I got out the bag of stitched ornaments that my Grandma Smith made (and got passed down to me after she died). I figured Katie couldn’t really hurt them…and she LOVED them. Getting them out of the bag, putting them back…tongue out the whole time, working hard.
She was very intrigued by the toddler-life-sized Frosty at Owen’s school today.
So I don’t pick up stuff as often as I should, so for about a week now, there’s been a laundry basket in the living room with odds and ends in it that need to be put away. For some reason, there’s a changing pad in there…which Katie pulled out today. I didn’t pay much attention because, honestly, she’s ALWAYS into something…but when I looked up, I saw this:
She had opened it and was laying on it, playing with an ornament…
I put it on her normal and then she pulls it to do this:
Guess who? And why am I not surprised?
She stole the bear off the tree again! She thinks I won’t care because she’s kissing it like I asked her to. 🙂
You put a hat on her and this happens:
This is our holiday display. It’s not quite up to my usual standards…but at least it’s something. 🙂 (My pre-lit garland all died last year so I finally tossed it and haven’t found any decently-priced stuff to replace it. And I was going to string lights on the porch and bushes, but the lights I was going to use ended up on the house. And I don’t really feel like buying new lights.)
Our neighbors, however, surprised me—they’re renters, so I didn’t expect much—but they went all out. 🙂
Owen just started singing this on his own. I asked him to sing it again and it was almost the same. Enjoy!
I thought I’d record Katie’s first sight of the tree, thinking maybe it would be something super cute.
Ha. She got me. Little stinker couldn’t have cared less. 🙂
Then it was off to pick up Owen from school…and I decided to record him, too, sure he would be WAY more excited since he’s been asking about the tree. I love the ornaments he names. Excuse the messy house. 🙂
Then it was game on: Katie vs. the tree. I showed her the bear first, thinking “Oh, she knows how to kiss, I can get this picture super easy on the first try.” Ha. Right. She liked it but didn’t want to get near it to kiss it. I’m sure she was just overwhelmed by (in her mind) all the fun things to play with.
Her shutting the gate because I had left it open. 🙂
Playing with the light cord.
Owen was EXCITED to put ornaments on the tree. SUPER EXCITED. He kept saying “Mom, I like putting ornaments on the tree. I hope Santa likes them!” Of course he still put the first 10 ornaments in the same one-foot section…I had to gently guide him to the rest of the tree. 🙂
Sparty was the first ornament she snuck out of the box!
I am pretty sure this mouse elf was the same ornament Owen first grabbed off the tree when he was her age!
Watching the bubble light!
She kept going back to the bear and finally just grabbed it off the tree and hugged it!
And kissed it!
And carried it around with the mouse.
Then tried to put it back—in the right spot!
Owen hung it up…then a few minutes later she went back and grabbed it again.
Our stealthy shooter. 🙂
Overall, Katie didn’t do too badly. Of course, I did have to keep saying “Gentle! Gentle!” and telling her the ornaments stay on the tree. She would start to take one off, look at me, I’d tell her, then she’d put it back, smile, and run off laughing. Stinker. It’s going to be a rough few weeks as I surely don’t have enough “No no, Katie’s” in my daily life as it is. 🙂
Owen just kept saying how much he liked Christmas and the tree and the lights and the ornaments. 🙂 He knew there were more ornaments left, too, and wanted to put them up. So, we put up the rest of them after Katie went to bed. I think Owen has inherited my love for Christmas…
I wasn’t sure how I was going to get the lights up this year…it’s hard enough to do inside stuff…but outside stuff? Requiring a ladder and four arms? Plus the tree? Ugh. I had managed the mantle and was just going to plod along as much as I could during Katie’s naps and possibly skip the outside lights…until Owen asked when we were putting them up because he liked them. Cue mom guilt. So I posted my lament on Facebook and a friend graciously offered to help (they’re moving soon so aren’t decorating this season). Boooo for them moving, but woohoo for her offer to help!
But what a debacle. (Granted, a minor debacle or two in the grand scheme of things, but still a debacle typical of my life.) My friend is now the outside proof that STRANGE THINGS really do seem to happen to me.
