October has long been one of my favorite months. It feels like the month that kicks-off ONE BIG PARTY that everyone celebrates until the end of the year! It’s also the month I went on my first date with my husband 13 years ago (getting old!) so there’s something nostalgic and romantic about it. And like a typical Florida girl, I get warm fuzzies as soon as the temperature starts dropping below 80 degrees.

This year it took a lot longer for the weather to cool down, so we kept postponing our annual pumpkin patch trip until last week. Micah, Hannah and Chloe FINALLY got to pick out their pumpkins to perch proudly on our doorstep! I’m thankful for traditions and the memories that go along with them. I can remember going to the pumpkin patch with Micah for the first time - and now here we are with three children and I couldn’t imagine life without any of them (although, I do sweat a little more than I did with one!)

Chloe’s first pumpkin patch experience was so fun! She was super laid-back and chill the whole time. I just love my easygoing, third baby. Can’t believe we are coming up on the big ONE soon!

It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged a session! I stayed busy over the summer photographing some lovely families - even a couple out of town families that came to vacation at our beautiful northeast beaches. I am thankful to live so close to the beach and get to photograph here often. The beach is like a blank canvas that allows me to focus on capturing special moments between loved ones. I loved my time recently with this sweet family. They were so easy and natural to photograph. The two sisters in their adorable matching dresses made me melt!

This morning we joined tons of families in our community and “officially” started back to school! Even though we homeschool, I want my kids to be in sync with their friends and peers when it comes to the school schedule. So today was the day! I planned on getting up before them to cook breakfast - but they must have been super excited, because they woke an hour earlier than normal! So we started our first homeschool lesson together in the kitchen. ;)

They helped me crack and scramble the eggs and measure the cinnamon and sugar for our cinnamon toast. We sat down for breakfast around 8am and started our morning routine. I read to them from The Jesus Storybook Bible while we ate. Micah got his first bible at church yesterday and was eager to look up verses to read along too! This was probably my favorite part of our whole day and something I have been looking forward to doing with them for awhile.

After bible and breakfast, I had Micah and Hannah grab their backpacks while I hid their school supplies and books they would need that day around the house. Then I let them have a little scavenger hunt to find them! This was a last minute idea I found while browsing some ways to make their first day of school special for them.

Once backpacks were packed and on their shoulders, Hannah really wanted to go outside and ring the doorbell to come to “school!” I’m sure any watchful neighbors were humored by that.

They have been so eager to dive into their Math-U-See curriculum so we started with that first! I actually let them do a few pages over the summer, so they were already familiar with it. It was nice to have the video lesson to watch with them before we began. It helped to hear from someone other than me for a change. :) 

After we finished math, we started our new The Good and the Beautiful curriculum for Hannah (Level K Primer) and Micah (Level K). I was impressed! I appreciated that Hannah’s lesson was really short. She could do more, but I would much rather have to add things on top of the curriculum than feel like it is way too much for her to complete or enjoy. Micah, on the other hand, took about an hour to complete his lesson for the day. There was everything from reading, phonics, spelling and poetry memorization. I felt like it was a perfect starting point for him!

We finished everything around 11am and then headed to Chikfila for a celebration lunch on a job well done!