Halloween

Halloween was bitterly cold this year. The wind had a distinct bite to it and the only costume that would have made sense was an Inuit Eskimo. Alas, it is the year of the princesses. Anyone who knows me knows I'm wary (to put it mildly) of the princess culture. I try to steer my daughters away from it without denying them completely, ergo every other year they can be princesses for Halloween. 

Even so, I was honestly bummed when Liesel announced she wanted to be Elsa. An ice queen who fights with her sister would not have been my first choice, not to mention every little girl was going to be Elsa. Just getting my hands on a decent costume was its own headache. I tried to convince her to be Wild Style from The Lego Movie and then she could just keep the hoodie but Liesel insisted, and I relented. She was Elsa:

Yowza that hair deflated after a day at school! It was voluminous and really stood out among the bevy of Elsas in her school parade. 

Ireland was a drama queen er, uh, RAPUNZEL! Given her own long blonde hair, this princess was rather fitting. I can't remember why Ireland is crying in this photo. She bursts into tears so often the sobbing sessions just blend at this point. If memory serves, it was something about how the braided crown was sitting on her head.

Aye mi, this is not the typical face of a young princess on the cusp of getting a basket of sweets.

We didn't have a princess costume on hand for Brigitta. The Aurora costume was way too small so I grabbed the first deeply discounted one I saw at the Disney store. It turned out to be my favorite. Brigitta was Merida--also known as the anti-princess. I just curled up her hair and ruffled it at bit to give that wild just-back-from-horseback-riding look.

When Brigitta put on her costume for the first time, she looked at herself in the mirror, swung back and forth until her skirt rustled and grinned, "I'm a pitty pincess!!!" My misgivings about letting the girls dress as princesses died right there:

Remember the sweet business traveler who helped us out on a flight from Chicago to London? She sent the girls a Halloween package with stickers, reflecting wrist bands, and lollipop rings.

I'm so blown away by her sweet generosity! I mean seriously, who thinks to do that kind of thing? The girls loved every bit of that package.

Sydney slumbered in her warm bed while I bundled the rest of the girls up and made our way through the neighborhood. We saw three different flatbed trailers covered in bales of hay and large groups of kids running from door to door. One neighbor built a little bonfire in their grill so we could warm up in their driveway. A Lakewood policeman pulled over and gave out candy from his cruiser. As we looped back towards the house, Brent came home from work. Around the same time, the sun went down and the temperature really plummeted. We would do one more street and call it a night.

Turns out the street we chose was the neighborhood where they give full-sized candy bars. I've heard of places like that, but never actually been in one. Knowing it was so close to our house made me positively giddy. Ireland complained about the cold and I told her running would keep us warm and so we ran. Seeing those frozen little princesses, many people insisted they take two full-sized candy bars. I've loved our new neighborhood up to now, but trick or treating took it to a whole new level!

We finished the street and went home for the best part of Halloween: the candy inventory.

That kind of a haul made for some pretty sweet dreams, let me tell you.

Sydney's October POTD

This little one gets so excited when she's sprung from her car seat.

I mean, REALLY excited!

Do you hear all that breathless excitement? My favorite part is 0:10-0:13 when she smiles at me and it cracks into an even bigger, brighter smile. Sometimes I feel she's sharing an inside joke with the way she looks at me and I'm glad I caught it on camera. Brigitta's interaction with her baby sister is so adorable. I can't help but smile when the girls make each other laugh. I love how Sydney mimics Brigitta's "HI!"

At Target!

In the Radio Flyer wagon picking Liesel up at the bus stop.

I know I've said this before, but Sydney really loves the swings! She positively lights up when she spies them at the park.

The girls beg me to take them to the play land and then they spend all their time crowding Sydney. This was a rare moment where they were all off playing on their own and Sydney could finally catch a breathe. 

My baby is doing a lot of creeping these days and I'm reminded how life will drastically change once she starts walking. She's making out a lot of sounds, occasionally squealing when the conversation lulls, as if to say, "I'm here too! It's MY turn to make some noise!" Since moving she has A LOT of stranger anxiety and will cry in someone else's arms-- even if I'm standing right next to her. Her hair is slowly growing into a noticeable fuzz. After she's been on the swing, her swirl that's front and center looks like a little tornado. Everyone says she's an exact replica of Brent and I have to agree.

I'm so grateful she's a part of our family!

The Sweet Life Sans Sugar

Reagan challenged me to a month of no sugar. No problemo, right? When I'm focused, I have obnoxious amounts of self-control. Or maybe I just like to be obnoxious, and telling everyone I was off sugar for a month was appealing. In any case, it was tougher than I thought it would be... a lot tougher, my friends.

For the first week and a half it felt like everyone was offering me free sugar. There was free carrot cake after church on Sunday. The bishop also had a huge, silver platter of assorted cookies on his desk. Some kind members of our ward invited our family over to their house for dessert. Then there were the seasonal things like the fresh apple cider donuts when we went apple picking. Girl Scout cookies were suddenly available from a variety of sources. Panera messed up my order and to make it up to me, they gave me a handful of my favorite cookie, the chocolate duet. Except these were the new chocolate duet sandwich cookies... with frosting.

