I never imagined that a Kardashian and I would have anything in common (and other notes from Falltime)

It seems like just yesterday that October came sailing in with glorious falltime weather (in the 70s and 80s) that found me dancing around the zoo, singing THIS IS SUCH A GORGEOUS DAY! Suddenly, here I am, wondering where exactly this month has gone, and where falltime has gone. It's been a glorious past few months, and it hasn't exactly flown by-it's felt full and long in a good way. 

WARNING: long-winded, old-fashioned update post ahead. And my camera broke, so there are no pictures, just a lot of wordy rambles. 

There have been gatherings and conversations with dear friends, planning sessions for Christmas travels, and park days galore. One evening, we walked by a house on a street nearby that has what I think looks like The Great Deku Tree from The Legend of Zelda (it's a humongous and perfectly-proportioned tree) and met the man who lives there. He immediately invited us to come up to the tree and look at all the numerous fairy houses that are around the trunk. 

We've done a couple of homeschool field trips, visited neighbors, and visited a new-ish Home for the Dying that is run by a local Catholic religious sister. We've had some wonderful family time playing games and watching Detective Pikachu (I liked it more than I thought I would; I had pretty low expectations haha!) and attending an AMAZING Wildlife Expo where we got to fish and eat buffalo chili and learn about buckskin-making, among other things. I got to catch up with some friends for the first time in several years at a wedding, we had a spontaneous and delightful adventure in the heart of OKC (one of my goals is to get more familiar with the downtown area). 

We went to a delightful All Saints Day party on Halloween, and then I took the kids on a "field trip" to a local roastery so I could buy coffee and so my preschooler could see what a coffee roaster looks like...and also so he could trick-or-treat there ;) This year, it was not insanely cold on Halloween, so we all went neighborhood trick-or-treating, which was awesome! It was the first time in my life that I went trick-or-treating in a neighborhood, and I even passed out candy for a little while. I had so much fun doing that, and I am now a believer in Halloween trick-or-treating. 

There have been some sad and difficult moments, too. My husband had some crazy weeks of work and health stuff, which were exhausting and not fun. My elderly grandma died, which was not unexpected, but is still sad. The timing of her death is beautiful, though, since we are now in the month dedicated to praying for all the souls in Purgatory (if you have a minute, please send up a prayer for her soul). And lately, the baby has had some rough nights here and there, which are exhausting. He's also suddenly drastically decreased the amount of breastfeeding he's doing, which is great, but is also a little exhausting because emotions and hormones can run a little haywire during that time. 

Here we are in November, and I'm looking forward to some walks outside, trips to the local science museum (we recently went for the first time and soon after bought a museum pass), and lots of more books. My three-year-old seems to be anticipating candy, because at the All Saints Day party, he put together a bag holding 30 pieces of candy. The prayer of St. Gertrude for the souls in Purgatory is on the outside of the bag, so everyday we pray together and then he eats a piece of candy. He now gets VERY excited to pray for the souls who are "getting all cleaned up for Jesus!" each day.

Okay, so I have to say something about the Kardashians, so here we go: I basically live under a rock. I don't watch the news (we don't even have a TV), I do not spend much time on social media, and I do not pay any attention to pop culture. Recently, someone told me about Kanye West & Kim Kardashian, so I had to look them up. I know that some people are debating back and forth over questions like "is Kanye's conversion authentic?" and "What part does mental illness play in all this?" but I personally don't see the point in those debates. I think he's on a journey, and we need to remember that a journey of Faith can be a slow process; so let's all pray for him and rejoice that he's bringing Christ into secular-world conversations. And as for Kim Kardashian, well-I don't know what her spiritual life is like, and I am not a fan of some things that she does, but when I saw the news that she and her kids were baptized in the Armenian Apostolic Church, I was pretty excited. We live in a culture that often does not grasp a sense of the sacred or understand Liturgy and religious rituals, so to see her publicly posting photos from an Orthodox Baptism was awesome. Also, she was wearing a lovely veil, and as someone who veils, I appreciated that immensely :) 

Well, I think I'll end here for the night. I hope that you all are having a great start to the week. A book review post will be coming soon, since I have been reading loads of interesting books lately!