October in Portland

October is one of my favorite months. I am over my end of summer/back to school blues and getting into fall. The days are getting cooler and the leaves are changing. Like this tree in our backyard.

I love it when I start seeing all the colors bursting out on the trees. We have started breaking out the sweaters and jackets. I can start bringing out the soup recipes and the kids are busy planning out the Halloween costumes.

Also on the agenda: fall sports.

Soccer is in full swing for Tyler. She is having a fun season - her team has not lost a game.

This is the first year they have played goalies and have been taking turns being the goalie. Tyler has been anxiously awaiting her turn and finally got her shot on Saturday.

I kept warning her that being the goalie might not be as exciting as she might expect since her team is so good and their opponents do not get much of a chance to score. She spent much of her time standing there watching the game from the other end of the field. You can see Mattie and Lauren watching in the background.

At least now she is convinced that it is not that exciting and will be happier to just get to play.
Also Luke has been running cross country this year. 3 years at this middle school and I never knew they had a cross country team. It's not a very big program and he says he really just wants to run to get some exercise. This is good. It is always good for him to have a physical outlet for his vast amount of energy.

I love school sports. It's so much less work for me. He stays after school and all I have to do is pick him up.

This frees up my afternoons and I can actually make dinner, and sit down and read and eat candy corn.