At first, I pretty much compensated the lack of sugar by eating huge amounts of fatty stuff like burgers and fries. I had a really strong craving for some butter pecan ice cream one night but Reagan talked me back from the ledge. Every time I had to turn down a sugary delight, I cursed Reagan's name. Then it was done; the month was over.

I binged on sugar--mostly chocolate-- for three days straight. I expected every bite to be pure ecstasy but more often than not, it was a disappointment. Not to sound Canadian or anything, but American chocolate is disgusting. It's waxy and grainy. Snickers didn't satisfy. Even the new chocolate duet cookie was rather dry and crumbly. The month without sugar drastically changed my palate and I decided I was ready to quit sugar again. I didn't even have a birthday cake.

So now I'm going without sugar through the end of the year aside from Thanksgiving when I plan to have some pie and Christmas when I plan to have lots of goodies. The other day Ireland offered me some of her Halloween candy and when I told her no thanks, I'm off sugar, she responded, "Mom? When are you going to be ON sugar?"

I dunno. But for now, I definitely don't need it.

Tidbits

Ireland: Mom, how old are you?
Me: I'm 37
Ireland: So you're almost 40 because 37, 38, 39, 40!!!
Liesel: Actually, you're almost 100 because 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100!!!

Eating a cupcake in her cupcake pajamas.

Ireland helping me to polish off a Peanut Butter Moo'd

Aunt Whitney has changed our lives by introducing us to energy bites. The girls get so excited when I make a batch-- they even prefer them over sugar cereal. No complaints here!

Brigitta plays hard. I can't even count all the bruises she has as they are an ever-changing kaleidoscope.

During the book fair, I purchased this Do-It-Yourself Diary of a Wimpy Kid that Liesel had been begging for. Now she practically lives with it. I suggested she might try Dork Diaries which is about a girl but nope, she's a Wimpy Kid fan for sure! 

Another pre-nap photo. My lipstick is Bite Beauty high pigment pencil in Tannin and I am in love! It's a fantastic shade of red for us pale girls. As an added bonus, the packaging doesn't look like lipstick so Brigitta has yet to break into it! But lipstick aside, isn't Ireland such a ham?

A dear friend of mine sent me a lovely bouquet during a particularly rough week (or two). These daisies were on the verge of wilting when I offered to braid them into Liesel's hair. She jumped at the chance and even brought them home from school all limp and shriveled.

It is sad that a first glance at my daughter like this didn't alarm me one bit? My immediate thought was, "What random thing is she eating now?" Good thing the top is washable! Brigitta is too :)

After weeks of back and forth with our home warranty company, they finally sent someone to fix the faucet in the whirlpool tub. The girls are in heaven. Just a squeeze of baby shampoo and they had clouds of bubbles to play with. When the bubbles popped, we just turned the jets back on for a few minutes and the fun started all over again. However, the jets scared Sydney and the water was a little too high for her.

People keep asking me if it's nice to have Brent home every evening. Oh yes, it's just lovely... for all of us!

Isn't Ireland getting tall? After I staged this photo with Liesel and Ireland, other parents did the same thing. Am I weird if I was a little annoyed?

Our realtor bought these pajamas for the girls which I love, but the fact that we caught a photo like this just before bed when the girls are typically hyper/cranky/half-asleep is nigh on a miracle! Kudos to Brent for making them all laugh.

I Am THAT Mom

Just 25 minutes until I have to be in the car, with the little girls strapped down, and on my way to pick up Ireland from preschool. A relatively small list. A desperation for those items on my list as well as a determination to get this taken care of. Target. Let's do this. Wait, that's Home Depot. Target's motto is probably something like, "Please ignore my child in full melt-down mode." Because it is inevitable.

I grab the first cart. No way can I strap Sydney down and put Brigitta in the back because I have enough stuff I need to throw back there that I can't risk her kleptomaniac tendencies. I strap Brigitta down and carry Sydney on my hip working feats of engineering in maneuvering my cart through the first couple of aisles. This isn't working. I try putting Sydney on my shoulders. She decides my high bun is atrocious and tries to fix it for me... or rip the whole thing out. I'm still not sure. This really isn't working.

I rush back to the front of the store, throw the few items I was able to grab into the ginormous cart-- the one with two child seats. As I strap in Sydney, I notice 1/2 of the strap is missing on Brigitta's side. Aurgh! She's old enough, she doesn't need to be strapped down anyway, right? I march purposely back to the grocery aisles. The cart has no center of gravity. It's like trying to steer a vortex. If I try to run over the tiniest piece of lint, one of the wheels locks up and squeals at me.

