Happy Halloween!

 Happy Halloween from C3PO and Anna! We had a wonderful Halloween day, heading into a beautiful Halloween night! 

Last year it was snowy and super cold. Today was 60 and sunny. Halloween perfection!! 

I hope however you celebrated the day it was fun and safe for you. 

Pumpkin Fun

This week has been a busy one but we are ready for Halloween and what that looks like for us this year. 

Tomorrow is the kid's Halloween party at school. Both kids are entering the pumpkin decorating contest. 

Here's M's pumpkin: 

Here is C's: 

Other than a little help cutting out the foam and hot gluing, they created these all by themselves. Okay, I also stuck some pumpkin seeds in the oven to dry them out for a few minutes for M's pumpkin. But I would have definitely done another coat of red on M's but it's not my competition! They are a strawberry and a penguin if that isn't immediately obvious. (And they may not be...) We will drive them to school tonight so they will be all set. 

We also carved our jack-o-lanterns last night and they turned out pretty cute. We kept it simple this year and let the kids actually do some of the carving with those little pumpkin tools. 

Husband made his work pumpkin today. It turned out pretty cool. I mean, it's creepy, but it's for the office contest so I think that's okay?

We are pumped for this weekend and all set with our pumpkins! 

Weekend Wrap Up

 Saturday marked the last soccer game of the season. I am not super devastated that it's over because it was getting cold out there but man will I miss seeing our people twice a week. That has been super nice. 

I have determined that M played better when she didn't wear a winter hat. I will have to figure out what that looks like for the spring season. I don't know if it was distracting to her or what but there was a noticeable difference. 

Our last game everyone was a little off and we played a super aggressive team. We lost 5-2, but that's okay. We had good sportsmanship. (And when I say super aggressive, let it be known a ref said "I didn't know I would need a red card for Kindergarten soccer." It was nuts.) 

We went to a garden center to buy some pumpkins. Not the most exciting but the kids enjoyed it. 

This week we have a lot of Halloween prep to do. Pumpkins to decorate for school and to carve for home. All fun stuff, but it will keep us busy. 

Six!

 My best gal turned 6 yesterday and we had so much fun. 

It was the weirdest weather day, as only October can bring in the Fall. (February gets all the weird weather glory earlier.) It was cold and rainy. Like in the 40s. Very very dreary until about 1:30 where the sun came out and it rapidly heated up to a quite muggy 78. 

The good news was that my baby wanted to go to a restaurant. That was her big request. And since it was so nice out we were able to go and eat outside. So it was safe and comfortable. Yay! 

She couldn't narrow down a theme so she opted for Anna/Elsa/Poppy. We made it work. 

After her choice of breakfast which was scrambled eggs, she got to open her present from her brother. 

I sent my big 6 year old off to school and her teacher sent me a picture of her wearing the birthday hat letting me know she was having a good day! She got to bring in a birthday treat of Rice Krispie Treats, go to the principal to pick a prize from the prize bucket, and go to the library to pick out a birthday book. Plus hear her name on the morning announcements. 

As it happens, it was also C's teacher's birthday. And then she even sent home a little treat and a happy birthday note for my gal. Birthday buddies, apparently the only ones in the school. 

Husband took a half day so we could both pick her up from school. It was really important to me that she had time to play with her presents which wouldn't work if he came home at 5:30. So after pick up she got to open her presents from us. I had my parents on Skype so I didn't get any pictures of that though. Then we went to early dinner at 4:00. (Because that's also a good way to avoid crowds.) 

After she got to play for a while it was time to Skype in my parents and brothers again. We had her Poppy/Anna/Elsa cookie cake. 

And she opened the rest of her gifts. Look how happy she is with her kazoo. She really wanted one. 

Barbie was the big winner. So many new friends came to live with us. We got her the Barbie Camper, which is pretty cool. I think it was her favorite present but she really liked everything so I am not sure. 

We had a wonderful day celebrating turning 6! 

On Your Very Day

Oh, Baby Girl. 

I blinked and now you're 6. How is that possible? I am not sure. And I am also not sure how it's possible that I love you even more than ever this year. But I do. You, Baby, are just one of my favorite people to be around. Don't get me wrong, you're exhausting. But I simply adore you. 

You still wake up early. Like 5:00 early. No matter what time you go to sleep. It really doesn't matter. I am told at some point you will sleep in and I will have to wake you up. I don't want to rush a single moment with you, but I would be okay if you started sleeping a little later in the morning. 

One of the funniest things about you is your lack of pain tolerance. I can't explain it. Even the idea of a skinned knee can prevent you from participating fully. But that's okay. I love to watch you play soccer, you're a fierce little fighter when you want to be. You would ride your bike for hours if we'd take you out to do so. You like to be on the go. You have really missed Target this past year. (My wallet has not missed taking you to Target, however.) 

You are a little math whiz and I love it. I mean, I fully expected you to be a reader like your brother and me, but since you're right on track, I can adjust my expectations and just celebrate how much you adore numbers so much more than words. I am pretty confident you're rocking kindergarten. 

You are a little artist and I love your creations. Your penmanship is so lovely already. I just feel like I am gushing over you and every single thing you do is my favorite. For the most part... that's true. You are my best girl and I love you forever. 

It's weird how much I miss you during the day. It's completely different than when your brother started kindergarten. I just fretted when he was gone. I am not worried about you at all when you're gone, but I just desperately miss your sweet self. When you climb into the car at the end of the day and I can kiss your cheeks again I feel actual relief. You have the most kissable cheeks on the planet and I just love to smooch them! Especially since you are so not a snuggler. (And that's okay!) 