First.
We plugged the lights in before we got started and they worked. By the time we got to the end, they were out. Huh? We look again. Yep, out. This can’t be, we think—we both saw them lit. RIGHT? Maybe it was the extension cord? We tried another. Nope. The outlet? Nope, another item plugged in and worked fine. Reset the outlet. Nope. Tried about six rearrangements of extension cords and direct into the outlet and…nothing.
WHAT. THE. HELL?
We took a step back off the porch and—AHA! It was only the last 4′ of lights that were out—the section right above us that we were looking up at. The rest were on. But seriously? They were brand new expensive LED lights last year. GRRR. So our options were to leave them as is or restring the whole house again with some old-school multi-colored lights that are many years old that were just extras. And I’m sure you can guess what option I chose. I couldn’t leave the mantle garland uneven…you think I’m leaving up lights that have a section burnt out? 🙂 So we restrung the whole house (at least we had the system down by then!) and I chucked the “old” ones.
Second.
This one should really be filed under YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. I wouldn’t have believed it if it didn’t happen to me—but I had photo proof and a friend watching. So there.
I think it was actually quite impressive:
Yes, that’s a light completely wedged in the sole of my flip flop. What? How? I mean really? I was just walking along and it got jammed in there. JAMMED. Like we needed to use pliers to get it out—and of course it broke. Which meant I had to take a light out of an extra string of all-blue lights. And then we had to replace a few other burnt-out lights with…blue lights.
Fixing the dips.
By the time we got to the end of the house, we had enough extra to put on the bushes…except we noticed that most of them were burnt out as well. Ugh. By that time I was burnt out on lights myself so I just let them hang down the side of the house and that was that!
Then Ruth, saint that she is, asked if there was anything else I needed help with. Well, I said, we could put the tree up… So we broke open two wine coolers as our celebratory drink after the escapade that was putting up the Christmas lights (plus we were both sweating from doing the lights—it was 72°!) and put the tree together and decorated most of it! (We left the bottom undone for Owen to finish.)
I can’t begin to thank Ruth enough. Really. She helped me not lose my shit when all kept going wonky. If I had been doing it by myself, the swearing would have been in utter frustration instead of in humor. 🙂
As soon as she left, someone was already making herself at home.
And her sister checking things out, too. Thankfully, this is as much interest as they both show.
The first attempt…
And the stockings drive me nuts. Does anyone have stockings that hang correctly? This is our third set that hang sideways. Why is it so hard for manufacturers to comprehend how a hook will make it hang? This irritates me EVERY year.
So I posted exactly that on Facebook…and my friends came through with ideas!
But first, the kids seeing them for the first time:
So…my second attempt, complete with curtain rod! Perfect!!
Well, the stockings were perfect—but the garland needed adjusting. There’s no way I could live with the garland like that. Looking at it all day every day. /shudder
So, the third and final attempt:
And that’s as good as it’s going to get this year!
Owen: Mama! Watch me! He runs around the living room moving his feet really fast.
Me: Wow, that’s fancy!
Owen: Yes! Do you know where I learned it?
Me: No.
Owen: Galloping school!
Me: Galloping school?
Owen: Yes, next door to my school!
Owen just came up to me and said “You don’t smell like the queen.” I had to think a minute. Oh! Yes. He was quoting A Bug’s Life. 🙂 Then he says “You smell like a mom.”
Our neighbors put up their Christmas lights. Owen noticed them at night when they were all lit up.
Owen: Mama, look!
Me: I know—aren’t their lights pretty?
Owen: Yes! Mama, when are you going to put our lights up?
I hung the stockings while Owen was at school today so told him there was a surprise for him at home.
Owen: What is it?
Me: Go look around.
Owen: THE STOCKINGS!!
Me: Is that a good surprise?
Owen: Yes. Where are the two reindeer?
Man he has a good memory. I usually put out two silver reindeer…and he knew they were missing!
Me: They’re still in the garage.
Owen: Mama, you have to put them out.
Over the years we just never cared about getting the picture with Santa. I hate crowds and I hate holiday crowds even more…so we just never did it. Then, once Owen was a bit older, we tried…but the commotion was too much for him and we had to leave before Santa even arrived.
