Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween Friends! 

It is, like most of the country, really cold here today. But my parents have snow and I do not so I will take it. 

We kicked off our Halloween festivities on Friday with school Trunk-or-Treat. 

My Nothing Bundt Cake and Sorcerer Mickey had a very nice time at that! Both kids went around with their friends this year. Which was a new twist. They're definitely getting older!

In a not in any way Halloween related, guess who ended up back at the Eras Tour movie? That's right. And I even made these fun guides for all my young friends. I am glad I did. 

Not one of these third or fifth-graders asked me what song came next. It gave them just enough activity to keep focus on. 

I loved every second of my second viewing and I would still see it again so I am going to need it to be available real soon. 

We also made 9 of these Swiftie shirts for a special sweet sixteen gal's party this week! 

Also on Sunday Veronica wore her Vikings shirt for the first time! 

The good news was that they beat the Packers. But at the expense of Kirk's Achilles and I am so so sad about that. He's such a good guy. 

Last night we had school conferences. For the most part they went okay. After a delicious meal we carved pumpkins! 

I am very glad we were able to squeeze it in this year. It felt very last minute in my mind because M's pumpkin had rotted so I had to go buy a replacement pumpkin yesterday. And then the busyness of conferences. But we typically carve the night before trick-or-treat so we aren't late at all. 

Today are the class Halloween parties and fun! I am sure they're having a grand old time. We are going to go trick-or-treating tonight but it is VERY cold and winds are gusting up to 40 mph so we will not go far! 

Happy Halloween friends! 

It's Not Saturday

We shockingly didn't sleep a ton this past weekend. 

With staying up late to wrap and set up on Saturday night. (We always wrap the day before an event because of snoopers.)

Then Sunday night I was finishing my review and we woke up super early on Monday morning to buy M's school birthday treat. She wanted Dunkin Donuts but not any donut, everyone was to have a chocolate sprinkles donut. 

So we had to go early because that is a lot of the same donut. Plus she also wanted bubble braids for school so early to rise we were. 

Because of that, Husband and I went upstairs at the same time as the kids last night. We forced ourselves to stay awake a little longer so we didn't wake up at 3:00 in the morning. We safely decided we could crash at about 9:15. I didn't even want to stay up to see the end of the Vikings game. (Though can I tell you  that I am quite happily surprised by that outcome.) 

And when our alarms went off this morning we both thought it was Saturday. 

I am sorry to report that it is definitely only Tuesday. 

Make the best of it everyone! 

Happy Birth-Tay

 It was a full birth-Tay weekend for our Taylor Swift-loving girl. Saturday afternoon we hit the movie just us two! 

We LOVED it. And bonus... I got to review it! 

Just so you don't think the boys didn't get to do anything fun, they most certainly did. They actually went to a movie themselves! 

Back to the Future happens to be Husband's favorite movie and it was on the big screen for Back to the Future Day this weekend. C had never seen it. Do you see his shirt? They had time to kill before their movie started so they went to Old Navy to get a pair of jeans for C and found that too! 

They LOVED Back to the Future! 

Saturday night we wrapped and got the birthday banner up! Happy Birth-Tay! 

It was a real treat to see all of her favorite friends at Mass yesterday! We didn't have a party party this year. We may take some friends to see a movie later when some good ones come out. 

She rocked her birthday shirt all day. (With a skirt at Mass.) I Don't Know About You But I'm Feeling October 22! 

She opened her presents with my family via a teams meeting. And she got this Yeti hat from my brother that she had been eyeing for some time. She also got some of her favorite pajamas, crocs, squishmallows, books, a Tamagotchi, and art supplies. Oh, and a few Barbies. And a MN Vikings shirt for her American Girl Doll. As one does! 

We enjoyed the cookie cake from Sam's very much. Someone come get some because this is massive and we are just 4 people! 

They didn't capitalize the T in "Birth-Tay" but they also didn't just write birthday so let's just go with it! It eats the same anyhow. 

And just like that... she's nine. 

Happy Birthday Baby!

