October 2020

Well, seeing that I skipped right over the September family update, I think it’s safe to say that time is still flying by for me! The bouts of Covid-depression still come and go, but I find that my day to day is happier, especially because I am embracing the fact that it’s hard to be so distant right now. It's great timing for a family update!

October was a chilly month, well it is right now, at least. And has been for the past few days for us in the Lower Mainland. I know that the north has seen snow already, and it looks like it’s sticking up there! I remember planning a Halloween costume or two around my snow suit growing up. I’ll never forget the year I wore my auntie’s strawberry costume … and the way her and my mom laughed at me, running away from a barking dog that was after me.

It’s safe to say that I’m glad pictures aren’t as easily accessible right now as they were in the 1990’s.

Family

The standout, at the moment, from our month is our trip to the pumpkin patch earlier this week. I didn’t want to go on the weekends, to stay away during peak hours, and I forgot to check the time that our usual, Laity Pumpkin Patch, closes on week days, so we found ourselves in Surrey this year at Rondriso Farm. The kids had a great time, we had a tractor-pulled hay ride experience, picked our own pumpkins from the patch, and visited the cows and chickens before we left.

I tried to get a picture of Archer and Maverick sitting on a pumpkin together to replicate a really cute one that we took last year, but, toddlers. Of course, he didn’t want to do something that we wanted him to do! So I got one of Archer by himself and suggested that Brad and I sit on the pumpkin. Lo and behold, as soon as we sat down, here came Maverick, eager to sit on a pumpkin with us, not his brother!

And about sums up how things are going at our house right now. It’s Maverick’s way or the high way … or in our case—where we don’t give into his every demand—tears and tantrums.

Dad and Sons Standing on Rocky Ledge in Port Moody Forest

Family Forest Adventures

TV and Entertainment Unit Decorated for Fall

Fall Decor

Homemade Vegan Apple Cider Donuts

Vegan Apple Cider Donuts for Thanksgiving Dinner

Anya

I’ve been working very hard the last month or more to finish the next round of edits on my book, Romilegal: Downtown. Thankfully, I met my own, self-imposed deadline of the end of the month to send it off to my trusty test-reader, and someone new! And while I’m excited to hear what they have to say about this next draft, I’m even more excited about my next project, inspired by a post I read on one of the Facebook Groups I’m a member of, for fans of Off the Vine Podcast. The post was written by a woman in her early twenties that didn’t know she was pregnant until she got to the hospital, in labour!

It’s a thing.

I checked.

And I was inspired to write a story about a fictional character that goes through the same thing. The last couple of days, I have been working on my outline in preparation for National Novel Writing Month, which starts on Sunday. The name of the game is to write 50,000 words (an average of 1,700 per day) in the month of November.

I am here for it. But I have a feeling that there's a chance I might miss this month's family update, too. I promise myself I will try!

Woman in Kids' Shark Mask
Woman in Comical Smiling Mask

That one time Brad used all the reusable masks and I was left with these to chose from to go grocery shopping.

Brad

Brad has actually been using the holidays he accrued this year that he wasn’t able to book over what was the busiest summer in recent history for him at work.

Too bad he’s just been working at home, painting!

We’ve been slowly painting our house and using Brad’s time off to do the work. We’ve lived here for 6.5 years and are finally making it our own. It’s amazing what a coat of paint can do! I asked for opinions on the colour in this post, and am so happy with our choice for the bulk of our place: Alluring White.

Brad had a lot of holidays to get through, so I hope that we’re able to enjoy some of the days he’s booked in December (he’s off for almost half of the month!) and not be stuck painting the whole time.

And even though he doesn’t go anywhere for work these days, I miss him tomorrow already.

Man Standing in Office While he Paints
Archer

Archer Bruce has lost a couple more teeth, is getting funnier by the day and is super excited to be dressing up as a power ranger for Halloween. Red. Beast. Check out this Friday’s post for details.

I went grocery shopping last night—which is genius, by the way, the store was empty—and when I got back, he met me at the door and said “I told Dad that I love you and him further than the atmosphere and back, so I wanted to let you know.” Awwww what a good kid! Totally knows how to tug at the heartstrings, that one.

He also knows how to push his brother’s buttons … but I’m doing my best to keep this post positive, so …

Grade 1 has been treating Archer really well. He’s reading and spelling like a champ, and we were even doing simple multiplication together over the weekend. I’m so proud. 🙂 We've settled into the school routine quite well since the last family update, so here's to hoping it continues through the winter.

Maverick

Maverick and I spend most days together these days. We go for adventures around our neighbourhood, he has too much screen time (which I’ve made peace with, thanks Covid) and while he doesn’t like listening when we want him to do something, he is a super helper, even when we don’t need his help. He picked up our laundry basket yesterday and carried it into the next room, just in case we needed it.

I think he’s also really strong.

Maverick is very clear about what he wants, sometimes to the extreme. He is growing like crazy, loves getting his haircut and is hopefully in a phase of hitting and biting and screaming and yelling that passes very, very soon. My nose still hurts from this morning.

All in all, we’ve been keeping pretty busy, even though we haven’t been going far. Next up is Halloween, stay tuned for costumes and details. We’ll be staying close to home while balancing traditions and the #safesix rules suggested by our government. Another Covid family update done!

I hope you’re enjoying the crisp weather, wherever you are,

Anya

 

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