October - My favorite month!

I love October!  Don't you?  This is my absolute favorite time of year!  Here in Florida, we don't get much of a fall and our winter only lasts about two weeks....but that doesn't usually start until February.  Still, the weather here in Jacksonville has been THE BEST these past few days!  I'm not kidding....they've been the "open all the windows" kind of days!  This morning, it was 51 degrees outside!  Nathan and Amelia whined about needing a jacket to go to school.  My little Olivia, who is just like her momma, said she didn't need a coat!

On Saturday, the girls played outside ALL DAY!  They built a fort, played on the swing set, chased the cats, picked pecans and tried to hide from the fire ants!  I aired out the house by opening all the windows!  It felt so good!  I watched the cats chase butterflies and lounge in the shade of the trees.  Dan brought out the hammock from the garage and took a nap!  I ran around the house, cleaning, folding laundry, changing beds, put beef stew in the crock pot and enjoyed the energy that the cooler weather brought!  The kids decided they wanted to have a "camp out", so my hubby put up the tent and made popcorn.  Olivia came in the house about 10:00pm complaining of being scared....but the rest of them slept outside all night!  I enjoyed the cool weather from the comfort of my bed (I'm not really a camper).

October is also Breast Cancer Awareness month.  A dear friend has sent me some wonderful hand made items to give away in honor of this special month!  You'll be hearing more about that in the days to come!  I must admit though, I'm tired of the pink and all the talk about "awareness".  I think, for the most part, everyone is "aware" of breast cancer.  Heck, most people have been personally affected by it...either themselves or someone they know!  I think we should begin to move away from the "awareness" aspect of the disease and start doing more for research or helping those with the disease to cope better on a daily basis.  I've got lots of ideas I'd love to pass by you...stay tuned!

We also celebrate Our Lady of the Rosary this month!  I love the rosary!  Sometimes, as I sit and ponder all the evil in the world today, I begin to realize more and more that one of the greatest weapons we have against the enemy is the rosary!  This is from "The Secret of the Rosary" by St. Louis De Monfort....from The Seventeenth Rose...."The heretics, all of whom are children of the devil and clearly bear the sign of God's reprobation, have a horror of the Hail Mary.  They still say the Our Father but never the Hail Mary; they would rather wear a poisonous snake around their necks than wear a scapular or carry a rosary".  All the more reason to make saying the rosary a part of our daily prayer time! 

There are lots of other Feast Days this month.....St. Francis of Assisi (4th), St. Faustina (5th),  St. Gerard (16th) and Blessed John Paul II (22nd) just to name a few!  Why not take a few minutes each day and read about each Saint, ask for their protection and favor!

Enjoy your October!