10 on 10 :: October 2018

10 pictures on the 10th day of the month!

{Document a snapshot of your life & find beauty among the ordinary things in your day!}

10 years ago on October 10, 2008, I participated with 10 on 10 for the very first time.

It was super small & only a handful of people even knew about it.

My blog was only 2 months old and I thought it was such a fun idea to document my day every hour for 10 hours. My little Claire Bear was only 1 month old. Kate was 20 months old.

 Since that very first time I did 10 on 10, I was hooked.

For the past TEN years, every month, I have documented the 10th day of the month.

I haven't missed a month yet!!!
I have been a couple days late posting my 10 on 10 but I have still documented the 10th of each month. Sometimes life just gets busy & I don't have time to post on the actual 10th.

I love looking back on the 10th of each month and seeing the beauty in the ordinary days.

It is so neat to look back on some of those early years of doing 10 on 10 when I was in the thick of it with parenting 2 kids under 2.  How far we've all come!

Here is a sneak peek at our day...my 120th time doing 10 on 10!

It is conference week at school, so I knew today would be a crazy day.

Got to school and reviewing my notes for today...taught the kids Distributive Property today.

I always have a bar for breakfast...today I had the Pumpkin Perfect Bar...so good!

  One of the activities we did in class today was Distributive Property Tic Tac Toe.

My students liked it!

We had minimum days today because it's conference week, so I headed home for lunch.

Kale Salad from Trader Joe's....so good! 

It was so nice out today (80 degrees...gotta love Fall in California)

I also read my book for a few minutes...I am finally reading Crazy Rich Asians!

 I headed back to school for my conferences...the leadership kids had hung a poster on my window...we have the Run for Education 10k this weekend.

 After my conferences, I headed to the Elementary School for Luke's Kindergarten conference. 

Got home from Luke's conference and saw that some happy mail from Rodan + Fields arrived....samples!!!!

 I have 10 mini facials (comes with Redefine night mask, night renewing serum & lip serum)  and 10 samples of our new Radiant Defense. If you've never tried an RF regimen & want to try out our mini facial, send me an email and I will mail you one! I have 10.

If want to try Radiant Defense, let me now and I will mail you a sample of that. I have 10 of these.

Email or comment if you want me to send you one!

melissa_larson17@yahoo.com

 Kevin was home early (because he went to Luke's conference with me) so I ran some errands while he got some work done at home. My first stop was Peet's coffee since I had a free drink coupon on my Peet's app that expired today. Love the succulents that are in planters outside of Peet's.

I also had to return books at the library & pick up a couple birthday presents for this weekend, and while I was at Target I also picked up a few things for Kevin & the kids to try on for our family photo shoot next month. Going with a gray/cream/denim theme. I think.

 Spent almost an hour at Target...I haven't been there in over a month (!!!!!!)  Felt good to browse the aisles with no kids. The best!

Then I had to pick up my race packet for my 10k this weekend!

 Made some pumpkin bread....my kids have been begging for it this week as an after school snack. 

 Anyone else have kids (and a husband) that pick at the top of the bread while they wait for it to cool?

 These 2 loaves will be gone in 2 days. My kids DEVOUR pumpkin bread!

 Dinner time...I made Chili in the Instant Pot but instead of ground beef I used boneless chuck. It was so yummy & only takes 20 minutes in the Instant Pot.

I realized I don't have a traditional chili recipe. I have Taco Soup, Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili and my White Chicken Chili, but not a "traditional" chili.

So I've been playing around with different combinations/ingredients. I just need to do one more tweak and then it will be perfect.  

Wednesday night means youth group for Kate! I dropped off her and 3 of her friends.

 I love that she loves youth group so much.

After I dropped them off, I finally had time to go on a run before it got to late. My goal for the month of October is to go on a run everyday.

 I also decided that once a month I would just run 1 mile to see how fast I could go. I like doing random challenges like this for myself.

Then it was time to clean up the kitchen & organize backpacks for the morning. Didn't have to make their lunches since it's conference week, but snacks are ready to go.

 Sat down with a glass of wine & got caught up with some of the news for Hurricane Michael....praying for all of you who live in Florida or who have family/friends affected by the Hurricane. So scary!

I then turned on won of my Fall Hallmark movies that I have on my DVR. 

This one was called "Truly, Madly, Sweetly" It was cute, but it was based in San Francisco. Obviously I love San Francisco, since I live so close to it, but we don't get Fall here in SF, so even though it was a Fall movie, it didn't have the big Fall feel that I was hoping for.

I prefer the Fall Hallmark movies that are based in a small town in New England or on a farm. 

(If you are looking for ones like that, you will like Pumpkin Pie Wars, October Kiss,  Falling for Vermont)

So, there you have it....a sneak peek of our day on yet another 10th of the month.

It's crazy to me that for the past DECADE, I have documented the 10th of each and every month. 

What a precious time capsule these 10 on 10 posts are.
While I was watching my Hallmark movie tonight, I had so much fun going through my previous 10 on 10 posts. What a journey it's been doing this fun project and looking back on those baby/toddler years. Those were some crazy years with 2 under 2 and then a few years later adding Luke to the mix.
 So glad I have a glimpse into our daily life for the past decade. The days are long but the years are short.

