I’m back with another camera catch up! I have lots of photos and another crazy dog story because it wouldn’t be a blog post without our dog causing some sort of commotion. 😉
So, let’s have a little chat while I share all the fun we’ve been up to!
Jimmy had some long work days about two hours away in Erie, PA. What’s a mom to do on those long days? Take the kids to the pet store! Dakota loved checking out the guinea pigs.
I’ve been slowly working on building Sadie and Mordecai’s cold weather wardrobes for the coming months. Mordecai was so excited that we found a hot cocoa-themed shirt!
We went to the Cecil Fall Festival and Sadie rode a pony!
And Sadie and Mordecai rode a train together! Fall has been full of so many fun things for the kids. 🚂
Another cool festival activity: a trampoline!
And then we were back to reality with Niva’s usual antics. We had the return of the raccoon.
Early in the morning, I heard someone’s dog barking like c-r-a-z-y. I was thinking “Sheesh, that person should bring their dog in!” and then it hit me that it could be our dog. We don’t really know the sound of Niva’s bark because she’s a husky and huskies howl.
I looked outside, and yup, it was our dog barking… at a raccoon on our fence. I went outside to assess the situation and figured out Niva and the raccoon were in another fight. The raccoon wasn’t stuck. It was just ~there.~
Niva kept jumping to try and get it and the raccoon kept peeing on her. By this point, neighbors were coming outside to see what the commotion was and my kids were all woken up. I tried to catch Niva and bring her inside but she wouldn’t let me near her.
So, there I was at 7:00 am using a broom to try and knock the raccoon off of our fence. Of course, the raccoon tried to pee on me and was hissing. I didn’t know what to do! This went on for a couple of hours—Niva and the raccoon barking and hissing at each other from their spots—until I called animal control.
Animal control told me to call the local police. I called our neighborhood’s police station and got their voicemail. I wasn’t about to call 911 over a raccoon so my last ditch effort was to try and get Niva inside one more time.
I grabbed her leash and hid it behind my back. I stood in the yard with her and then randomly lunged at her and hooked the leash on! Just another day at the Zottola Zoo. 😎
Sadie and Mordecai made slime together this week!
We worked on school lessons! Sometimes at the table and sometimes in the hot tub. 😬 Dakota also had her weekly speech therapy!
I’ve been experimenting with homemade candles. I haven’t had much success yet! There’s so much that goes into candle making—wax types, temperature, vessel size, wick types, and fragrance.
The hardest part is waiting for them to cure! I’ve been making a batch or two and then waiting about a week before I can finally light them. If it’s a dud, it’s back to square one! I’ll report back when I finally nail this down, haha.
We went *inside* McDonald’s for lunch as a special treat and the kids were thrilled!
We went to another fall festival—this one was right in our neighborhood! It’s a family favorite because we can walk to it and there are lots of activities for the kids.
We decorated pumpkins, checked out all the vendors, ate, played games, and the kids bounced their hearts out in the bounce houses!
Mordecai must have gone on that particular bounce house slide about 50 times!
And we loved watching Dakota get bounced all around. She loved it.
And we started a new week on Sunday morning with snuggles on the couch before church!
Other Notes and Thoughts 📝
- Scripture I’m loving: Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23. 🙏🏻
- Fall recipes to try: pumpkin muffins, maple chai snickerdoodles, maple apple granola, and pumpkin spice ginger cookies. 🍎
- I hadn’t used the sign language sign for “bird” with Dakota since we were on vacation. We were at the park and she signed “bird” when she saw a goose. I was so proud of her! 🐦
- We’re having Mordecai’s birthday party at the local gymnastic gym again this year! Can’t wait to celebrate our little guy. 🥳
Now it’s a new week and I’m sure it will include Niva’s usual antics, speech therapy, homeschool lessons, and who knows what else. 🤣