Fast forward to this year and he’s showing A LOT more interest in Christmas—like things he wants and asking about Santa—so I thought I’d have to try this year (of course, the year Tom is gone). Thankfully, the local autism society planned a sensory-friendly event at the mall (two hours before regular pictures with Santa started) and we were first in line!
Owen was good at being patient (just asking a handful of times how many more minutes) and overall it was easy peasy! Of course Katie wasn’t her normal smiling self, but I was just happy she wasn’t snotty and/or screaming and/or wiggly and actually looked at the camera. I think they only took four pictures! Owen was great, too—and was EXCITED to see Santa. (Last night when I was telling him about the “mystery trip” to prepare him, he asked if it was the real Santa or a pretend Santa. I had no idea where he got the idea of real and pretend, but I told him it was a pretend Santa because of course the real Santa was getting ready at the North Pole. He accepted that.)
Of course the picture packages are a complete racket—but I ended up with a $40 package because it came with a $20 Shutterfly credit. I could have gotten cheaper packages but they only came with $10 Shutterfly credits so it was cost efficient (for me) to get the bigger package. So I will have actual photos to mail out this year. 🙂
On the way out, Owen wanted to ride in this kiddie car. I just happened to have the required quarters, so I said okay.
As you can see, Katie lasted about four seconds…and Owen only lasted about three more. 🙂
Katie just wasn’t having it this morning…and this first picture is about the best of the bunch. Then you can see some of the fun I had.
The day started out well enough. Owen was very VERY excited about going to Uncle Roger’s for Thanksgiving…and kept asking me how many minutes how many minutes how many minutes. I told him it wouldn’t be until after Katie’s nap, so then he started asking how many minutes until her nap. Over and over and over. At 9am. 🙂 He told me he was going to go get in the car. I told him no, it wasn’t time yet. I finally told him it would be a few hours, and I would let him know when it was time…I wouldn’t let him miss it.
Fast forward until after Katie’s nap. I had the mashed potatoes going on the stove and their nice outfits all ready…and of course she woke up too early. Fine, no problem. I got them both dressed for pictures. Katie wasn’t terribly happy (she’s got a cold—as does Owen—and her nap wasn’t long enough) so it was challenging to say the least. And she was really REALLY cute, too, so I was disappointed. But I was snapping away and hoping I’d at least get one decent shot.
Then it was off to finish the potatoes. And take breaks every minute or so to wipe Katie’s nose. And try to get Owen to RELAX about getting his shoes and coat on and wanting to get in the car. And then I decided to take more pictures…AND DISCOVERED THERE WAS NO MEMORY CARD IN THE CAMERA SO I DIDN’T HAVE ANY PICTURES. I wasn’t in a great mood before that, so that just pushed me over the edge. (It’s the little things, I swear.)
So I was rushing to get everything packed to leave the house (changes of clothes for both kids because it was Owen’s Clean Out Weekend and because Katie accidentally got some of Owen’s “poop juice”, diapers, pull-ups, snacks, etc.), get the potatoes finished and in the crock pot, stack all the dirty dishes, let the dog out, and then—since I’m apparently a masochist—TRY TO TAKE MORE PICTURES WITH UNCOOPERATIVE KIDS… Needless to say I didn’t get one good picture.
The best picture of the super cute hand-me-down dress:
The best of the awful sibling pics:
The good thing about the day was going to our friend’s house—my babysitter’s house—so she took over Katie duty while her younger sister played with Owen. This became Katie’s favorite new activity:
The kids were having a great time playing (Owen even asked to play on the big outdoor trampoline!), I was drinking wine and visiting, and all seemed well. Until Owen came over to me asking where the bathroom was, so I went with him to show him—and watched as he puked in the toilet. Twice. Oh lovely. I told him he might be going home—if he was sick, we really couldn’t stay. He immediately started whining that he didn’t want go…he wanted to keep playing. So I told him we had to take his temperature and if he had a temp, we had to go. He didn’t have a temp, so we stayed.
