Happy Halloween!

 We kicked off the fun with Halloween on Friday at school's trunk or treat! 

Here is C as Calvin (and Hobbes is there too of course!) 

Here is M as Macaroni and Cheese! 

We extended the fun yesterday by carving pumpkins. C did nearly 100% of the work on his pumpkin by himself!! 

Then today, Halloween of course, we went trick or treating! 

We've got lots of candy and we've had lots of fun. I hope you have had a fun and safe Halloween weekend!

A Birthday Weekend

Miss M turned 7 on Friday. Which just happened to be an early-out day for school for Fall Break/end of the first quarter. 

I got to pick her up and that delighted me. I love spending time with my kids and especially on their birthdays. 

Can you guess her theme this year? By the shirt and banner? Well, it's American Girl! And as someone who had to wait until she was 8 for her doll I was very excited for this special day. I really wanted M to get an historical doll, I have Molly, but she was set on a girl that looked like her. 

Introducing Veronica!

But, the real present was on Saturday we drove to Chicago to spend some time at American Girl Place. M did not know she was getting a doll at home, she thought she was going to buy one in Chicago. That would have been okay, but it was even more fun walking in with a doll ready to go. My heart was so happy to get to spend time with her for some special girl time. 

    

M and Veronica got to spend some time at the salon for the special girl and doll hairstyle of the month! Her cape even says "It's my birthday!" 

And then we got to have a very fancy lunch together and go shopping. My heart literally could have burst at how wonderful and special it all was. They even bring a plate and cup for the dolls. 

But the fun didn't end there. We then left the city proper and went to Medieval Times for some more family fun. And you know what? We all loved it. Watching C watch the show was among my favorite parenting things ever. Honestly, I wasn't expecting much but we had so so so much fun and I would highly recommend it.

After a night in the hotel we had one more fun activity planned for the day and it was visiting the Shedd Aquarium. We enjoyed the belugas, the dolphins and the rockhoppers. (The Magellanic penguins were good too, as were the rest of the aquarium.) 

We had such a great weekend away. Full of fun, love, fish and family. It was truly so special and I am so thankful we could make it happen. It was the perfect way to celebrate my girl and our family. We haven't had a family trip that wasn't purely to visit family since before COVID so it was really quite lovely to adventure together. 

Happy Birthday Baby!!

Sweetest girl. I just reread your letter from last year and everything is still so true.

This week you were Star Student in your classroom, which just is so precious that you got to be extra doted on this week and share all about yourself. In true you fashion you brought a picture of our family, a picture of you with your friends, a picture of you with your soccer team and a picture of you celebrating Family Movie Night. (I think that’s your favorite night of the week.) You also picked a panda, Frozen Fever Anna, a Princess in Black book and Spot It. Which… accurately describe your interests for sure. 

I am sorry for getting so frustrated when you make sloppy errors, you consistently teach me the benefit of kindness and slowing down. I am a work in progress too Baby Girl and I need your love and forgiveness when I am not giving you my best self. Just know that I love you so much and I know you can do it. You are my best girl and one of my favorite people to be around without question. I can't wait to celebrate you all weekend.

 

You have such a big heart and I appreciate you so much. I love when you make birthday cards for your friends, you put such caring and sweet details into every one and that sums you up right there. You show such grace in a world where your brother draws a lot of the focus. It is not easy for you to always be second fiddle but for the most part just kind of go with the flow, which is such a gift for me you don’t even know. It's also a trait that I believe will serve you so well as you grow. 

I love to watch you play soccer. It's sheer happiness that radiates from you as you play, I hope it's always that way. Sometimes you'd rather just stand and chat, but when you really get going you play very well. Reading has clicked for you this year and I am pretty sure that school is going well. (Having your birthday on the very last day of first quarter means I haven't gotten a chance to have your conference but I generally know you're doing great!) 

Right now you have the cutest smile. Missing those two front teeth and then two on the bottom as well. I am certainly biased but I think it is the best. Hopefully, we will get to see that smile a lot this weekend as we celebrate the wonder that is you, baby girl. 

This year waiting for your big day was excruciating to you. (Nevermind literally everyone waits 364 days before their next birthday) but it gave us a good chance to recount waiting for you. I love telling you stories and having conversations with you. You tell the best stories. And I love that you still mix up your words, seven might seem big but you're still just my sweet girl.

