Brooketober!

For those of you that don't know- the month of October, quickly becomes the month of Brooke....meaning, it's a month full of things that I love to do! This October has been no different, and while our lives have been full of work obligations, we have definately taken time to celebrate this fun time of year!!

Turning 30
On October 7th, 2010, I hit the "seasoned" age of 30. And, while this didn't seem like a "big deal" to me leading up to the day, I lay in bed at 4 am on the morning of my 30th birthday and reflected on what this year means to me. First, I let my eyes adjust to the darkness of our bedroom and I had Parker snuggled up with my arm around him and Bella laying on my legs- both as close to me as they could be. I also saw Brandon- more than an arms legnth away- snoozing away and at the same time felt Baby Brother wake up with me. Seeing and feeling the most important things in my life so peaceful, gave me an overwhelming sense of peace of mind and reminded me how blessed my life is. I am blessed to have a healthy, smart, and extremely loving child, the sweetest and smartest husband, a cuddly dog, and a warm bed to sleep in every night.

My day of "turning 30" was an emotional one for me- I went to work that day and, I'll admit, I didn't have the best day. My work life has been stressful lately, but I'm starting to realize that, in the end, with that stress comes great rewards. I got home that evening and was feeling overwhelmed. We planned to go to dinner for my birthday and once I was around my family and celebrating- my stresses went away and I had a great birthday! I'm sure that being pregnant had nothing to do with my "emotional day" (ha ha)!

To me, 30 is just a number- our attitudes are what make us age. I know that I am still young at heart and Parker and Brandon help to keep me that way! ;)

Pumpkin Patch
I told my boys that I wanted to celebrate my birthday with them by going to the Pome on the Range Fall Festival- something that we did last year and I hope to make a family tradition. For those of you who have never heard of Pome on the Range, it is a local farm (in Williamsburg, KS) where they have an apple orchard, pumpkin patch, and they sell various "homemade" items, such as, wine, jam, cidar, etc.

Every October, Pome on the Range has a Fall Festival! We went out there on the morning of Saturday, October 9th and enjoyed all of the festivities- including, a moonwalk, the "reawlly, reawlly fun slide", feeding the ducks, drinking cidar slushies, getting a balloon airplane, buying apples, riding the mule-drawn hayrack ride, and most importantly, picking out our pumpkins! This is definately my favorite time of year and being able to spend it outside on a beautiful day was perfect! Thank you, Pome on the Range, for a wonderful day for my family!






The Fun Continues...
In my career, the months of August through October are the busiest (also the most fun and exciting) and it often becomes overwhelming! I am excited that my student workers have been so successful this fall in raising money during the phonathon, I'm excited that my community outreach has touched so many people, but I'm also excited that things are winding down and our routines are going back to normal! I'm sure you'll see upcoming posts from this weekend when we go to Pittsburg to celebrate Homecoming with some of our really good friends from college!!! The following weekend is Homecoming at Ottawa University, which we all enjoy and (even though I'll be working) love being able to celebrate this within our community. Then comes Halloween!!! Plus, there is only 7 weeks until Baby Brother gets here!! This is definately an exciting time of year for our family and we are so thankful for our family and friends who share it with us!