no school november

 Between the Veterans Day four-day weekend, early out all last week for parent-teacher conferences and the Thanksgiving break, the kids are home a lot this month. I send them outside as much as possible, weather permitting. I'm thankful that they are old enough to play in the street and move to the side when cars drive down the road. 

We've been playing a lot of games lately too which has been super fun. Some of our favorites include Rummikub, Scrabble, Dominoes and Sequence. 

When all four kids are home and they don't have homework to keep them busy, if they are indoors, they are either playing together and getting a little too crazy OR they are fighting. One of the things they often fight over is music. I always have music on in the house. Ninety's hip-hop, my first preference, isn't super kid-friendly so we often listen to Disney or pop radio. (If Dan's home, Jimmy Buffet or Jack Johnson radio) Someone will sing along with the song currently playing and someone else will tell them to stop. Then the first kid will sing louder and the 2nd kid will yell STOOOOPPPP!!

 I like music and I don't want to turn it off completely so I've solved this problem by playing Irish music. It's mostly fiddles and flutes and not a whole lot of singing and pretty impossible to sing along to. A lot of the time Mya or Winter will pretend they are Irish dancers. Addie dances too but she looks more like an untrained ballerina on speed.

Things are so chaotic and non-stop these days that I've finally installed a google calendar on my phone and I'm actually using it. I know. I'm like a decade late. But I've never felt life slipping between my fingers quite like I have recently. There's just too much to remember. And just like everyone else, I'm trying to operate on a half-functioning covid fog brain. I didn't get Covid, knock on wood. I just think we're all still a bit traumatized by the last year and a half of facing heavy stuff on top of an already full plate. 

With all four kids in school, I get about 100 emails a day. I wish I was exaggerating. I'm also in a few bible studies which I wait 'till the last minute to read so I can participate. My sister Wendy, my mom and I are doing a bible book of the month club. So, in about 6 years, we'll be through the whole bible. We're currently in Leviticus. If anyone wants to join, let me know. All are welcome.

Since last blog, highlights include Halloween, which lasted 3 days, and then I went to Vegas. My 95-year-old grandma, Wilda lives there and is always pretty much my reason for going. And this time, my sis Wendy flew out from FL AND sis Stephanie and her daughter Lauren flew out from Michigan and spent a few days with me and cousin Wendy and friend Cyndi, having too much fun in sin city. We saw Gwen Steffani in concert, flew over lots of people on a zip line and ate and drank and danced, and I gambled. None of the ladies were interested in blowing their money with me, but blackjack tables are one of my favorite things about Vegas. So I spent a few hours gambling with strangers including a 73-year-old man named Hank from Texas and a couple with 3 kids from Colorado.

The morning I left for Vegas, Dan was returning from work and I was getting the kids ready for school. Addie complained that her head was hurting. She sometimes gets sudden intense headaches and pukes and then she feels 100% better and is ready to live her best life. (The doctor says she'll grow out of it) So I gave her a puke bowl just in case and told her to lie down on the couch while the rest of the kids continued to get ready for school. Side note: Mya has a legit puke-phobia and avoids her siblings like the plague if they are feeling ill at all. 

So, I'm cooking eggs at the stove and I hear Addie yelling that she's going to puke so I run in the living room in time to hold her hair back as the eggs continue to cook themselves. Angus enters the scene and yells, "Mom! The eggs are burning!" They weren't. He's just super safety conscious. He watches too many police and fire YouTube videos. So I'm yelling from the living room to Mya (who is just a few feet from the kitchen) to help me with the eggs but she was plugging her ears, closing her eyes and yelling, "LALALALALALALA!" Addie continues to puke and Angus continues to yell, "Eggs are burning!! as I yell, "Mya, Eggs!" It was chaos for a minute there. But I ran into the kitchen and flipped the eggs, turned them off and went back in the living room to get Addie squared away. Dan came home in time for me to fill him in and high-five him as I drove the kds to school. And although Addie didn't go to school, true to form she felt completely fine minutes later and was bored all day until her siblings came home.

