October looked like this

Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping into the future…Thanks for bearing with me while I catch up.

October is my favorite month. The sky is blue, the air is crisp, the trees are beginning to make the shift from rich cool green to vibrant red and yellow, the roses scent the breeze, the acorns are falling, the moon shines clear and bright ~ but there is no holiday stress! And, we have a mid-month week-long break scheduled in so that we can get outside, go on a field trip and catch up on reading.

The Daughter started the month with a YMV (Young Musicians of Virginia) lock-in and mission weekend where the students have pizza, play games, camp out in sleeping bags, and then wake up bright and early Saturday morning to do chores and help clean the church that hosts their YMV classes and concerts during the week.

Our new AHG (American Heritage Girl) troop had the second camp out for the year; this time at our favorite state park, First Landing State Park. When you see beach pictures on our blog, they are almost always from this beautiful uncrowded beach on the Chesapeake Bay. The campsites are situated just behind the sand dunes under the long, shady arms of live oak trees, that happen to be perfect for climbing. Short paths through the dunes provide quick access to the beach for a swim or vespers.

She also had a great time participating in two very fun, but very different Trunk or Treat nights. The first Trunk or Treat was hosted by the church that charters our AHG troop – so Red, White, and Blue was the theme! Atlantic Shores Baptist has a huge harvest festival with food and music in addition to the Trunk or Treat which they hold the weekend prior to Halloween. The second Trunk or Treat was hosted by the church attended by our Board Game Buddies. The kids worked on a Lord of the Rings themed trunk, planned costumes and had a great Halloween!

We made it through the first six weeks of the term that I pulled together. Yay! And I used our week off to fine tune the schedule. Since we are reading about the Jamestown settlement we went on a field trip to the museum and reconstructed village. We also fit in a few afternoons walking at Norfolk Botanical Garden after YMV.

After three years of searching for a church, Mr. Garner and I finally chose to start a new member class at the Anglican church we’ve been visiting. It is not a perfect fit. We struggled to find a church that met our rather small list of requirements, and we had to make some painful compromises (no choir) to get where we are. I’ve written about the journey at length elsewhere, but for the purposes of this post I would have to say that in the end we are more seriously considering the Anglican Church in North America because of the strong Biblical stance and the beauty of the liturgy. We are considering this Anglican church, because every week the priest looks at us, speaks to us and cares enough to remember our names. Sometimes it’s just the most basic and elemental things…

A few photos…