Brigitta has noticed the missing strap and she tries to alert me to the fact. "Help... I need help... Hey Mama..." that sentiment is cut short by Brigitta tumbling right out of the cart onto the floor. She's not hurt, but she wails anyway because I have been ignoring her. I dust her off, give her a quick kiss and realize I now have just 15 minutes left, 2/3 of my list to go, and I need to get through checkout which, at last glance, was 3 people deep among just 2 checkers. I accelerate to speed walking. My pants start to fall down. My shirt starts to ride up. I feel beads of sweat on my forehead. A trickle runs down my spine. No lie, my feet are on fire. This is the Target from hell.

The cart was loud before, but now I'm like a truck driving through a nitroglycerin plant. One shelf stocker actually looks afraid as I approach, hunting down the Cocoa Krispies that Brent refuses to buy but make my mornings so much easier. Brigitta is really getting upset about the stupid missing strap. I guess that spill onto the floor affected her more than I thought it did. She's angrily demanding my attention. "MAMA! MAMA! MAAAAMAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" My assurances that we are almost done go over like a pregnant woman on a pole vault. The other stay-at-home moms are looking at me over their carts filled with coconut milk, granola and 1 silent child while I careen through the store with my baby, my unstrapped toddler and my cart filled with 3 boxes of Cocoa Krispies. Only 7 minutes to go.

A new check line opens up and I unabashedly run for it (my pants are REALLY falling down by now). Brigitta has launched into a melt down. I ask the checker if I can have a sticker to calm her down. When I offer it to her she gives me a look like, "Eff the sticker Mom, you let me fall out of the cart onto the FLOOR! I told you I was missing a strap!" As I sign for my items, I joke to the checker, "This cart really needs to be serviced!" She gives me a courtesy smile that says she just wants me out of her line as soon as possible. When everything is loaded and I give the cart a push, I run over the tiniest piece of lint. The wheel locks up and the cart squeals at me. I don't even have time to throw a dirty, "I TOLD YOU SO" look at the checker.

I practically throw the groceries in the car and when I strap Sydney down in her car seat she decides to demonstrate her back-arching abilities which are QUITE impressive, I must say. Brigitta is still ticked at me and as I pull out of the parking lot, the orchestra of miserable wailing can be heard all the way to Terre Haute. The car clock tells me I have just enough time to make it to the preschool.

Oh yes, I am that mom.

MOSI

When the good folks at the University of Chicago Child Development Center contacted me about a study for Ireland, I checked the next free day at the MOSI and planned to make a day of it. Then they contacted me again asking if Sydney could participate. Bada bing! More college money never hurts. 

It's been a while since we've gone to the MOSI and this trip made me fall in love with it all over again. They had 2 free days back to back and I was delighted to find the masses must have gone on the first day because it wasn't horribly busy.

Ireland was one of the lucky few who got to stand right next to (and then right IN) the vortex.

Gita took one look at the baby chicks snuggling together under the warm light and told me they were sleeping and we needed to leave.

No trip to the MOSI is complete without some quality time at the Idea Factory. The water, the plastic balls, oh so fun. Ireland pushed a sweet-looking Jewish boy (yarmulke and everything) off the crane so she could get her turn.

When your shadow intersects with the raining dots, they pour over you. Brigitta could have cared less about those dots, she just loved seeing her shadow!

I stopped the stroller right under this curtain of dry ice fog. Sydney just watched it rain down on her. Horrible iPhone pic, I know, but very cool moment.

Even though the girls were getting tired, I just had to swing by the U-505 exhibit. It's one of my favorites and sometime I'm determined to go alone so I can take the tour and read every single plaque they have in there. Soooo very cool!

I texted Brent to see if there was any possible way we could make a membership happen. Free IMAX! Free special exhibit entrance! Members nights! Advanced notice of events! Oh how I miss it. He gently reminded me we just bought a house and our expenses need to stay low for the time being. Until we can swing the cost of the membership, I'm hoping to take advantage of the free days as much as possible!

The Park

With the first hints of cooler weather ahead, I've been trying to take advantage of the many parks in the area. Not only do the girls love it, but it makes the witching hours fly by. Once we are home, the girls are ready for a hot meal and a soft bed. Win-win.

Sydney's breath quickens and she kicks her little legs when she sees a swing. She spends most of her park time like this.

Liesel is rapidly approaching an age where pigtails with streaming bows just aren't going to work anymore. Until then, I'm going to keep her looking this young and innocent as much as possible!

My favorite thing about our trips to the park is watching the girls play together. Sometimes it's Liesel and Ireland spinning. Sometimes it's Ireland pushing Sydney on the swing. Sometimes its Liesel helping Brigitta down the slide. Sometimes the 3 oldest find a corner to just laugh and be sisters while I keep Sydney close. I know I've mentioned this before, but I'm so glad they have each other.

 

It may be difficult to tell from the angle I'm shooting this video, but this thing is slanted. I tried to explain to Liesel if she would just stick out her bootie as she hit the downward slope, then pull herself straight on the upward slope, she could go much faster. Believe me, I was suppressing a lot of laughter watching her do this crazy hip roll with her new friend. After I filmed this, I briefly set Sydney down to demonstrate. Oh man, 4 kids gives one a lot of bootie and I had that thing spinning so fast I almost couldn't get off!