Happy Halloween!

As is tradition, we carved pumpkins last night! 

So much fun with their ages and the minimal help we offered. Mostly we scraped goop a little and I was the DJ for the evening. (I hit play on our Halloween playlist...) 

C took a lot longer than M so she was able to shower and put on pajamas before we got to the finished picture part. His is a minion. Those are overalls. Not a fanny pack. 

Then I went down a rabbit hole of all our past Halloween costumes. 

Sixth grade is celebrating Harry Potter Day today. It's a whole Hogwarts-themed day. My little Ravenclaw is very excited! And M was excited that for the first time since kindergarten, she had a costume she could wear to school! (I think Halloween was on a Monday in second grade so they just had orange/black day.) 

Happy Halloween! 

Fall Family Fun!

So Friday was school Trunk-Or-Treat. This is my favorite event of the Halloween season and as far as I am concerned actual Halloween trick-or-treating becomes optional. (My kids still go obviously but it's okay if they go to just a few houses.) 

The theme of the year was Despicable Me with my minion and Vector!

But the fun doesn't end there. In the nick of time Husband finished crocheting his scarf so he could be Gru. 

Everyone had a prop too. A moon (that lights up). A fart gun. (Borrowed from the middle school Math teacher of all people actually!) A tiny toilet. 

Don't worry, I also got in on the theme if ever so slightly. I have a Gru's plan to steal the moon shirt on. 

For whatever reason one of the goals of the evening was to be able to spell Snickers. (I don't even like Snickers.) Mission accomplished though! 

Saturday we went to a corn maze. C has been dying to go! Because it's Peanuts themed. 

And it was fun. I was struck during the experience that some people like go on vacation to go on hikes. For fun. I am not those people. But we made our way out of the maze and didn't get lost which I was a fan of. 

After the maze we went and had lunch, ran an errand, got some new snails for the fish tank, got our pumpkins (from the grocery store not a patch), and then pumpkin shakes as a little treat. All in all a fantastic day together. 

M also learned how to make a beaded lizard that evening. She had asked for the supplies for her birthday and has already made several other items since then. 

And Sunday was a busy morning at church but then a low-key afternoon. C's godmother came over for dinner and games and we had a really fun time! 

Can't believe October is nearly over. What the heck?! 

Cat Crafts

For this story I need you to know that my mom has been really into taking classes at her library for like the last year. And she's been harping on me to also take a library class. 

The thing is that these classes fill up very quickly and often have waitlists. 

So she started scoping out the classes offered here. That's actually how Husband came to take a rain barrel class this summer. Anyway, she very much wanted me to take a class so I let her sign me up for a String Art class that took place last night. 

I got there early. So early in fact that early voting was still going on and I wasn't anticipating that to be the case so I voted and now can check the box on that. I am delighted because the county moved my polling place to a venue that creeps me out and I didn't want to go there. ANYWAY, you should vote or make a plan to. 

So String Art. I got there and then immediately began texting my mom. The cat was different. Some people were mad. I liked the cat face better to be honest. 

TLDR: Everyone in the room had been to a million of these classes before and were shocked I got a spot because it fills up within minutes. (But my mom knows this from her own classes and that's why friends. Because I didn't register myself.) 

There were people just completely going to town on their cats while I waited for instructions which barely came because they all knew each other and exactly what to do. It was the weirdest and craziest evening of my life I kid you not. 

Admittedly, the actual crafting experience was fun. Not terribly difficult but I would love to make another now that I know what I am doing since I think I could improve my technique. 

Here are some of the other ladies' cats I was taking sneaky pictures of. 

This one was Sue's. She was the first one done so people were passing her's around as an example. I was happy when it was in front of me, it was helpful. 

And while I was at the class, all the ladies had their phones out to register for a class that went live at 6:30. I said something to my mom and it was weirdly a class she had already told us about because she thought Husband would like it. (That art major of his you know.) So... she got right on and snagged the class. 😂😂

Some women in the string art classroom got waitlisted and there I was with a ringer. And one lady was selling me on the classes offered at other libraries. So I somehow got signed up for a Holiday card class too. 