Happy Happy 7th Birthday Baby, you are loved by me so so much. 

Birthday girl and her loot. That she will get to open later! 

How It Started... How It's Going

Saturday was M's last game for the soccer season. It was a rough one. They were down to 5 kids because of illness, another tournament and then one of her friends broke his arm on the monkey bars. He still came to support the team though. 

 And then Tuesday was the first (of only two) practices for her new indoor soccer team. It's a 10u team so she and her other first grade friends are the youngest and smallest. 

They will almost certainly lose every game. The other teams playing are intense and all about the indoor. We're just in it for the fun. 

So that's how it started and how it's going this week. 

I Made Cookies

Unrelated pictures of my guy and the rest of the third grade leading the all school rosary this morning.

Baking is one of those things that just instantly puts me in a good mood. I haven't had just a ton of time lately to partake in such endeavors but I saw this recipe a while ago and it stood out to me. 

It is NOT Cakey Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. The picture looks really good. And I do love pumpkin stuff, and I especially love pumpkin cookies but I don't love the texture of traditional pumpkin cookies. This recipe seemed like it would fit the bill. 

I did not buy the fancy chocolate she suggests in the recipe. I did buy two Godiva bars and chop them up. I kept back a few big chunks to get the pool of chocolate like in her pictures.

Here's the picture from the recipe: 

Here are my cookies with substantially poorer lighting: 

I think they are pretty spot on actually. And they're delicious. I used a homemade pumpkin spice blend and I didn't add salt flakes to the top but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. 

And I am very happy with them. They're crisp on the outside, chewy in the middle and the best part: the recipe only makes 18 cookies so it's not too many so you don't know what to do with them. 

This weekend was the first time the weather felt like proper Fall so it was especially wonderful to have a treat to go with it. 

October so Far

October has quietly snuck in. And I am here for it. I haven't taken a ton of pictures, preferring to live in the moment. Things have felt busy, but busy in a perfectly tolerable ordinary way. 

M's class went to the pumpkin patch this week. And here is my favorite thing ever, a side by side of my kids doing the same thing at the same age. My two first graders on the pumpkin patch field trip. 

I didn't go with. Husband went both years. Because traditions. 

I've seen 2 shows this month already. Both working shows. Tonight Husband and I are going out with some friends to see another show, this one is just for fun though!

M lost another tooth. The perfect first grade smile I think. 

We had pumpkin sugar cookies for dessert during our favorite Family Movie Night of the season. A double feature of Curious George Boo Fest and It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.

I saw this again on the internet and it has really helped me reflect and slow down. These moments, even the messy ones with big feelings are important and precious.

These are my girls. My Emmaus group. Franciscan University created this Emmaus Group Discipleship Program and our diocese began an initiative to launch the program. Franciscan created a 43 week study for same-gender discipleship quads. And it's free for use. 

My group said yes and on October 13, 2020 we had our first quad meeting. 

Scheduling 4 ladies can be complicated so we did take some weeks off, for Christmas, a funeral, some vacations and illness. But we poetically finished on October 12, 2021. It seems crazy to say we carved out time for fellowship and study weekly but we kept our Tuesdays sacred. We never met on a different day of the week! And we gained so much from being together. 

The material is so approachable (and free for use) and has truly led us to becoming better disciples. 

We celebrated our last meeting and I got a grown up juice box. It has been so life-giving to have an Emmaus group especially after COVID pushed community aside. I am truly sad to no longer see these girls every week, we have a few things up our sleeves yet but our weekly format has graduated. If this is even a little bit interesting to you, you should really consider forming an Emmaus group for yourself. I promise it will be great. 

So here's to growing in faith and friendship. It has helped me to parent better and to run to Jesus more. And looks like it's paying off. How much do you love this picture of my guy praying a rosary before Mass? 

And that's what October has brought to us on this first half. But no worries, there's plenty more goodness on the way. 

Nailed It!

 Do you love to watch Nailed It on Netflix? Well, we do. 

Last night my small group came over and we had a Nailed It party. Based on the Baker's Choice Challenge from Season 2, Episode 2. 

I was the host, so I didn't participate. But we had SO much fun! 

Please, please, please leave a comment with your vote for the winner, whatever that means to you. Funniest, most accurate, your personal favorite... anything goes. But I need to crown a winner next week so please comment, even if it's just one letter.