The month of October

I feel like a broken record when I say that I cannot believe how packed our months have become, from now until the new year.  I know it isn't going to slow down at all until then, and at that point, I wish it would speed up to get through the dead of winter. 

October was filled with so many things, and even things that aren't a usual annual event for us.  We had two weddings, three birthdays, plus non family birthday parties and Gwen's own friend birthday party and just as it slowed down we had to get ready for Halloween.  To say I did not do a very good job being a mom this Halloween would be an understatement.  I had to make some priority changes and we had a deck project thrown in there to keep up with as well.  So instead of going to a pumpkin patch or even carve our pumpkins this year, we made sure to get vaccinated, put new tires on the car and head over to some fall/Halloween or birthday parties depending on the child. 

But let me start with the first part of the month.  We went to two extended family weddings, one out of town and one in town.  The kids had a blast at both and got to dance the night away.  In between the two weddings was Gwen's birthday with the family.  She was given princess and fairy toys, games, and clothes which she loved.  She is at the point where she does not believe it is her birthday until she blows out her candle after everyone has sung to her.  Of course when she had her party with her friends a week later, she then expected to be turning 5, I mean she already was 4 right???? 

**completely side note, I don't remember if I recorded one of her favorite explanations of rooms in our house.  she is quite literal when I ask her to go to the bathroom:  if I ask her to go to the bathroom before going somewhere, she tries to go upstairs because those are the two rooms that have baths in them.  I have to say that she needs to go to the potty room because the bathroom on the main level only has a toilet and sink (or half bath for those of you knowledgeable enough in looking at houses).  The bathroom cannot be called a bathroom unless it has a bath in it. 

So she had her party with her friends and we tried to play some games, but she was not happy with the choice of musical chairs.  I don't know if she assumed she should win because it was her birthday or had to win for a different reason but I had her doing something else pretty quick. The hit of the party was making their own crowns.  Whoever was the buyer at Target that came up with that one got a huge bonus I hope!

The other two weekends of October involved deck work.  There will be another post and pictures to follow on that when the final inspection occurs on Wednesday.  So instead, the kids did not go to a pumpkin patch, or get to carve pumpkins this year.  We were able to partake in a family Halloween party last night, which I think was better than any other cold walk through a corn maze.  Although I am a little sensitive to the cold, so it is probably just me talking.  The kids got to see a bunch of their friends in their Halloween costumes and hang around with them for a few hours. 

So today, being the last day of October, and Halloween I thought I would close up the month with a post.  This week is the start of the next month, Trevor's birthday month, Christmas shopping planning, and oh yeah, Thanksgiving.  Already planning my black Friday strategy.....

So much to do, so little time

Through the past few weeks, there has been so much going on, and so much to record but never enough time or motivation to get it all done.  I know this feeling is only going to get more and more the continual feeling for the years to come, but looking at it, I often wonder why.  I have a child in school M-F from 9 to 3 and another in school from 9-12 M, W, F.  This is 50% more "time to myself" than last year.  Last year I was even in school, taking 2-3 classes and getting everything done.  So where is my new found alone time?  Gone.  I now clean the house, prepare the meals, do the laundry, run errands, and make sure the kids are ready and available for all their activities.  Thankfully, I am not a single parent, so I do have help, but we all have additional commitments outside of our immediate family. 

For the first part of October, we have had two weddings and three birthdays.  Our family has had wonderful memories as a result:  Gwen getting to dance her heart out, Trevor getting some yummy food.  Trevor has had some sadness in knowing that his birthday is not in the immediate future, but at least he has been planning his own special day. 

We also had some new activities:  Trevor started chess club and Gwen started her dance lessons.  I know both had a wonderful time, and I think Trevor (aw heck...who am I kidding...I was surprised how much he enjoyed it) had a different philosophy about chess club.  He said he won 4 games and lost 2, which I was happy about.  I knew he wasn't exactly a beginner but I wouldn't move him  up to intermediate.  Their lesson last Monday was on pawns and rooks.  They had to play games with all pawns and see how many games they could win and then they can start adding rooks in.  It sounds like a great program and we'll see how often he wants to do it. 

We already had Trevor's first conferences.  We were given a lot to consider, but told that he was a great fit for the type of classroom that we chose for him, which was a good thing.  I had my first big event for the school and seemed to go off without a hitch.  We had another monthly meeting where a decision had been made to cancel the school costume party.  They will be replaced with an all-school service project that some people are very excited about.  But of course there are some that are disappointed too.  But the school has to do what is best seeing as how it is less than two weeks out. 

I always remind myself that pretty much from the start of school to the new year is crazy busy, but that doesn't mean that our responsibilities lessen any!  So until then, I'll just try to do my best and getting what needs to be done, done.  In the mean time, we will make sure to do the most important things:  making the wonderful memories that the kids will remember for a lifetime!

A big wedding

So our entire family was in a wedding this past weekend. The summer has been focused on events leading up to the big day and we took part in as many as possible. I'm pretty sure my mom friends thought I was being my neurotic self trying to make sure the weekend went as smooth as possible. I guess I sort of forgot to include my husband in some of the planning that went on. Sorry honey!

I believe I will have some pictures to add to some of the notes in this blog, but for now I will simply run through what I remember and how we took part.

First off, the kids had vacation bible school at their church for the week. I had told everyone that was involved that we would not be able to attend on the last day, or the singing in church the following Sunday due to the wedding. We were all very excited and although Gwen didn't really understand, she enjoyed counting down the days and me having her and Trevor practice their "walking down the aisle" together.