Happy Birthday Baby, 

When I was pregnant I prayed for a blue-eyed little girl. Such a vain, selfish prayer that was answered nine years ago today. You are my very best girl, and even though sometimes you drive me absolutely up a tree I don't take even one day with you for granted. 

You have the sweetest tooth which is perfect for my sweetest girl. This past year you have soared! With First Communion, the first full week away at summer camp and figuring out your passions and interests the growth you've had is amazing. Talking with you nearly never gets old and you've become quite the conversationalist. (Admittedly, when you get into one of your "Why" chain of questions it becomes tiring.) 

One of the very best parts of you is your incredible heart. You are so kind and personable. I can appreciate so much that you're not in the "popular" group (for whatever that really means in third grade) but are someone they respect. You have never had a playdate you haven't wanted to go on and are still so social. You're also incredibly observant and able to tell who needs to be cheered up. You're also a huge fan of Elowyn the recess baby. Pushing her around the playground is your favorite way to spend the half hour and I can see how caring you are naturally. 

It makes me so happy that even though I can see glimpses of your grown-up self peeking through, you still play with Barbies and dolls. I hope you continue to do so for a long time. I know I say it a lot and it bugs you when I sing "Never Grow Up" to you, but really, take your time. The adult world comes with a lot of responsibilities and playing Barbies is a lot more fun let me just say that. 

You still love purple, strawberries, pancakes, and art. But you've for sure come into your own as a Swiftie this year. I love that we can share this fandom together. I am so sorry I couldn't take you to the Eras Tour for real, I promise I tried my absolute hardest. Going to the movie together yesterday will be one of my favorite memories forever, I had the best day with you. 

I love to boop your nose and kiss your cheeks. Any time I can hug you or snuggle you it's my favorite. You are just one of my absolute favorite people to be around and I am so so lucky that God gave you to me. 

Happy 9th birthday! 

Love, Mom 

A Really Great Weekend

This was a really great weekend. 

But oh gosh. It started with a bang. I got a calendar reminder on my phone that the soccer game I thought was at 10:00 am was in fact at 9:00 am. So we all ran around like the crazy Home Alone scene and made it to the game on time. Barely, but we were there. 

Admittedly I was a little bit grumpy. I don't like mornings. Being late. Or cold weather soccer. 

But the game was good. M, who is normally on defense played offense for the 4th quarter. She got a few decent shots on goal, one that JUST missed and went outside the post and out of bounds. But the other team's goalie was pretty good. 

But then she SCORED A GOAL! And before they could even get set up to keep playing the whistle blew and the game was over! She scored a goal in the actual last seconds of the game. (They were already winning so it didn't change the outcome but it was still awesome.) M was absolutely just beaming. If I could bottle that joy I certainly would. 

It was a very very cool way to end the game and soccer season. Look at this team. They've been playing together for years and you can tell watching them. 

Even the other team's parents every week would comment on how they pass better and look for openings better than most of the teams they played. 

So from there, our day continued. We hit Sam's Club. (Which we joined this week with a special promotion. To be honest, Sam's Club gives me a rash but they have a delicious cookie cake that M wanted for her birthday next week. If there hadn't been a special, I wouldn't have joined. We still have our Costco membership too.) 

After Sam's, we went to Cracker Barrel for lunch. I have been wanting to go there for a while. Turns out I am officially old and I just love Cracker Barrel. They always have food my kids will eat. (Pancakes, burgers and delicious hashbrown casserole.) I am total sucker for their meatloaf. 

And that gift shop? With giant Kit Kats? (And M.) Who doesn't love a room full of stuff you don't actually need but sometimes sparks a good idea?! 

Then we went to Michaels. We needed some Taylor Swift friendship bracelet supplies, C wanted to pick some yard for a scarf and we needed a few other things. We hit Saturday night Mass and snuggled in for a nice evening at home. 

We also prepared the fish tank because C decided that he was ready for a new Betta. He pre-named him Santiago. And because he is my kid, he labels the tank. Lol 

Our Sunday was a lazy day at home. And oh, how I needed it. I rested in a way that was good for my soul. Sleep and a lot of nothing was exactly what I needed. 