The dinner was nice and it was good to be with friends—it helped not to miss Tom quite as much. But of course Owen was frustrating. He had told me he would try all the new foods…but come time, he didn’t touch anything. He claims he ate a bite of mashed potatoes but he didn’t. He didn’t even want his yogurt. Sigh. Then he had to go potty—and I went to check on him (I don’t trust him when we’re not at our house)—and it’s a good thing I did because he had peed all over the toilet, floor, and waste basket. SERIOUSLY?! Breathe. Breathe. I know where the cleaning supplies are, so off I went. It wasn’t a big deal (and they didn’t care) but still, it was like WHAT ELSE IS GOING TO HAPPEN?! Then we called it an early night because Katie was getting tired and I really just wanted to get into jammies and relax.
Once we got home, I tried pictures again…and didn’t have much more luck.
Both kids were in bed by 7 and then I got to relax…
Coffee filters and construction paper—you gotta love it!
And his sad, peeling pumpkin from Halloween…the paint was on so thick that once it dried, you barely touched it and huge chunks flaked off. 🙂
He wanted his picture taken with this Santa at Walmart. Out of six shots, can you believe this one was the best?! Again, you see why I was so impressed with his school pics!
I tried to have a talk with Owen about getting rid of some of his toys to donate to kids who don’t have as much as he does—especially since Santa will surely be bringing him some new toys for Christmas.
He seemed to really think about it and agree that would be a good idea.
Me: So what toys do you want to give away?
Owen: My costumes…my blocks…my guns…my swords…my trains.
Me: All of those things? You know you won’t get them back, right?
Owen: Yep.
That’s pretty much a list of ALL his favorite toys. I’m thinking he didn’t quite understand and was more concerned with the tower he was building at that moment. 🙂
So of the items he listed, I picked the toys he played with the least. I asked what specific trains he will donate and asked him to separate them into piles. I figured this would be interesting since he RARELY plays with them.
He picks out the Ikea trains to give away and his Owen train letters to keep. Okay, not bad. Then I dig for the Thomas trains he hasn’t even seen in at least six months and ask about those. Nope. HE LOVES THEM ALL AND THEY’RE ALL SPECIAL TO HIM! Of course they are. 😐
So it looks like I’ll be doing the toy purge by myself.
Today we had a birthday party at a bowling alley for one of Owen’s classmates.
He had great fun using up his allotted tokens:
And I played one game for him and won over 100 tickets! He liked feeding them into the counting machine! (I thought we were done at this point which is why I turned them in so early. By the time the day was done, I had three redemption slips!)
Then it was time for pizza, cake, and opening presents. Overall it wasn’t too bad, but the party room was SUPER tiny for all the kids and let me just ask: If you were having a birthday party at a bowling alley on a limited time schedule with little kids with a short attention span, why on earth would you bring ALL your personal presents (at least 10-12)? Bring maybe 2-3 from mom and dad (if any at all) and open the rest at home. But anyway.
Owen was really very patient, and finally it was time for bowling. He wasn’t thrilled with the shoes but I told him he had to wear them. The first few frames went pretty well (they had the bumpers up) but honestly, trying to corral ten or so ~5-year-olds into bowling is like trying to herd cats. Kids running here, running there, between lanes, down the lanes while others are bowling, not waiting their turns, wanting to punch all the buttons on the display… And the noise level? Eeesh. Owen started complaining that the shoes hurt his feet and even though they felt fine, I let him take them off. I bowled in socks as a kid and so could he.
Here was his first go at it!
Then they brought out the helper stands—which made a HUGE difference in the success of each turn.
So it was only Owen and another kid on the last lane. This kid seemed to be a little older and a little bit of a brat—and I have NO idea who his mother was/parents were because no one was ever once close to him the whole time I was there. Well, in about frame six, this kid grabs a ball off the ball return and I guess was trying to be nice and bring Owen a ball for his turn… And just as I’m realizing this could go horribly wrong…yep, bowling ball to the toe. Screaming, wailing, tears, and a little boy sobbing in my lap.