Oh Red Ribbon Week. Still not a fan. But it does provide good photo ops. Winter asked me to put little buns all over her head and clip giant bows to them. Addie asked Mya to make her ponytail stick straight up. Angus WAS happy with his spikey hair until he saw his fabulous sisters and then he wanted a scrunchy on top of his head. His hair is way too short for a giant scrunchy. He insisted on a giant one. I tried. It didn't work. 

Mya made this happen in the car. I had Winter follow him to his class so that when the scrunchy fell off she could just grab it and put it in her backpack.

Jr. High red ribbon week was not the same as the elementary school which was confusing but Mya was on top of it as usual. They had crazy sock day the same day but the rest were different.

Twin day =)

He's mad at me for eating smelly tuna. If I ever need space from the kids I just need to bring out the tuna ha!

Angus asked me to take a picture of his "giant finger" and send it to his teacher. She didn't mind that he was flipping her off. It makes her happy that he's thinking of her. 💓

His teacher encourages the kids to put their sweatshirts on themselves which I fully support. He's pretty close.

He's not allowed to lay on top of the dog anymore since she's 13 and he's about her size now.

Halloween 2021 was a lot. I think I agreed to go big this year since last year was not amazing. All four kids picked 3 different costumes for 3 nights of trick-or-treating. This was day 1. Friday at school. A snail, a jaguar, a jungle ranger and a firefighter.

Day 2: Trunk or Treat

Darth Vader with a Star Wars themed baby doll, a construction worker, a mermaid and a black cat.

And actual Halloween. I didn't get too many pics because we headed down to the Higerds' and there were just too many kids begging us to go trick-or-treating in all different directions. Addie was Bell, Angus was a dragon slayer or a knight (or something like that) and Mya and Winter were Darth & a cat again.

Vegas! Sis Steph, Grandma and me.

Zip lining...

Off to see Gwen Steffani. She was amazing.

And sushi. Yum.

And grabbing a bite overlooking the strip.

Brunch!

A cake vending machine

Thanks for a lovely time fabulous ladies. And just like that. Back home. 

Veteran's Day. These 3 don't sleep in, ever. So we all walked to a park around 7am.

Winter baked cookies and conquered her fear of putting things in and taking them out of a hot oven. 

Winter didn't feel like bending over to get a pic of the two of them in their fancy dresses 😄

Dan and I went on a very steep hike that nearly killed me BUT the view was awesome.

They're the cutest.

This is how Addie cleans the table.

About the 50th pic of Dan snuggling with one of the kids. 💓

The kids painted these at church.

Winter decided at the beginning of the year that she wanted to get all 4s (A's) just like Mya did the last few years (and most years really) so she could get an award. So she did. And she got an extra award for excellence in Science & Social Studies. Go Winter. We see you. Angus didn't get any awards. He just wanted to be in the picture.

And a few days prior, they had a turkey trot at school. (A one-mile race) Winter decided that she wanted to place 5th or better so she could get the cupcake and ribbon. So she did. She told me about her turkey-trot plans a couple weeks before the race. I told her she would have to practice actually running, something she never does. I told her the other kids who are playing sports on a regular basis would probably beat her since they are used to running and would probably have better endurance. She proved me wrong and didn't practice running and got 3rd. She can literally do anything she puts her mind to. You're awesome too Mya in case you're reading this ;)

My recommendation this month is these boots. They are SO comfortable and they go with everything. And they're on sale today and tomorrow. But even if they're not on sale, they're worth every penny. I'm actually wearing them right now. I didn't take them off when I got home because I didn't notice I was wearing them. Ladies, you know that's not normal.

Women's Marta Combat Boots - Universal Thread™ : Target

My other weird recommendation is Celtic radio on Pandora. Get your Irish dance on.