I watched the Vikings eek out a win over the Bears. Our antenna wasn't working for some reason. Husband really enjoyed holding it for me so I could watch. (He didn't actually.)

I rigged up our vacuum to do the job for us. It admittedly didn't work as well but I still got to see it. 

Santiago was officially brought home. I think they picked a good one. We had all talked about wanting a red betta so that it didn't look like we were replacing Waldo. He has been settling in quite well. 

Husband made me corn chowder for dinner and I was SO excited because I have been talking about corn chowder for weeks! 

We ended the night screen printing. Birthday shirt for my girl is getting ready to go. Bet you can't guess the theme she picked. :) 

And remember that yarn for C's scarf? 

It's almost done already! Yes, I gave both C and Husband grief for making a "Chicago Bears" scarf today. (It had nothing to do with that, they're just colors C likes!) But still, a cozy day of a lot of nothing meant that the scarf progressed to nearly finished. 

So it was a really great weekend, even though it doesn't look like a ton. No one was taking pictures of my nap. And I am so glad there's no photo evidence of that but also so glad to have had the weekend we did. 

Nothing to Show For It

This week was full and busy and I have nearly nothing to show for it. So here's a few things out of my photos. 

This made me laugh this week. And a bunch of my friends laugh. Maybe it will make you laugh?

I agree wholeheartedly with this sentiment too. 

Wednesday was our big monthly family night at church/school/parish. I took a picture of my girl by her desk. She wanted to show us the story the class wrote about her in Spanish. 

I never took Spanish but I think I figured out what it says. I genuinely don't take for granted that they start Spanish in kindergarten at our school. Many of our graduates skip directly to Spanish 2 in high school and that is such a great thing. 

Yesterday, I realized very late in the afternoon that one of the high school's Homecoming is this weekend and that meant their homecoming parade was yesterday. The parade begins and ends at the elementary school that is about 6 houses away from my house. So the neighborhood gets CRAZY and crowded. 

I was taking the kids to the theatre for rehearsal and then going home to wait for the carpool to bring the kids and we would go to soccer. But with the crowds, I decided to go home and grab all the soccer stuff and then just go and park at the theatre and kill time. So I went to the Mexican restaurant down the street.

I got to eat chips, drink a margarita, and read my book. I believe some people call that self-care. It was incredibly satisfying. A total win-win, since going home and trying to leave would have been a headache anyway. 

After we got M to soccer, C and I went on an EPIC adventure. We needed to go get a study guide from his desk. But we were thwarted many times. I did get to snap a picture of his artwork,

And we were in fact successful in getting the study guide which we specifically went to take a picture for his best friend who also forgot hers at school. Fingers crossed the science test goes well for them both. 

And today is Friday! And it's the weekend! Yay! 

Monday-like Tuesday

Yesterday wasn't a school day. So even though it's Tuesday it definitely feels like Monday. I didn't do much yesterday. I have a bit of a cold. Which makes sense. 

I spent the real weekend chasing ducks. 

Seriously.

These are my niece's ducks and they kept getting out of their makeshift pen. And then C and I would chase them until we could get them back in the pen. Have you ever tried to get ducks in a row? It's a cliche for a reason. It's hard. 

We spent the weekend at the farm. See all the cousins? 

I was not looking forward to this experience one bit. But my family was. And we brought friends with us for the first little bit. And that was a lot of fun. We picked a ton. We sorted.

We surprised Husband's grandma at Saturday night Mass. That was probably the highlight of the weekend for me. We didn't tell her we'd be in town. We got to Mass and sat down. She came in and didn't see us, so we switched pews to sit with her and the look on her face... it was awesome. 

That freed up Sunday morning to go to the fish hatchery. We remembered more quarters this time around. 

It was the closing weekend of the little ice cream shop in town. And we were able to partake. And I am glad. It was great! 

And now we are back at it with work and school. It got cold finally so last week we did the "make sure your pants fit" and then a Target run. Funny enough I had figured out uniform pants but hadn't done casual wear very well. 

Happy Tuesday!