A few moms and kids came over to see if he was okay (he was, he just had to cry a bit and settle down) and one offered to get some ice (oh, yeah, that would be good—I was so concerned with calming him down I had completely zoned on getting ice). Anyway, that was the end of the fun and he just kept saying he wanted to go home. I said we could but we had to leave the ice on for a bit first. The other kid never apologized (I’m sure he didn’t think anything of it) and whoever was there with him never came over (I recognized the few moms that did come over) so that was kind of annoying.
We did have to stop and redeem his tickets on the way out. He had picked out what he wanted earlier and of course they were out of that item. But the guy said we could pick ANYTHING in the case! (I mean it’s all cheap crap, but Owen was excited!) So he picked handcuffs! 🙂 Then it was a slow hobble to the car (I obviously can’t carry him) and he really was a trooper for as painful as I know it was. On the way home I tried to get his mind off it it and had him smiling and laughing. And since he can take pills now, I stopped at Walgreens to get some children’s Advil.
Of course he couldn’t wait to get home to tell Gramma and Grandpa about it and show them. We asked him if he knew the kid and he said no, but he always drops the bowling ball on his foot. 🙂
Owen was so excited about trick-or-treating that he started asking about 3:30. 🙂 I told him it would be after dinner, so that put him off until about 4 before he started asking if it was dinnertime yet. Since the kids have a somewhat early bedtime, I figured we’d start on the early end (“official” time was listed as 5-9). So I got dinner going at 4:30 and we started getting dressed at about 5.
Of course there were wardrobe malfunctions—unfortunately, the wonderful idea I had about permanently adhering the red criss-cross leg straps to the costume wasn’t so great in practice. It helped, but we should have done a trial run because the ties still hung weird and slid down because the legs were too long. I fixed some of it by hiking it up and holding it with the belt…and it still wasn’t really great but it was good enough for a four year old. 🙂 But, I was exasperated because I thought it would be a quick two minutes to get his costume on…and it turned into a 15-minute debacle that included me running upstairs to madly search for my fabric tape with Katie screeching the whole time because she was tired of being in her high chair. And I was sweating, which never makes me happy.
So then I needed to get pictures of him so I left Katie screeching in the high chair while we went outside.
“Give me a ninja pose!”
Then I had to go get Katie ready. I hadn’t done it earlier since it was WARM out and her chicken costume would also be warm. Luckily she sat pretty still for a few pictures.
Then we were off.
Owen: I can’t believe I’m going trick-or-treating! It’s my big day!
And of course, the excitement quickly turned into shyness as we hit the first house. He didn’t want to go up the driveway (I had to cajole him and go up with him), he didn’t want to say trick or treat, and he didn’t say thank you. After three houses of that, I told him if he didn’t start being brave, we were going home. So the next house he tromped off saying “I’m going to be brave!” 🙂 Then it was all good!
This is how Katie was traveling in style:
The only bad thing was (as I learned later) we were out too early. Yes, the official hours were 5-9 but there were so few houses participating I almost wondered if Halloween had been cancelled and I just didn’t know it. I was remembering last year when the streets were packed with raucous kids and I thought we were out at about the same time…but I was off by about half an hour because things started picking up around 6 and were quite busy when we were headed home at 6:30.
Katie was a big hit—almost everyone commented on her costume and she was happily saying “bye bye” to everyone and waving.
We made it home about 6:35 and went right upstairs. I didn’t want to have any lights on downstairs lest anyone think we were home and ring the doorbell (we didn’t have a pumpkin or any lights on, but that didn’t stop people last year). I let Owen and Katie share a bag of mini cheese balls and a mini Nestle crunch bar, which they both really enjoyed!
Then it was Katie’s bedtime—and she didn’t even squawk and was out in under 10 minutes. Yay!
I let Owen ramble on about how much fun he had while eating a few more treats, and he got to bed a mere 10 minutes late.
So overall, it was a good day. 🙂
I walked into controlled bedlam. Or maybe it just felt that way to me, since I am unaccustomed to being in a room full of little kids. 🙂 It was actually quite calm—just noisy. I regret not taking a video so you could fully understand. 🙂
Katie loves coming in (which she rarely gets to do because I leave her in the car while I run him in or pick him up). She gets into everything. I tried to keep her corralled with cheese and crackers today but it only lasted so long.
