September Recap + What I’m Looking Forward to in October

I’m a bit behind with blogging lately (or at least it feels like it!) so I’m going to keep today’s post a bit shorter!

^^ My little errands buddy! ^^

September Recap:

  • We enjoyed a more low-key Labor Day with friends and family. We had actually planned on some intensive work on a building in our town, but that ended up not working out. But, we still got to host my brother Tyler and our friend Steve at our place for Labor Day weekend, which was a lot of fun! We even had family over, too, and everyone enjoyed a campfire and s’mores outside…plus the usual board games indoors! 🙂 What a nice way to spend a long weekend!
  • I hosted a 30-Day Slower Living Challenge for the month of September! It was a lot of fun to plan and design the calendar, and I loved the emphasis on slower living that our month had as a result of this challenge!

  • Sophie and I started attending MOPS. MOPS technically means Mothers of Preschoolers, but it is a group available to pretty much any mom of young children! (And there are “mentor moms” in the group, too, who speak about important topics and encourage the younger or newer moms.) We get to know the other moms at our assigned tables, enjoy breakfast and fellowship together, do a little craft, and go over discussion questions each month. Sophie gets to spend the two hours in the age 0-2 room. Last time, she did really well! The group had a moms’ coffee event at another time in September, and Sophie and I went to that as well. It has all already been a big blessing to me. It’s so nice to connect with other moms who I can relate so much to!

  • We went to a threshing festival at a southern Minnesota town. It was neat to see historical farming equipment…plus it had all of the typical fair things: animals to look at, fun food stands, and more!

  • We also went to a local apple orchard. It was so fun for Sophie! She even got a bouncy house all to herself, which I think made her day! The last time we had been at that apple orchard was the day before Sophie was born!

  • We’ve had a couple fun playdates with friends! My friend Courtney and her sweet daughter Finley came over earlier in September, and then our friends Alex and Jordan and their two girls came for a visit at the end of the month. I just love seeing all of our little ones playing together! (And it’s great for the adults to catch up, too!)

^^ Sophie and Finley! ^^

^^ Storytime with Mr. Bjorn before our friends had to leave ^^

  • BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) has started for the year! I don’t go to a group in person (even though that would be awesome, it’s over an hour away) but I am loving my virtual group! We have Skype discussions over our weekly homework and we message each other on WhatsApp with life updates and prayer requests. If you’re curious about BSF, feel free to shoot me a message! This year, the topic for the school year is “People of the Promised Land: Part 1” and we’re going to be studying a good amount of the Old Testament. I’m loving it so far and I’m excited because I don’t feel as well-versed in the Old Testament.

  • We went to a pre-deployment farewell party for our friend. Sophie got to play with Campbell, who is a week older than her! It was fun to see them together again since they hadn’t been together since our New Year’s Eve party!
  • Sophie turned 11 months old!! I cannot believe it! You can read her update and see lots of cute photos here. 🙂
  • My sister got engaged!!! We’re so happy for her and Kevin! <3
  • I’ve been realizing more and more lately just how much I love homemaking. I’m a huge fan of the thought, “Outer order, inner calm,” which is so evident in how calm and less anxious I feel when my house is clean! I’ve been working every day to keep things tidy. My big cleaning day is Tuesday, but I do straighten things up and wipe the kitchen, etc. down every night.

  • Sophie and I got to hang out with my college roommate, Jenna! I forgot to get a picture of us all together! But we had a blast seeing their new house and going on a walk to their nearby playground!
  • Bjorn had a longer army weekend. They got to do some fun things like practice in a gas chamber, throw grenades, and more. (Fun for him; wouldn’t be fun for me, haha!!) Bjorn and his unit have been receiving some wonderful compliments lately from people higher up. I’m so proud of him! He is an awesome commander!!

  • We got our 2018 family photos done! 🙂 A huge thanks to my sis-in-law Signe for snapping the photos of the three of us!!! I’ll be sharing our photos here on the blog before too long. I also want to give a shout-out to Jessie Martin (go follow her on Instagram!) for all of her tips she gives moms on taking family photos!

What I’m Looking Forward to in October:

  • Sophie’s birthday party!! I can’t believe I actually have a birthday party to plan for her!! She’s not a tiny little infant anymore!! :'( But it just fills me with such joy to think that we’ll soon reach a milestone of a year with Solveig Brynn. Thank you, Lord, for this precious gift! We’ll be keeping her party quite small and simple this year. I do plan to share photos of it later on, though!
  • Sophie’s birthday!! Her birthday (October 16) falls during the week this year, so we’ll be celebrating her party on a different day than her actual birthday. Bjorn and I will save a couple little presents to give her on her actual birthday, and the three of us will have a tiny little celebration. Again, I can’t believe we’ll have a one-year-old!!
  • Harvest. Well, this isn’t something that every farmer’s wife gets super excited about, because it means super long hours and some of the stresses that come with farming…but I am looking forward to harvest getting going so that our soybeans can be safely gathered up! 🙂

  • MOPS. Since MOPS meets monthly, it’s something I get to look forward to every month! And in this age of social media, it’s also kind of nice to have Facebook as a means of connecting with fellow MOPS moms throughout the month as well.
  • Beautiful fall leaves!! We have a gorgeous tree in our backyard that turns fiery red and orange every year. It’s one of my very favorite things to watch for in the fall!

That’s about it for now! I’m sure there are some things I left out, but I feel I got the majority of them recorded here! 🙂 What are you looking forward to in October?