Five Things for Friday

1. I was so glad to discover recently that junior high still does book orders! Before that happened I was bummed to be missing out on the young adult books that Sam's 2nd grade book orders don't have but John's 5th and 6th grade ones did. But then John brought home a couple of book order forms and everything was good again. I've loved book orders ever since my own elementary school days and I'm glad I get to still do them though my kids! (I do order books for the kids too, not just me!)  

Speaking of John, I think his 7th grade school picture came out well. He's a good-looking kid!

2. Speaking of good-looking kids, here's Sam in his taco costume at school on Halloween.

We had no idea that this costume would be such a hit. People got such a kick out of it. We saw it at Target and Sam didn't have anything else he was burning to be this year, and he likes tacos, so that's what he picked. It's a fun costume and he wore it well!

3. Speaking of tacos, I craved them all week so we had them for dinner last night.

4. Speaking of last night, I went to book club where we discussed a book that I enjoyed reading this week, The Selection by Kiera Cass. I eat these young adult dystopian books right up. And that cover!!

5. Speaking of book club, it's made up of women from my ward (congregation) at church. Well, my ward is going to be a new one starting this Sunday. The boundaries in our stake were changed recently and now we're in a different ward in a different building. I'm bummed to be leaving such a good, strong ward that I've been a member of for over seven years, the longest I've ever been in any ward in my life. But it will be nice to go to a building that's a little closer to us in a ward that will have kids that go to my kids' schools, and a few friends from my old ward are joining us in the change too. The times, they are a changing! 

I can't believe I was able to do this whole post linking one thing to the next. This may be the first time I've ever been able to do that for the whole post. This is a momentous occasion in the history of my blog! Speaking of which (see what I did there?), on October 26th it was the 10th anniversary of the start of The Doll Sweet Journal and my first blog post on here. You may send all well wishes and congratulations to us at our home address. Or just leave a comment. 😂

Things I Got Done in October

October was a productive month for me. The kids and I didn't have many appointments or special events so I had time to get stuff done. I love getting things done; it's so rewarding!

These are some of the things I did in October, several of them long overdue:

✓ Completely cleaned out and organized all of the files in our file cabinet. I've been meaning to do this for years! {Big sigh of relief that it's finally done!}

✓ Started and finished a big clean-out and organizing project that should have been done ages ago for the church/gospel-related things and articles that I've accumulated over the last 20+ years (seriously), and made a plan to use them regularly now that they're organized into nice, neat 3-ring binders and/or magazine holders.

✓ Did a similar project for travel articles I've saved over the years (I love 3-ring binders!)

✓ Put the photos from our Disney cruise in March into photo albums and picture frames

✓ Got all the pictures off my phone and uploaded to Shutterfly

✓ Got new garage doors installed

✓ Designed our Christmas card. This is the earliest I've ever done that. I plan on ordering them this week. (Let me know if you want one!)

✓ Cleaned out and re-organized all of my craft supplies

✓ Cleaned out Sam's art table

✓ Seasonal wardrobe switch for me and the kids

It feels good to have gotten these and other things done in October. I love being a stay-at-home mom with no kids at home during the day! 😂 

I'm lowering my expectations for November, which is going to be much busier than October was. The kids and I have several appointments, there will be "special events" like band concerts, there's a no school day, my dad will be visiting, and we'll be going on vacation for over a week. So my to-do list for November is going to be much shorter (although probably still too long--I like a challenge 😉) in order to help preserve my sanity (what's left of it, anyway)!