I can't believe that I sit here on October 31st without one single blog post. This month has been a BLUR but I'm going to try and condense it down to one post courtesy of our iPhones.
We wrapped up the Steelers' football season with a winning game.
They even got trophies for their effort!
We had parent/teacher conferences with Phoebe's teacher and she got an excellent report. She's in the top reading group, very social. In fact, her desk was very near the teacher's desk and she recalled that Phoebe would get up and stand near her, asking if she could help. At least this kiddo has a hard time staying seated no matter where she is - we'd been wondering if it was only when she was with us!
Since conferences were offered before and after school, Phoebe went to work with me the Friday that school was closed for more conferences. She "worked" on her Frozen word search and raided our snack baskets.
Then we braved the rain to grab lunch!
This girl is consistent - of course she picked Jimmy John's! And she's excited about it, too!
We had two birthday parties for friends in the first half of the month. The first one I sat and chatted with other moms and got NO pictures. The second one I tried to get pictures but it was a bit more challenging since it was at a gym and I had my hands full with Maverick. Phoebe was one of two girls at the party and held her own in each game they played.
This wee one loved stomping around on the bleachers.
Ryan and I also celebrated our TEN YEAR wedding anniversary. The kiddos got to spend the night at YiaYia and Papou's so we could dine in peace. No anniversary is complete without creme brulee!
We can tell the holidays are fast approaching as toys have begun to take over the aisles at Costco. The kids go a little crazy this time of year - I tell them to pick out some things they'd like and then take pictures so I don't forget...
THIS isn't going to happen but they ask EVERY year...
Granddaddy came up to Indiana for a wedding and we met him for lunch. We arrived a bit ahead of him so we ran into Menard's and they were also getting into the Christmas spirit.
Someone is mimicking his sister's poses...
Making a mental note to practice some more manly stances!
Obviously, it was a thrilling bit of conversation once we got back home!
Phoebe's school had spirit week and each day they had to dress up a certain way. One day, they were to dress up like someone they admire and Phoebe chose ME! Bless her heart, she picked out stripes and jeans (she knows me SO well).
They also had a Kindergarten/First Grade movie night at her school. They all dressed up in their pjs and brought their sleeping bags. Pizza, popcorn, lemonade - it was pure chaos but she had lots of fun!
Ryan's company has been super busy this month, in fact, he's been traveling and working weekends just to try and help out his team so I've been on my own each Saturday and have a greater appreciation for all those who do it alone, all the time. It's no easy task to be a parent WITH a spouse, and I'm so grateful that most of the time, I have Ryan to team up with!
Since the germs finally made their way through our family and we were once again healthy, we headed to the pediatrician's office since they're offering flu clinics every Saturday to get our flu vaccines. I sort of had to bribe Maverick to sit still with lollipops and promises of donuts.
Then we went shopping for costumes. Phoebe had been telling everyone she was going to be a cheerleader but once she realized that Maverick was going to get to purchase a new costume, she would have nothing less! So...a banana and a dinosaur. I would never have guessed in a million years that this is what we'd come home with! Thankfully, both can be pulled off with hats, coats and gloves since it'll be in the low 40s when it's time to go trick or treating!
Ryan got home late in the afternoon with enough time for us to make an attempt to go pick pumpkins at Tuttle's.
The sky was a little daunting and the temperatures plummeted so we hustled to find our pumpkins.
Our kids were troopers but it was a fast trip!
Especially when it started to rain!
Nothing like some gray clouds and chilly temps to get us in the mood for chicken soup. Phoebe wanted to chop up all the chicken and did a great job! I thought she might gobble it up since she helped make it but she still claims that she does NOT like soup. We'll be working on that one this year, for sure!
One Sunday after brunch at one of my favorite spots, we took a couple pictures with the town's scarecrows. Maverick loved the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
And everyone loved Olaf!
Maverick is not a sleep-through-the-night kind of kid so more mornings than not, this is what I wake up to. It makes for some rough moments when the alarm goes off, but I'll miss his snuggles when he gets older.
My Uncle John passed away in the middle of the month so we headed to Chicago to celebrate his life with my dad's side of the family. Bless Uncle Steve's heart - you see me in the far right corner, laughing and not paying a bit of attention to my kids!? I think they were a welcome distraction for all.
My office has had at least two people gone simultaneously all month long and poor Phoebe got to spend her Fall Break in my office. She had lots of tasks to keep her busy and she believes she should get compensated for all her hard work! Here we are headed outside to grab breakfast at Einstein's!
This one LOVES a good chocolate chip bagel!
Friday after lunch, she got to go hang out with her lifelong buddy, Hadley. As soon as they got to Hadley's house, they changed into their pjs and made blanket forts.
And played.
After the sleepover fun, I'd told Phoebe we could get haircuts (as Mack was looking a bit shaggy) so we headed to Cookie Cutters.
While Phoebe took care of herself, I manhandled this one and stuffed sour gummy bat candy into his mouth till the hairdresser was finished! He looks so grown up!
And this one chopped it ALL off! You can see in her eyes that she didn't get much sleep the night before! Hadley's mom said they went to bed around 11 and were up at 8.
We decided to brave the crowds and take our two tired kiddos to the Headless Horseman at Conner Prairie. I grew up going to this event and always enjoyed it and so wanted my kids to as well. However, it was the last weekend for the event and I'm pretty sure at least 1/3 of Indiana showed up! Our hayride tickets were for 8:15 and we finally called it a night when at 7:30 they were just boarding the 6:45 rides. They still managed to find other things to have fun with! Fairy houses hidden in the hay.
Burlap sack slides.
Up and down hills - just because!
Someone knows to protect her head!
Flying monkeys.
We actually had a little heat wave over the weekend where it got into the upper 70s/lower 80s and spent a lot of time at the park!
With Halloween days away, we decided to try our hand at carving pumpkins. Luckily, Phoebe's class had just had a "pumpkin lab" at school so she knew just what to do to get all the seeds out!
With a few stencils and Ryan's expertise, we're now ready for the trick-or-treaters! We've been reading "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" for weeks now and Ryan believes we should give at least one kid in each group a rock while Maverick keeps running around yelling, "Money or eats!" We'll see what he actually says when he rings the doorbell tonight!