Then daddy called so he could see the party.
It didn’t last too long, though, since we couldn’t hear each other due to all the ambient noise. But what was funny is that the teacher saw me holding my phone up and was like “Oh, what do you have there?” I’m guessing she thought I was showing Owen something or taking a video. When I told her it was Owen’s daddy on Skype she was really surprised! And excited! So she got to meet Tom briefly today. (Again, it was loud so it wasn’t much more than “Hi! Nice to meet you!”)
She wasn’t really too cooperative…none of the pictures with the pumpkin turned out (so I couldn’t get a match to Owen’s pic, below).
And Owen as the chicken at eight months (one of my all-time favorite pictures):
So when Owen switched from daycare to pre-k, no one told me he needed a new physical form filled out so I was a bit surprised when it popped up on the check-in monitor saying it’s overdue. I got the form from admin right then, went home, and used the doctor’s office web portal (as they suggest) to request an appointment.
Well, life is busy and I didn’t realize that they hadn’t gotten back to me in four days, so I called to schedule the physical—and of course they couldn’t get me in for another week, but whatever. So I show up yesterday and am told he’s already had his age 4 physical (that’s what the four-year well-visit is) and it’s good for a year…so if I go to the appointment today I will be charged since our insurance only allows one physical per year. They let me cancel so that part was fine, but I was still annoyed because had I known/realized that the well-visit check was the same exact thing as the required physical, I could have just dropped the form off TWO WEEKS PRIOR when I first got the warning message. So they tell me it will be two business days and I don’t give it another thought.
So this morning I drop Owen off at school and he’s super excited because it’s Halloween and he’s dressed as Thor and there’s a parade walk through the school scheduled and a party in the afternoon and it’s all just very exciting for a four-year-old. As I’m driving home, I get a phone call from the school asking if I had Owen’s physical, because if they don’t have it TODAY, he can’t be at school and I’ll have to come pick him up.
WAIT. WHAT? YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME.
Yes, today is the absolute very last day he can be there without the physical form on file. I wonder how I didn’t know this. To be honest, I know I didn’t look too closely at the “due by” date, but there was NO warning that he wouldn’t be able to attend without it. And today of all days?!?!
I WAS LIVID.
So, I asked why they didn’t tell us ahead of time that he needed a physical and she said they did. I would have bet my life they didn’t, though, because I know I went through EVERYTHING in the welcome packet and there was no “new physical form” in there. The first time I heard it mentioned was when the notice popped up on the check-in monitor and I [started to make] the appointment that day—but of course that didn’t go quite as planned so I did waste some time. She said if they could fax it today he can stay, otherwise he’ll have to go home.
So when I get home, I call the doctor’s office and explained what was going on…and nope, nothing they can do, they are super busy and mine was the last one turned in. I practically beg, saying I’m going to have to take my son away from his Halloween party at school, yada yada yada. Nope, sorry. She didn’t even sound apologetic, which was annoying. At least fake it. She said she’d put a note on it and would call me if anything changed, but I can guarantee that won’t be happening. It’s really annoying because all it is is transcribing a few notes from his file to the piece of paper and checking a few boxes. Sure, there might be a pile of them, but each one can’t take more than 5-10 minutes. And you’d think they’d have a heart…but no.
I was so pissed. And I knew it would kill Owen—if they don’t get it there today he can’t go to school tomorrow on PJ day, which he’s been looking forward to all week. I admit I cried for a minute. 🙁 Then my anger took over and I went on a hunt for the welcome folder (which I’ve been meaning to do anyway since I need to put Owen’s birth certificate back in the safe) and looked through EVERYTHING again. No mention of any physical in any of the welcome materials and, of course, no form. Had there been a form, I would have definitely seen it when I first went through it.