And a repeat T-Day pic for the handful of you who are not on social media these days 💓

Happy Thanksgiving week to you all!

octobering in 2021

When summer ended and school started, life sped up. I still feel like I'm running behind it yelling wait for me! while people throw things at me (halloween costumes, class parties, school pickups, homework folders, soccer cleats etc.) This time of year always feels this way but I think it's a bit more because of all the limited activities last year. But all in all, we're doing great.

Heard around here...

Mya: (from upstairs) Angus can you bring me two trash bags, please?

Angus: No! I just want to watch Paw Patrol and have a good life!

Winter: Eeew Addie, did you just come over here and fart?!

Addie: No!... Oh wait. Yes.

Angus: Mom, can I do chores for money?

Me: Yeah. You can help put away the dishes. I'll give you a quarter every time.

Angus: Well, I actually need dollars. #4thkid

Winter: It's funny how many questions we ask you all the time, huh.

Me: Hilarious (as Addie and Angus start fighting)

Winter: You have an intense life, mom.

The girls tried to exclude Angus from their tea party but he wasn't having it.

A friend gave me this awesome water bottle as a gift. Angus has taken it hostage and has made it his school water bottle. He calls it his "Gold Grannies" water bottle.

Mya spoils these children. I admire her patience and nurturing heart. And I love that she calls all 3 of her siblings "the kids" like she's co-parenting with me. 💕

Back in early October...

It was 100 degrees that day so we took our picnic indoors. (I think Mya was doing homework. She's a busy girl lately)

But mostly the weather has been lovely...

I have never seen Addie get more furious than she gets with Angus. However, there are few people she loves more. I love them.

Angus thought this deserved a spot on the fridge. I like his confidence. 

Soccer paparazzi here...  

I usually find Angus on a "water break" instead of actually playing. He's all tangled up in his net shirt thingy.

I'm going to start calling Saturdays and Sundays naked weekends. At least for the littles they are. It would be inappropriate for anyone else to walk around like this.

I paid Mya to clean out the storage so we could get to the costume box for Halloween. This always happens.

We have an awesome pastor. He's not boring at all. But this one fell asleep mid-sermon.

I like to take pics of them when they are all sitting together. And what a lovely parking lot backdrop.

(Five minutes after we put our names in, waiting for a table, hadn't even entered the restaurant yet...)

"Ugh, when is our food gonna get here??" 

-Angus

Waiting to pick up Addie. Takin sunroof pics.

Not really sure what these girls are doing... random poses in the middle of the street, being 12 💗

So nice of Angus to give his tools his pillow to sleep on.

I went to high school with most of these dear people. I'm not going to say how long we've known each other but 25 years is a long time. None of them have kids so they continued the PJ birthday celebration and I headed home at the ungodly hour of 10pm.

Recommendations: 

This lunch box keeps food cold all day. Mya picked it out on Amazon so she gets all the credit. All the other kids come home with warm snacks usually, which is super annoying. I don't even want to think about the number of warm gogurts that have gone into the trash lately. 

This lunch box could sit in the sun all day and keep food just as cold as it was in the morning. It's pretty magical. And affordable. And there are 41 different patterns to choose from. I'm trying to convince the other kids to get the same kind. It's hard to tear them away from their beloved Paw Patrol, Hello Kitty and JoJo Seewa ones they're currently using. 

Amazon.com: Simple Modern Kids Lunch Bag - Insulated Reusable Meal Container Box for Girls, Boys, Women, Men - Small Hadley, Polka Play : Everything Else

That's all I got! Happy Halloween prepping. I am not a fan of the holiday as I'm sure I've mentioned before. It's mainly the costume thing I have beef with. And the four little people that can't decide what they want to be until a few days before Halloween when they desperately need something I can only find on Amazon that may or may not arrive in time. BUT, I do like this little meme. 💗 I would totally be the ghost to forget her sheet.