How are your pinata skills?

 How marvelous is this cold SoCal weather? I'm wearing Uggs (well, knockoffs because I don't want to splurge on the real thing) and sweatshirts and fuzzy socks and I'm so happy. Well, some of us Wags have been sick so that's not super fun but it was all after the Halloween festivities, and before the Thanksgiving celebrations so not bad timing at all.

Heard around here: 

Angus: Just relax and look gorgeous, Mom. (This is why he's my favorite. He's gonna make someone very happy someday) 😊

I was helping Angus with his paragraph writing yesterday. (This has always been my least favorite thing to help my kids with, for the record) He picked a topic from the available choices and decided to write about camels. 

Me: You have to introduce your subject. Let's say you just walked up to someone. You wouldn't just start talking about camels, you'd have to say something first. What would you say?

Angus: Hey girl, did you know camels store water in their humps? 😆

We went to a birthday party a couple of weeks ago. We have gone a few years in a row now. Last year Addie made a friend named Dory. They were instant besties and had an amazing time together until we had to leave. Addie always makes a best friend everywhere she goes and it's hard to keep in touch with these little people. So when we went to the same kid's party again the other day, she was really hoping to see her again. 

We saw Dory's family arrive and Mya said, "Addie, your friend is here!"

Addie ran up to Dory yelling "DORYYYY!!" and hugged her tight. Dory hugged back and their cheeks pressed together, smiles huge. Then Addie pulled back quickly and asked, "Wait, you're Dory right??" 😆

Halloween was a bit more crazy and stressful this year than usual. We participated in our church's "Trunk or Treat" event the Saturday before Halloween which was awesome and so much fun, but a lot of work. And the kids had something every single day Friday the 28th through Tuesday the 1st. That's 5 days of costume changes, faces that needed to be painted, hair that needed to be done, locating missing costume items, late nights and grumpy mornings. It's probably why half of us got sick. I got a little taste of stressed December Amie and I did not like what I saw. I'm someone who does not like deadlines, being rushed or the challenge of getting a bunch done in a small amount of time. I move at a medium pace and I like it that way. Not too fast. Not too slow.

I plan ahead so that I don't have to be stressed when something is due. I shop for people all year long so that I have something when I need it and I'm not running around going from store to store trying to find the right thing. 

But December is a beast. I can't plan ahead enough. There's just no way. So every year, I do what I can to get ahead of the game and end up acting like a monster when I'm feeling overwhelmed and apologize every now and then when I've crossed the line.

For Trunk or Treat, we picked a zoo theme. We already had the animal costumes, stuffed zoo animals and a baby gate to pull it off. It was a no-brainer. Everyone picked their costumes, Dan built me some things made out of wood scraps, and I managed to find pretty much everything we needed weeks before the event. So when Friday the 28th came, I asked all the kids to get their costumes on so we could do a dress rehearsal. Kids will always be missing part of their costume the day they need it... 100 percent of the time. Your odds of missing things increase the more children you have. 

Addie was trying to choose from a few different animal print costumes. She was already supposed to have picked out her costume the week prior. Trying to keep my cool, I suggested a cute leopard dress and held it up. She replied, "I don't like that one, Mom." I guess the stress rubber band in my brain then snapped because I yelled, "Fine Addie! Do it yourself. I'm DONE with you!" and proceeded to ball the costume up and successfully hit her in the face with it. Four children gave me a look that said, "You okay, Mom?" So I left the room. Not my finest moment. (Not my worst either)

That is what happens when I'm stressed so I try not to overwhelm myself. I don't want to act like a 3-year-old while trying to raise my children to be kind, responsible contributing members to society.

I love sharing this with people so that no one feels like they're alone when mothering (or life) gets the best of us. Or is it the worst?

Anywho, here are some fun pics of the past few weeks. 

Red Ribbon Week. Once again, not a fan. But here is a cute pic of crazy hair day.

Come fall, you will hear me say things to my girls like: 

-You know what would look cute with that? A jean jacket.

-Throw a jean jacket on and lets go.

-Do you want to borrow a jean jacket? 

-Is your jean jacket clean, it would totally go with that...

-That sweater doesn't match. Wear your jean jacket instead.

Aaaaaand this is the result =)

Angus felt left out.

Clearly, I haven't trained Angus to shop with girls. He melted down after literally 5 minutes in the clothing section at Target.

Trunk or Treat 2022!

Two zoo keepers, two jaguars, one giraffe, and one bear.

I'm pleased with how it turned out.

We adopted a lion too =)

Mya and I made a "zebra toss" out of a corn hole set. It turned out so cute if I do say so myself. 

Mya made a scavenger hunt with toy animals around the welcome area. It was a hit. And Addie decorated the table.

This isn't my child but Dan and I made the sign =)

While I was manning my trunk, other people took tons of pics of my kids visiting other trunks which I appreciate. 💖

The birthday party I mentioned earlier.

A minion, a cop, a gorilla, a Rastafarian, Bell, and a cowgirl.

I let Mya paint my face.

This little guy fell asleep on Mya. She loves little ones and plans to have a dozen kids one day so she was in heaven. I love that he's hugging his croc that fell off of his foot. So responsible of him not to lose it =)

Bell is channeling her aggression to take the spider pinata down. Successfully =) Every year for 3 years in a row, a different Wagenbrenner kid has taken down the pinata. We couldn't be more proud. If only there were scholarships for that sport...

Halloween Day. Addie's a chicken.

We came across some friendly parrots in Downtown Glendora =)

And the final event. Youth group costume party. Mya won an award again. I'm just so proud of my kids. They have skills that are often overlooked but skills nonetheless =)

Dan took Addie to Hume Lake for their Father-Daughter weekend. Mya and Winter have both gone and loved it. I wasn't sure Addie would appreciate it as much, being very much a homebody who appreciates her toys and being inside more than her siblings. She also claimed to hate snow before the trip. And she doesn't like to go places without Winter. But she had a BLAST. She may have had more fun than her sisters did. She discovered her love of building snowmen, drank hot cocoa, ate cookies, stayed up past her bedtime, and spent sweet time with her dear old dad.

Saying bye before they left...

"But Addie, what if you get attacked by a mountain lion?" Zoom in for the real tear. 💔

Happy Tuesday Eve!