So on Thursday, I was making my lists...things to bring out to the rehearsal, things to bring the day of the wedding, things to bring for the overnight at my parents house....it was a lot to remember! I'm glad I like lists! Russ got in on Thursday night without a hitch, thank goodness. The boys were off right away on Friday morning to go golfing. The girls got to sleep in a little bit to go meet for lunch, followed by getting their nails done. Gwen has been sleeping past 8am and I knew that she also doesn't like to eat breakfast right away in the morning. So for both days, I packed some fruit in a cooler with her water, some cheese-its, and cheese sticks for in case she was hungry at various times. Yep....we tried to feed her "lunch" of her usual chicken and fries but she wasn't hungry. Or only hungry enough to be hungry again in the car ride on the way to get our nails done. When we went into the nail salon she quickly found the kid pedicure seat and played around in it. She is ok if you want to paint her nails, but cutting them or picking at them freaks her out. She came over and sat with Kyrsten and I while our pedicures were being done, and she made sure to tell me that she didn't want them picking at her toes like they were doing to mine.

So when it was her turn, I asked them to do a modified manicure and pedicure. Gwen did have to stop the woman from using the clippers (I think there was a small language barrier) but she got the pink and even got a little design on both her two fingers and two toes. All us ladies got a pedicure and manicure for the wedding. I was happy that Gwen was pacified until we were done. Either watching us or getting her nails done.

We then had to run back to the mall to pick up a few missing pieces of Trevor's tux. While I know Russ could have picked them up Saturday morning, I didn't want to add to his to-do list because we were getting up early on Saturday and they got to sleep in. Gwen was still pumped up to get onto the next thing, so she stayed awake through both car rides to Kyrsten's house. We headed over to the church for the rehearsal shortly. We had a pretty clean practice where Gwen and Trevor did their practicing with their practice pieces....fabric petals and no rings on the pillow.

Then we headed off to the rehearsal dinner. So, this happened to be at the same place the guys played golf at, and Trevor was at the point where if he thinks he knows where he is, he should have complete run of the place. That, or he simply is going through a phase. He didn't have any interest in eating, or hanging around the inside. He wanted to be outside with some boys, putting or whatever else they could do not around parents. Yikes. Gwen found a few girls her age and loved to show her dolls around and play with them. I could not believe how well Gwen handled herself. Even in comparison to Trevor.....NOT that a parent should compare kids, because every kid is different and unique :-) But COME ON!!! Anyway...I digress. The food was wonderful, the conversation was great, the toasts were awesome! I knew I had to bring the kids home early because the next day was going to be full. I was proud that I kept both kids awake all the way home because I knew Gwen needed a shower before she went to bed. As I gave Gwen a shower, Trevor fell asleep on his bed.

That leads me to the day of the wedding. I didn't even get to talk to Russ much because he stayed behind to chat with the relatives, and there were things I needed to explain and write out for him to do. Namely, because the kids were going home with my parents the night of the wedding, he needed to grab Trevor's pillow (sleeping, not ring bearing). So I explained how the morning was going to go, and wrote down a to-do list for when they woke up. I was up before 7 and I had to wake Gwen up around 7. She wasn't too happy with me, but warmed up to the idea that this was the big day for her! I again packed a cooler full of snacks and water for her, and headed out. We met Kyrsten and Libby at the hotel so that I could leave a car there for Sunday morning. We then were driven to the hair and makeup salon to get our hair done. Again, Gwen was pacified by watching all that was going on and sat still for 95% of her hair getting done as well. I helped a little because I waited to get my make-up done for most of the time her hair was getting done. She also had a bit of play dough from her gift bag from the night before. After hair and make-up was done, we had a little breakfast and headed over to the church to get ready.

We hung around the church, took some pictures, eventually met up with the guys because they had some more food, and waited for the ceremony to start. Pictures were a little tough on Gwen as I think by 12:30 she was already starting to fade. I know they got a handful of pictures but after the first set, she really needed prodding to even step into the pictures.

The ceremony was at 2:00 and the kids did great. Gwen had a little difficulty with the aisle runner, but she didn't show it on her face. Trevor tried his best to look all serious with his "job" of having the real rings and presenting them to the priest.

We all got to blow bubbles to present the couple into their horse and carriage ride. Then there were more pictures. The wedding party got to ride in the limo to more pictures. Gwen and Trevor too. After these pictures, I sent the kids with grandma to hopefully have Gwen take a nap in the car. From what I understand, she did take a nap. Unfortunately, she woke up disoriented and having to go to the bathroom. After some quick thinking by Lee, she got all situated and was ready for the rest of the evening. As soon as dinner was served Trevor was off like a bolt of lightning with some of the family he knew but were helping him get out of his rules that we had set for him. Trevor being Trevor.... We told him that unless he asked either his dad or I to go out, he could not. So he said he asked Grandpa. He was telling everyone that he was going to breakdance, and that he was a really good dancer. Didn't last more than 5 minutes on the dance floor before wanting to go outside again.

It was a lot of fun for everyone involved. The happy couple is now off on their honeymoon and we are the lucky family that gets to watch their kitten while they are gone. If anyone has gotten this far in their reading, I also wanted to thank Derek and Kyrsten for making us a part of their special day and their special events. I know Trevor will remember it for many years, and Gwen has found some new favorites....favorite hairstyle, favorite nail activities....favorite flowers....it was a wonderful time for us all. Thank you!