I am sad that you missed out on the end of preschool. But I will never for one minute be sad I got to hang out with you extra. I have always loved you, for every minute of your existence. I tell you that besides Jesus, I love you the most. But man, this year you just got especially likable. 

You are a good friend and you come alive being around people. Ever the extrovert. You're generally polite and kind. You love to play games. You love Barbies and Trolls and Frozen. (Just not when I sing "Let Me Kiss Your Cheeks!" to the tune of "Just Sing.") You sing loud and proud even if you don't know the words and hearing you belt out songs about how much you love Jesus makes my heart beam. 

You don't like to clean up. You have decided to be a food complainer. (Not actually super picky, just loudly complaining about most meals.) You are not patient. At all. But at least you know that. You push me to be a better person daily. You're just the biggest gift to me. And it's your birthday. 

I love you Baby Girl. I am so glad I am your mom. Happy Happy Birthday Baby! 

Mom

A little before school present action because her brother couldn't wait one minute more to give her what he picked out. 

Friendship!

 Oh man. In the past 24 hours or so I have been reminded of the power of strong friendship. Check in with your friends everyone. Even the ones who seem great. If they're your friend and important to you, send them a little text and let them know you're thinking about them. 

Then this morning I got this awesome email from Walking With Purpose. 

No matter how you feel about the pandemic, checking in with friends is important. You never know who is feeling isolated. 

All The Things

 So this week has had it's ups and downs certainly. One day it was 77 and sunny. Today, it's 54 and sunny. Sounds about right for October doesn't it? 

One thing to be so thankful for is that 2020 really showed up with the beautiful colored trees. We had that cold snap and then it warmed up again, which gave us just gorgeous leaves. I am not often impressed by the trees by us, but you know what? They are nice. 

M loves to look at the leaves too, which is also my favorite. Let's see what else this week has brought to us? 

Each kid got a dollar in the mail from Grandpa!

This little lady really wanted a hula hoop. And my parents thought she should have one. She's pretty good at it actually. 

This guy didn't necessarily want a hula hoop, but he got one anyway. He is still practicing to get the motions down just right. 

We also got Booed! Do they do this in your town around Halloween? This fun bag full of Halloween goodies appeared and now we are going to pass the love on.  

And that brings us to another weekend. It's not supposed to be very nice, unfortunately, but we will certainly make the best of it. October is speeding past faster than I could have anticipated. 

One of the little boys from M's preschool class passed away this week. He has been battling brain cancer for 3 years. And we are all devastated but put our faith in him resting safely with Jesus. 

I started up a Bible study with some friends this week. And I am excited about that. Our parish has also formed Emmaus groups, a program developed at Franciscan. It's small discipleship quads to dig deep over the next year in keeping hope in Christ alive and having a chance for faith community connection. 

Because man do we need Jesus more than ever right now don't we? I am excited to journey with some great women to live my faith as well as I can!

So that's what's going on around these parts. 

Halloween Birthday Party

We could never have imagined when we planned a party that it would be 80 degrees in October! But it was. So while it was definitely a little bit hot and muggy that was okay. (Better than the alternative definitely, though we could have done without the bugs. Minute Pirate Bugs are the worst!) 

To recap: M and her friend both have October birthdays turning 6. We threw a joint party with a Halloween theme to embrace the season. 

Did I watch Frozen II in order to find out how Anna's hair looked on the journey so I could try to replicate it? Yes, I did. And I think it turned out okay. I will get more appropriate ponytail holders for Halloween. 

Preparty Birthday Girls! And here are the big brother Party Helpers!

We started with a Great Pumpkin sticker sheet as everyone arrived. Had a scavenger hunt. A mummy race. 

Took a break for a snack of Halloween goldfish, ghost string cheese, peeled cuties with celery stems so they looked like pumpkins, pumpkin bottled water, and ghostie juices. 

We did a craft, played musical chairs, a pinata, bingo, and had cookies to celebrate the birthday girls. We didn't dare do a cake or cupcakes because we didn't want to get the kid's costumes dirty. 

This gorgeous space is my friend's YARD! Can you even stand it?! So perfect for the weekend. And hosting. And I really just love it too much. 

Because our girls are truly blessed, we asked for donations of food for those who have less. (Instead of gifts.) Look how generous our friends are! I am so grateful for a wonderful community and friends. 

We are so happy we could celebrate our girls well and have just a lot of fun!! 

What's Going On?

 Well, last week went fast! 

And I don't have a whole lot to show for it. 

Life was really normal this past week and that's great. It's a good deal.  It's been so nice to get back to life that other than masks, feels pretty much like before. 

It's been cold here lately but it's going to warm up again this week. I am glad. 

In kid news, M filled up her punch card at school and she got to choose a treasure from the treasure box. It was a BIG deal. And I am so happy for her and her squishy unicorn. 

C is the star of the week this week. I honestly didn't really get a lot of information on what we were supposed to send in today. But he filled the guessing jar with a lot of penguins and brought in some pictures and some things that he likes. (A walrus, Wheel of Fortune Wii game box, Garfield Book, and goggles because he likes to swim.) 

We finished painting the garage yesterday. Well... I finished everything I am going to help with. My friend ran out of paint so she needs to get some more to finish the trim. We used every last drop but the spots that still need paint aren't a big deal. (Because it's the inside of a garage. So... it's doesn't actually matter.)

Another friend of mine and I are co-hosting a Halloween/Birthday party for our girls. They both have October birthdays and would invite the same kids to their party anyway. Plus, no matter how we swing it, Halloween will look different. So we are having a little party. I made these goodie bags for all the kids. Just mini tote bags that were personalized with puffy paint. 

And that's basically what's going on here.