So I decided that I would go in and pick him up at 10:30 when I knew the parade would be over. We’d then have to skip the party at the end of the day because that’s part of school, too. So I first went to talk to the admin, just to clarify HOW I was supposed to have known about the physical. She started by saying she will let him stay for today and the party (which made me happy—though it would have been nice if she said that earlier to save me a trip into town) and was then surprised when I told her I went through the welcome packet but there was no form in there (I told her “That’s why I asked for the form the other day—because it was the first time I’d heard of it.”). She basically blew that off saying “Hmmm, well there should have been a form but maybe I missed it.” That’s it? I thought I deserved a bit more of an apology than that, since none of this would have happened if the form would have been in the folder. (Yes, mistakes happen, but there’s a difference between realizing it on Day 1-14 as opposed to Day 31 when you’ve been called on it.)
ANYWAY, I also suggested it would be nice if the popup warning actually said “YOUR CHILD CAN’T ATTEND WITHOUT THIS PHYSICAL” and she said one of the three warnings did say that. Wait. Three? I only got one. Yeah, turns out the first notice was the Friday he missed school for being sick (when Grannie and Papa were here) and the second one must have been a day they picked him up and couldn’t get the fingerprint scanner to work so the office staff checked him out. So, basically a perfect storm of events from Day 1.
She really is a nice lady, and I didn’t want her to think I was a crazy person (plus I have to deal with her for the rest of the school year!), so I apologized for being so confused and told her I’m really not this disorganized…but apparently a bunch of little things went wrong from the beginning that just made it all weird. She seemed to think I wasn’t a lunatic (or at least she was good at faking it!) so I think we’re good.
Of course, if the doctor’s office can’t promise to get it to the school by like 10am tomorrow, he can’t go to PJ day. I don’t hold out hope…so today I get to make a big deal about staying home with mommy for a PJ and movie day just in case. And then hope they have it ready at 8am Monday, otherwise he gets a day at home with Gramma Jean (which wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world)…
He had wanted to be Superman up until last night when we were trying on all the costumes. He wanted to be the ninja except school has a NO WEAPONS policy and he didn’t want to wear the costume without the sword. So he agreed on Thor, which I was completely happy with since it was a costume from last year that he didn’t wear and this would be the last year he’d fit in it.
(Yes, Thor has a hammer. I asked if it was considered a weapon and they told me they were allowing it but it had to be put away except for during the parade.)
Why does she have three costumes? I bought one last year when I found it cheap at the resale shop. Then later a friend said she’d send one her daughter didn’t use. Then I remembered we had saved the old costume of Owen’s but a friend had it—so she gave it back.
So we tried the friend’s costume today. It didn’t go over too well. She didn’t mind it terribly, but the hat part was too big and kept falling in her face. And she wouldn’t sit still with her legs out so you could see the cute cat feet.
And then she saw a roaming cat across the street and was excited about that…
So off she went.
Taking pictures of little ones in costumes is very hard when you have to be both the photographer and the retriever.
Owen (and Grannie and Papa) surprised me tonight!
And then we enjoyed cupcakes—some of us more than others! 🙂
When I saw this resin pumpkin on Woot, I had to get it for Tom! And today Katie just happened to be dressed in her Sparty outfit…
Friends had their kids birthday party at the local gymnastics place and Owen and Katie had a blast!
I love that you can see her pigtails in her shadow!
Red cupcake frosting!
Owen really liked it and didn’t want to leave…so I guess I’ll be looking into gymnastics or at least free gym time.
Yeah, I’ve gone a bit overboard this year as this is costume #3 (the others were Robo Knight and Superman) plus he has Thor leftover from last year that he didn’t wear (and still fits). But I couldn’t resist a ninja—and he plays in them as well.
If he chooses this one (and I guess even if he doesn’t) it will need some altering—the red leg ties don’t stay in place so will need to be ironed on permanently.
Thanks to one of my besties, Ursula, for gifting me our favorite bottle of wine… I couldn’t even take a picture of it with my new phone since it was still in the middle of restore hell. And I wanted to Instagram it so didn’t want to use my real camera…so had to use the iPad. 🙂
FUNNY STORY. I haven’t had that wine in awhile and I forgot how REALLY VERY GOOD it is…and I managed to drink the whole bottle in under an hour. I started feeling a little oogy and realized I needed to eat some carbs (I chose pretzels) to soak up the alcohol. Whew. You’d think at 40 I’d know better than to drink the bottle that fast…but it was just soooooooooo good!