doing their best to survive and help others.  Women who responded as emergency workers that morning, women who worked on the bucket line on clean-up, women who worked at the morgue trying to ID body parts, women who worked at the dump where they took the buckets from Ground Zero, women covering the day for the news, women who just happened to be near.  Their stories really were astonishing.  I have read a decent amount about 9/11 in the 20+ years since and there were still many new details to me here.  A worthwhile read, for sure.  5 Stars

House Rules: How to Decorate for Every Home, Style, and Budget by Myquillyn Smith
A hard pivot in my nonfiction reading, on 100 "rules" for decorating, where the very first rule is to break the rules.  Pretty pictures and I always appreciate some new inspiration for our home, even though making any improvement doesn't seem to be in the time schedule lately.  4 Stars

The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry
Dual timeline historical fiction about the Pied Piper program in London during the Blitz of World War II.  Two sisters were evacuated and one is presumed dead a few months into their countryside stay, after a disappearance next to a river.  In the second timeline, the non-missing sister comes across a book containing stories eerily similar to the ones she told her missing sister during their time away.  Who could have written it???  The Pied Piper program is fascinating to me and this was well told. 3.5 Stars

Read with Sam
The One in the Middle is the Green Kangaroo by Judy Blume
Quick and easy chapter book I read with Sam.  This book really felt LONGER when I was a kid (it's about 50 pages).  But he liked it.  It's cute. 3.5 Stars

The Runaway Reindeer by Amelia Cobb
We've been working through this 27 book series for exactly a year at this point and just have 3 books to go!  This was a Christmas set book we read in September because that's when my inter-library loan came through.  Ideally we would have read it in December but I don't think Sam minded too much.  3.5 Stars

I've been reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with Luke since June.  Maybe we'll finish by Christmas??  It's a LONG book! 

What have YOU been reading lately?

Looking Back at September 2024

September flew by but in the way that Labor Day weekend feels like forever ago.  Lots happened!  Matt started his FINAL semester of school.  Cross country season was in full swing (6 or 7 meets this month?), I ran a lot, Matt & I did our race, Sam did his final mile (in a 16 hour period our family collectively raced about 16.86 miles), the weather finally cooled off, I've started dreaming more about Christmas, and we picked some pumpkins from the garden! (We grew fewer small ones this year, completely accidentally.)  It feels like fall and September was a good, if somewhat busy, month. 

Looking back:
1 year ago: {8} First of the Month Routines (I just did these!)
2 years ago: {9} Picture Books Featuring Ghosts
3 years ago: Travel: Alabama
4 years ago: Book Love: The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel
5 years ago: {14} Picture Books About Space
6 years ago: Organizing Temporary Items
7 years ago: Letting Vacation Change You
8 years ago: {5} Things that Excite Me About Fall
9 years ago: Strawberry Applesauce
10 years ago: Perfect Blueberry Muffins
11 years ago: Becoming a One Car Household
12 years ago: Things I Really Like Right Now - September (the very first one!)

1) Putting away summer decorations at the start of the month, I really liked this shell with this potted plant in the bathroom.
2) Checking out the red pandas at the zoo!  We didn't get there nearly as much in September as in August.  School. Sports.
3) Flowers from the backyard!
4) Downtown for the Farmers Market!  Fall is my favorite time to go.
5) Embassy on Be a Tourist in Your Own Hometown day!  I love doing this event, as schedules allow.
6) Rooftop of said Embassy.  We tried this one 2 years ago but it was raining.  Great views.
7) The start of fall color! This tree by school is always on of the very first to turn.
8) Checking out my favorite tree about mid-month.  I haven't been by in awhile, need to see how far it's gotten.
9) Lemurs actually out at the zoo!  We're glad they are back, less glad at how far we have to walk to see them.  We're about 50/50 on seeing them out when we do make the trek!
10) I still have one kid that will hold my hand (but not all the time), I treasure when he actually will!
11) Beautiful fall leaves!  Trees are still pretty green here, a bit behind of last year's color change.
12) My morning glories! I haven't gotten any full dark blue ones yet but lots of these light blue ones.
13) Checked out a new local indie bookstore on it's second day opened!  So cute, will definitely be back.
14) Downtown looking nice when there for a meeting last week.
15) I have countless pictures of my kids with Johnny Tincap.  I think maybe my first with him??
16) I've run 6+ miles many times this month but when I do it in a race...I get a frozen coke.  I don't drink much pop but still love my occasional frozen coke.

Books finished: 13
Miles ran: 80.60!  The first time since June that I've hit my goal!
Currently watching: We're getting close to the end of The Mandalorian with the boys.  Matt & I are watching The Perfect Couple.
Most read post this month: August reading recap and then Kool-Aid Cookies
Luke's current favorite song:
Sam's current favorite song: 

 

October means Halloween, fall break, changing of sports seasons, and Matt's birthday!   Immediately followed by the start of the holiday season!