The first few weeks of November

The first few weeks of November didn't start out really great. There was a lot of bodily fluids being cleaned up by yours truly.  The smell of poop and vomit were burned into my nostrils. I am happy to say we're going to come out of this alive but it was a reminder that winter is going to be long and hard. We (I) have a hard time being trapped in the house all day and night.  

Look at that girl's side eye. She's got it perfected. She's exhausting.  He's exhausting. Hell. They are all exhausting.  He's still awake at 9:44pm b/c I didn't wake him from his nap in time to go back to bed.  Now he's got markers out at the kitchen table while I try to ignore him.  I ignore him enough to ensure he doesn't draw all over the kitchen with the markers.  

 She's such a mess.

 But as long as she's feeding herself it's a win.

There is a challenge that the local running store is putting on re: running all the North/South streets in OP. I have approx 9 miles left to go out of the 100 miles (+/- 10 miles). My body is starting to revolt against me. I am exhausted. It's almost over. The only way to cover ground is to get outside and move. Even if it means throwing three kids in a double stroller and praying for the best.

I find him sleeping in random places around the house.  The last two days he has gone to his room and put himself to bed. It would be awesome if it wasn't 3:30pm when he decided he was ready for a nap.

 Serious.

The babysitter took them to the library (b/c I don't) and let them check out 15 books (b/c I don't) and they loved it. They picked out some really fun ones to read and we read them all the time. If I didn't feel like the library was a breeding ground for some contagious disease I would go more often.

Taking care of business.

I signed up to run a 15k. I hadn't ever run a 15k before. It turned out to be a nice day after my race partner, Jill, and I stood in the chilly November air for 1.5 hours before the race started. My feet hurt they were so cold. I was happy with my overall/average per mile time.  It was a good race. During the race they handed out M&M's, chocolate chips, strawberry & chocolate marshmallows. I snagged some M&M's just in case. Then at the end of the race we received delicious hot cocoa, marshmallow, banana, chocolate sticks and pretzels with some melted chocolate for dipping. It was awesome.

The sunglasses were free from a bank handing them out on the course. They ended up being really useful b/c it was really sunny and they fit my head without falling off or needing pushed up every 2.7 seconds.

Check out that Keokuk sweatshirt. That's some pride :) It was the only sweatshirt I was comfortable ditching along side the street if I got too hot.  Luckily it came home with me.

 Oh the dramatics. She gets really ticked when you shut off the running water.

On one of the last nice days of the season (I am afraid) I made Miss M go outside with me and plant the tulip bulbs Andrew and I bought in Amsterdam. Planting bulbs was not fun. So far I think the bulbs are safe. I was really worried the squirrels were going to dig them up right after I planted them. I did sprinkle the ground with cayenne pepper. The problem was that it was really windy and I got a lot of it up my nose and in my eye. It was miserable. The burn lasted for quite awhile.

He loves watching shows with Miss M.

Mimi  has a mini-me.  Like for real.

Miss M found my glasses and had tried them on the day before Mimi sent me a picture of herself. Mimi was showing me she was ready for the Hawkeye game but I immediately noticed that the picture looked insanely like the one Miss M had taken.

It kills me.

And Aunt Nessie spent her last birthday in her 30's with us.  We had a surf and turf dinner with friends and family over. It was a fun evening.  The kids were so excited about decorating we started on Friday when the party wasn't until Sunday.  And decorations are still hanging on Tuesday.  We might have to take her out for her next birthday dinner b/c it will be such a special/monumental one!!!

Napa Day 2

After we arrived back at our hotel we had a nice brunch and then got ready for our driver to pick us up to take us around Napa.  The wineries were selected based on our friends who didn't show up - notice a theme :) But we had fun learning and trying and being there. 

First stop a castle that was built recently to replicate an Italian castle. It was quite fascinating. It was also packed with people. Our driver described it as the Disney of Wine Country. 

Randy put his 40 years of making donuts to work and went to help the kids' school with their donut fundraiser.  I had him work the first (early) shift bc I know the people who typically work that shift. 

Second stop. Nicholini.  It was the least favorite of mine of the five wineries we visited in the two days. The driver took pictures and sent them to us.  

 The third winery. They handed us a glass of bubbles upon arrival. Sold.

 They took us for an ATV ride around the grounds.

 At the top of the grounds looking out on all the vineyards they own.

Grapevines.  I predicted lush green lands. No.  The land was dry and far from lush. You don't get perfect grapes without stressing the vines. We heard about the stressing of the vines over and over. It's still weird to me. 

We finally bought some wine.  Hopefully it will be getting here soon.

The last selfie Andrew let me take before he freaked out on me.  Ekks.

Just working in the cab on the way home. Nothing says home from vacation like some work in the cab.

While we were sampling wines in Napa the girls were at home opening my expensive bottles of wine :) I guess it's a small price to pay for free babysitting!  Cousin Katy and Shannon came out for the day to hang with Grandma and Poppy. Katy brought her dog Porter and from watching the videos Miss M and Porter were best friends.  

All good things come to an end. The kids and I drove Grandma and Poppy to the city to catch the train to STL.  I think they are all fawning over the fact that McDonald's is across the street and we aren't there.

It's Halloween!!!

We dressed the kids up to go to the gym for their Halloween party and the parents could go out! Andrew and I grabbed dinner while the kids played, watched movies, ate pizza and junk food. 

Miss M has been very willing to dress in her Kangaroo outfit rather than Elsa which makes me so happy.

Everyone is always touching someone around here. I don't know why they can't keep their hands to themselves.

 Look at that sass.  She is a mighty spunky Jasmine princess.

 Halloween night.  Still a pirate.

Shakin' their boom booms while they wait for the doorbell to ring for trick-or-treaters. Miss M loved the trick-or-treaters.

 Cater finally woke up and then they were able to go trick-or-treating themselves.

Miss M's best friend came over to trick or treat with us. Next year we are heading to her house b/c apparently that's where the party is at! Anwen was the sugar plum fairy from the Nutcracker.

Andrew took all the kids out while I stayed and manned the candy dish.  He said the kids did really well. Miss M and Anwen were assertive (yet polite) and ran from house to house, Big Will ran after them trying his hardest to keep up and Cater probably screamed the entire way b/c that's what she does. I think they completed two blocks, got a nice loot, and came home to warm up.

Always someone touching someone.

 Cater is learning the art of dipping.

The babies

While we were in San Fran one of Andrew's clients gave us three WF horses. This would be awesome if we didn't already have four WF horses at home. Now we have a full family of plush horses.  We set up a stable for them with an obstacle course and hay to eat and water to drink. 

We like to put the Mr. Potato Head glasses on Cater and she likes it too. She will bring them to me to put on her face if she finds them.

 I love her face.

 And her serious face.

We made our weekly Costco trip and had pizza and a hot dog. Cater has to stay in the cart! She's all kicked back and relaxed. She's relaxed as long as you're shoveling food in her mouth. If you're not shoveling food in her mouth she's screaming. She screams all the time. It's so frustrating.  She screams to get her way and often times it works b/c I can't handle being screamed at by another human being.

Spinning around and getting all sorts of dizzy.  Big Will was walking like a drunk man when he got off. It was so funny. The comedy of it made up for how awful they were at the grocery store.

  She wants to do everything, and I mean everything, that the bigger two are doing.

 It's fall. There are leaves to play in.

 And polly parrot does everything the big one does and says everything the big one says.