What We Have Planned for October

 ay!  October is one of my absolute favorite months.  The weather is finally cooling down.  We can be in the backyard more.  The evenings are perfect for fires in the fire pit.  And... my oldest son and I both celebrate birthdays in October.  It really is the perfect month!

So while I'm looking at the perfect month on the calendar, I'm trying to make sure I'm intentional with my time.  With three active kids, this month has a tendency to fly by if I'm not careful. So I'm purposefully placing certain activities on the calendar NOW.  Here are a few things we're planning:

*Going to the Pumpkin Patch: One of our classic family activities is a trip to our local pumpkin patch.  It's fun to see the kids' personalities come out as they look for the perfect pumpkin.  My biggest challenge is keeping my oldest from going for the HUGE pumpkins in the back.  We top off our day with wandering through the corn maze and sipping on some fresh-squeezed lemonade.

*Hiking Lassen Peak: I did this a few years ago with a friend of mine, and it was a lot of fun.  Now my youngest wants to hike it.  It's a fairly moderate climb, so I think it will be a good challenge for him and some fun family bonding time.

*Painting the Kids' Christmas Ornaments: I ordered the kids' Christmas ornaments last week.  It's a fun tradition that we've all enjoyed over the years.  I'd like to see at least two of the ornaments painted by the end of the month.  Then I can tuck them away for safekeeping until Christmas.

*Youth Conference: My two high schoolers will be attending youth conference again this October.  It was a really great experience for them last year.  I always feel like they come away from the conference being reminded of how big God is and how He has a plan for their lives.  Really helps them put things into perspective.

*Baking: I'm dying to do some baking.  Our temps actually momentarily dipped into the 80's last week.  That got me thinking about all the muffins and yummy, seasonal treats we could be baking. So I have pumpkin muffins and waffles on my list for sure.  Any other suggestions?

What do you have planned for the month of October?