To be honest, I might end up canceling and letting some of the waitlist people go but who knows? They're free! 

So I gave it a whirl. The ladies were intense and it was a little crazy. But... I did get a free string art cat out of the deal so worth it? And I voted. Pretty successful night I suppose. 

A Whole Decade

Birthdays on a school day are weird. I don't know. But M had a pretty darn good birthday anyhow! 

She got to open one present before school. Her new Disney Loungefly. 

She LOVES it. She had chosen Donuts as her birthday theme a while ago but we actually had a friend pick it up for us at WDW in June and have been hiding it at my office ever since. 

She was tickled that the sky was "pink and purple" just for her on her birthday morning. 

I made them take a picture together in the downstairs office before they went across the street. Luckily we had brought her birthday treats over for the most part yesterday.  

Birthday treats are difficult because she has kids in her class who have a pretty wide range of allergies. I was leaning towards just a trinket of some sort but she really wanted a treat. 

She ended up with these ice cream cups. But we also got a pack of vanilla ones too for friends with dye restrictions and allergies. C approved of the walrus on the package. 

After school, she did her homework and went to the piano. Her bestie Vivian has lessons right before her, so before she left, her teacher played Happy Birthday, and we all sang. Apparently, they sang to her in class and in music class. Then our family sang again, so it was a pretty well-celebrated day. 

At all school Mass it was all about JPII and I love JPII. When M was born on his very first feast day as a Saint I was not sad about it. We used to celebrate both of them with Papa Johns pizza but M has recently determined she doesn't like pizza so... we had Wing Stop instead and I don't know how to tie that in to living liturgically. 

She picked a Nothing Bundt Cake Confetti Cake. Decorated like a flamingo obviously. And you can see her birthday shirt, donut 10 again. 

**We all had hats on because I don't know, something my parents and brothers were talking about. We have a birthday teams meeting for everyone's big day. 

I took no pictures of her with her other gifts except this one of her new Magna Doodle where she drew the Vikings logo. (We will not talk about Sunday's loss or the fact they are not top of the division right now.) 

I am actually really mad at myself for not taking better pictures of her day. At least I was in the moment but I could have taken a few... 

I think her favorite present is her Owala. My parents got her the bottle and we got her a boot to go with it. If there's any kid who needs the boot it's M. I mean to be honest, don't really get me started on the trendy water bottle thing and why this brand is the way to go now that Stanley's aren't a thing anymore. But she's happy and at the end of the day she's drinking water so can I really get mad? I didn't have to buy her Sephora so... I think I am winning. 

But she had a really great day and we all slept well! I hope her next decade is every bit as fun and joyous as her first! 

10!

My Sweet Girl, 

Happy Birthday Baby! 

I am so glad you're you. You challenge me daily in the best ways but also frustrating ones. You just know what you like and want things the way you want it. 

This is the school year we're focusing on effort. I know it must be so difficult to have C as your only sibling sometimes: in many ways, he is setting you up for the real world more than you know. The world is full of people who can annoy you and seem to be good at all the things and sometimes we have to work really hard to just try to keep up. For what it's worth, spelling is a good skill to have but spellcheck is really great too!

You are the best and kindest friend--I appreciate that quality in you so much and I am so thankful for you to have that skill, I pray that you will always be a good friend and welcome people into the fun along with you. 

Piano is giving you a run for its money. You wanted to play so badly but now that you're in the thick of it, you don't love it. But I think you will. And Taylor Hanson told you to keep playing so... sorry kid. That's your activity right now as soccer has come to a close. Keep going. You'll get there. 

People have been asking me how I feel about you being ten, since you're my baby and all. But either I am in denial or really well-adjusted because it just feels obvious to me that you're ten. You're ready to be a full on tween and I am so excited to watch you grow this year. It goes by in a blink of course but I just really enjoy who you are right this second and I wouldn't want time to stop at all. You're growing just as you're supposed to. 

I love that you love art so much still. It makes my heart so happy! Keep playing Barbies as long as you want. Did you need new ones for your birthday? Absolutely not but I am still so tickled you wanted them since others in your grade are asking for crazy things like Kendra Scott necklaces, Sephora and other things you don't know or care about. You might be 10, but you're still a kid and I am so so glad. 