Thanks for following along :)

For the love of October

Oh, October. 

How I love thee.
You have always been my favorite month.

October 1st is one of my favorite days of the year because to me, that means Fall is really here.
I know the first official day of Fall is September 22nd, but to me, it is October 1st
(probably because in California, we can still get temperatures in the 90s at the end of September)
But, October?
That's when the weather starts to change.
Days get shorter, it gets dark earlier and the air is crisp.

October is the gateway to the holiday season.

Once October arrives, that means it will soon be Halloween, then Thanksgiving & then Christmas.

My heart sings a little song once October arrives.
Leaves changing colors.
 Football.
Soup. Chili. Stew.

  The rustle of fallen leaves underfoot.  

Crisp & cooler weather.  

Casseroles. Pot Roast.

The smell of wood burning in the fireplace. 

Pumpkins.  

Cozy sweaters and boots.

Baking.

The smell of the Fall air.

Is there anything better than Fall?

It is surprising that I am born & raised in California. 

I am not your typical California girl.
Sure, I love the pool, the sunshine, the beach & the summer months.....but Fall.
Oh, Fall. How I love thee.

We barely get Fall colors here. 

Going to college at the University of Colorado was when I first fell in love with Fall because it was the first time I had experienced a "real" Fall.

I really should live in New England or the Pacific Northwest.

On my bucket list is to travel to New England in October to see all the Fall leaves & foliage.
So, every October 1st, it is like a holiday around here.
That is the day I bust out my Fall decor....not a day earlier....you know I am OCD about these things....holidays must be celebrated in order & not too much ahead of time. 

Yes, I have issues ;)

This year I decided to keep my Fall decorations to a minimum.
This summer I finished 40 bags in 40 days and did a MAJOR purge of my house.
I got rid of so much stuff and simplified.
Here are the decorations that I have up....which are barely any.
Front Porch:

Close up of wreaths...I've had these for years!

 I love mums!

 I will keep the mums out until the end of November.

Here is the most boring Fall decorated house...

 Mantle with 5 pumpkins for the 5 of us:

These are fake pumpkins from Target a few years ago:

 Miniature pumpkins in my candle holder:

 Mini Pumpkin from our garden:

Pumpkin Patch sign in our Dining Room

 Into our kitchen and all I have is this pumpkin on our table. Boring & Simple.

It's made of yarn...I got it at Target a few years ago.

 On our Kitchen counter, I also have our Pumpkin candy jar filled up.
The first week of October I fill our glass pumpkin candy jar with candy corn, harvest corn, pumpkins, Reese’s pieces and some peanuts. I keep it on the kitchen counter. It’s the one and only time I fill it up...the kids know this and have to pace themselves and have self control.
Let’s see how long it lasts this year, I think the longest it’s lasted is 6 days. Not that tempting to me, I only like the Reese’s pieces, not a fan of candy corn :)

October also means my pantry is stocked with canned pumpkin & making everything pumpkin. In 2009 or 2010 there was a canned pumpkin shortage....do you remember that? Ever since then I stock up on canned pumpkin :)

October means baking pumpkin bread (Recipe HERE) & Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins (Recipe HERE) weekly: Here are more of my favorite pumpkin recipes:

Sweet Potato Black Bean & Pumpkin Chili {HERE}

Pumpkin Spice Cake {HERE}

Pumpkin Cheesecake {HERE}

Pumpkin Bars {Recipe HERE} 

Pumpkin Dip {HERE}

Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies {HERE}

 Pumpkin Cream Cheese Crumble Cake {HERE}

  Can there be too many pumpkin desserts? No! :)

Last Fall I discovered that the Hallmark Channel had Fall Harvest movies.
The girls & I think they are the best :)

Just as cheesy as the Hallmark Christmas movie, but with a Fall setting.
I LOVE THEM. There are 5 new ones this year, set your DVR's!

So many other good ones from years past as well!

October means Casseroles, Crockpot/Instant Pot meals & Soups for dinner.

 Taco Soup is one of our favorites...YUM!

 

Last year, I converted my taco soup recipe to an Instant Pot recipe (and made it with chicken instead of ground beef. 

 It's SO easy & so good! Recipe HERE.

Other favorite soup recipes that I make:
Creamy Tuscan Tortellini Soup:

Chicken Fajita Soup is another family favorite.

October means getting Boo-ed and Boo-zed by friends! 
Of course, then we love Boo-ing (and Boo-zing) our neighbors & friends in return! 
Here is what we usually use to Boo people...I love boo-ing with cupcake (or cookie) mix, so that families can bake together :)

Download them {HERE} 

The adult version of boo-ing......Boo-zing!

Download them {HERE}
It's so fun to Boo friends. My kids love it! 
We can't wait to Boo & Boo-ze our friends this month!

October means going to the pumpkin patch & seeing all the varieties of pumpkins & gourds....they are so photogenic!

 Oh, October.

I love you, so!

What do you love about October?