Once again I have let the blogging slip, then I think about writing one but there is so much to catch up on! Do I just skip past all the things I missed? In addition to not blogging, I have been failing to take pictures too! Huh? That is something I for sure want to get back to doing. Oh and then doing something with the pictures- like making an album, or 10.
In no particular order, and if you follow me on Instagram you have probably seen most of these...
Gabby was a witch for halloween. Changed our minds a week or so before Halloween. I decided she couldn't wear the old Princess Jasmine costume that was just too little (even tho she fit in it) for her long body. We had a date and she picked out this black dress and hat. She also asked for red lipstick.
Elliot was a fisherman, and he just wore all his normal clothes! His tackle bag doubled as a trick or treat bag. I cut up the painting drop cloth in the garage and made him a vest since we couldn't find one in stores (I even made my own pattern, but no worries I didn't do it all by the book. I didn't use any pins when I sewed it!) I cut out felt pieces and made his fish- cause every fisherman needs a fish or two!
He really does know how to catch them too! Each time Clay went fishing Elliot was by his side in the backyard handling them and helping to clean them. He did get to go fish a few times on the river too. Two times he wadded out in the water and grabbed a big salmon with his bare hands! yum, especially smoked salmon!
Have I mentioned he likes to climb?
I ran a half marathon back in September. It was a chilly, windy, rainy day. I finished it in 2hrs and 36 minutes. Not fast but I am not really concerned with time- I ran! My dad met me 4 times along the course, taking my gloves for me, taking my long sleeves, then my long sleeves back to me. He walked up the Taylor street dock with me too. Then Molly, the girls and a friend all surprised me along State Street and cheered for me, high fived and made me almost cry. Plus they had a sign! That was mile 12, it gave me a push to the finish. The finish line had my mom, and kids waiting for me- and Clay too (well he had run back to the car to grab my bag with warm dry clothes). I signed up to do a trail half a few weeks later, but a cold knocked me out and I opted out. Still trying to keep with the running, it's not nearly as easy with busy schedules, being dark all hours (so it seems some days) rain and cold. I do try to meet a group of ladies Wednesday mornings at 6 for a 4-5 mile run (with our headlamps) and my friend Andrea and I have started getting a few runs in once in a while. Saturdays there are trail runs with my group- not too structured but just a group meeting up and hiking and running some of the local trails. 6.5 miles of hills is tough- even walking half of it. It's hard for me to wake the kids up and take them each week to my parents for them to watch, while Clay tries to sleep after working all night (his 2night a week gig has him up all night, but it's going fairly well!)
Spirit week at school had Gabby dressing up, this was her rock star look. She was channeling Katy Perry.
I got to volunteer at the jog-a-thon and watch her do laps. I also have been going into her classroom every Friday for 2 hours to help out. I love getting to see her with her classmates and get to know them, and help out her teacher.
We celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary! Our car even got a few fun decorations for the occasion. We had 2 nights of just us, hanging out and shopping and watching movies, and going to dinner, and getting a little food poisoning.
This fall has had some pretty incredible weather. We are trying to take advantage of all the great days. This new park we drove past one day around preschool, they really wanted to go. I surprised them by picking up a $5 pizza with Evelyn, we picked up Char and Elliot, then Gabby and then it was back to the park by preschool. We were the only ones there, and it was a great day!
The leaves have been fun, and beautiful. To keep the house quiet on the weekends so Clay can sleep I have been loading up the bikes and taking the kids to Boulevard to ride on the trail. We don't always make it too far, but it's fun.
We carved pumpkins. Gabby had a crescent moon, with little stars. Elliot had a wolf howling at the moon. There were others later on too, just silly faces.
That lipstick Gabby wanted, she put it on herself and was really proud. November 1 I found all these red dots on the carpets that I thought was marker.... realized it was lipstick. That darn cheap lipstick she had dropped, I thew it away but didn't realize that a tiny bit had stuck to the wood floor. Later on it must have gotten on someones feet and then tracked all over. I have most of the spots out now, I think!
Gabby got an award at school for Citizenship. Her teacher had emailed me letting me know. I almost slipped and told her, and I even asked about the upcoming assembly what it was for. After volunteering in the morning, Elliot and I headed back in the afternoon and tried to not let her see us so she would be surprised. A friend kept telling her we were there, but she didn't spot us and thought it was a joke. She was beyond excited about the award! How come we were there? "Who let the cat out of the bag?" She really had no clue I knew about it and how and WOW! I love her joy!
My so loving, generous and supportive parents went on a few walks with us too! I Love them and appreciate them so much.
I keep finding all these "selfies" on my phone. The girl takes selfies, the boy ends up with blurry pictures of windows and floors.
Kind bars, love them but they are expensive- especially if your kids always want some if you have one. I found a recipe and made them. AMAZING. They are not too hard, you know exactly what is in them and they are so much cheaper to make. Almonds, peanuts, walnuts, puffed millet (or puffed rice, I ended up with a plain puffed rice cereal), ground flax meal, and the glue is honey and brown rice syrup cooked to a hard boil stage. Drizzle dark chocolate on top, yum.
My girls, reading books. Gabby is the biggest book worm and amazing reader around. I love it.
My "Helpers!" They take everything off the counters and wipe it down, but don't put anything back. They also helped with every drain- sink, tub, shower and toilets. All cleaned with volcanos of baking soda and vinegar. I was informed we forgot one drain tho later on, they are thorough.
We have a little hockey player! I registered him for the try hockey free day, his first time ever one the ice and I could barely watch. No pads on, it looked so painful to fall down just about every step. He wouldn't let anyone help him, he just kept trying! Since then we have been doing a little 5 session program (one more skate to go!) He has the pads (and now I even know how to put them on the right way!) his own flavored mouth guard, and watching last night was exciting. He did great, skating half the length of the rink, did a slow circle, using a stick, falling down and popping right back up. He was the youngest in the group, but he didn't give up and showed such an improvement and grown with his demeanor. He takes advice, lets the coaches help him, doesn't get discouraged! I'll have to upload a video. We are going to take a break from it and try it again next year tho.
Tonight he saw my hair brush sitting on the dresser, and I was laying talking to Clay as he got ready to leave. Elliot asked if he could brush my hair. So gently he did, and then Gabby got a turn. What a sweet set of siblings these two can be! Now to get back to blogging on the regular, HA! It may just happen, we canceled our tv yesterday!