It continually cracks me up that you're such a high-needs sleeper. And you know what? I am okay with that because you get good rest. As long as you're in a bed, not too hot, have a white noise machine, a fan blowing in your face, your eye mask, a blanket, goat and Shu Shu you're golden. Ha! Goal for this year is to learn how to snooze in a car. That would help!

You love: Art. Taylor Swift. Pop music in general. Pink. Purple. Singing. Playing outside. Spending time with friends. Strawberries. Donuts. Pandas. Camp. Shorts. Chicken Tendies. Cain. Dancing for joy. 

**I still feel bad that I couldn't get tickets to take you to the Eras Tour. But... sometimes we just can't do everything we want. I really hope that doesn't come up in therapy sometime in years to come!!**

I love you so incredibly much. I am so glad you're mine. Happy Happy Birthday M! 

Love, Mom 

First picture of our ten year old with her special donut! 

More Fun Stuff!

 Friday was Fall Fling for Middle School. 

The 6th graders went bowling. 

C had fun but an expert bowler he is not. That's okay. 

Saturday brought the ability to sleep in!! And it was glorious! 

We all went out for lunch and then to the bookstore. These people were all very pleased to pose for this picture too. 

After Mass that evening we split up boys and girls. 

The boys went with some friends to see Back the Future II in the movie theater. They had a great time! 

M and I went to our local minor league hockey team's opening game. We also had a great time! 

It was kind of crazy because we were down by 2 for a good long chunk of the game and then we thought we tied it up but the refs took away the goal. (They shouldn't have.) But then we did tie it up for real so we went to overtime! 

And then 14 seconds into OT we scored and won! Very exciting start to the season! 

Yesterday I saw a show and otherwise just kind of hung around with my kiddos. And it was lovely!! 

More Weekend Fun

Apparently, we are just working for the weekends over here! 

Friday night we went to see a concert. (I know. 2 Fridays in a row, what am I hip or something?!) 

This time the whole fam went and it was to see Matt Maher, Ben Fuller, Cain, and Zach Williams. 

M got a Cain shirt. We love Cain and she is actually right now working on a project about them so it worked out we could add pictures of them to the slideshow!

C has always loved Matt Maher. As do we all. 

Matt was up first. I love him so much! It was excellent!

Ben was second. You could tell he was the newcomer because he got this tiny little stage here in the back. Though the venue was way smaller than I expected and our cheap seats were actually quite wonderful, very easy to get in and out of. Which I am thankful for! Somehow there wasn't anyone else next to us in our row for about 7 seats either which was kind of nice. 

Ben put on a nice show, I love his story. I bought a tee shirt of his for me. I didn't put mine on at the show though. :) 

Then Cain. Which was a BLAST! So high energy and fun. M was delighted. I was delighted. 

Proof Husband and I were there too!

All of those acts were the "openers." I admit, Cain was our big sell for driving to this concert. It was about 2.5 hours away. We've seen Matt Maher from the fourth row before. We also saw Zach Williams when he opened For King and Country's show. 

So when it took a long time, like 45 minutes for Zach Williams to come out we were fading fast. It had been a long day and week for us! 

We probably stayed for a decent chunk of his set but decided to leave about 10:00 pm. Remember we still had a big drive home yet. 

But overall it was really great. I love personally hearing my kids sing and praise the Lord. It was so funny to me, the people we were seated next to were ALL In for Zach and didn't seem to know who the other 3 acts were. And we were like, yeah, Zach is lovely but let's go home. 

One lady even complimented me about how blessed I was to have children with beautiful voices to praise the Lord. And I have thought about that a lot. I am absolutely so blessed. 

After a sleep that admittedly was a little short for my liking, we had M's final soccer game. 

I am a little sad soccer is over, but I am also not sad that we don't have any more practices or games if that makes sense. I enjoy low-stakes soccer! 

Then yesterday to continue the Arts and Cultural October we're having, we went to see Addams Family. 

And we had a really nice time there too! 

The best news is that today is a no-school day and I don't think anyone is particularly sad about that one bit. I am not anyway. :)