October Wordle

I love Wordles... I think they're so fun! Here's what my October Wordle looks like. I think I talked about Abby a lot.

Fun weekend, my version

A week ago, we all had a great weekend. But the thing is, we didn't all have the same weekend! Here was my perfect weekend...

 

Abby and I hung out on Friday night, all by ourselves. We went shopping for our upcoming Halloween party, and then went home and watched the movie Benny and Joon (I saw that in the theater with my sister a million years ago!). Then on Saturday morning we got up early and headed to the train station, to take the train down to Chicago. There was a big surprise as we waited for the train in that my friend Nina and her daughter Gabriella were taking the train as well. I've known Nina for many years, as we used to be coworkers. Her daughter is Nolan's age, and we've done many things with her. Abby sat with Gabriella and they played on the iPads and watched movies while I caught up with Nina. It made the ride go very quickly.

 

When we got to Chicago, we met up with my friend Nicole, who wanted to take Abby for the weekend. I was all about it! We headed to the hotel (Hard Rock Chicago) and then to brunch. From there, Abby and Nicole headed out, as did I. I just wandered. First down Michigan Avenue, then all around Water Tower Place. I ended up heading over to Lake Michigan and just hanging out, reading a book on my phone. Loved it! Then I walked back to the hotel, stopping at Fannie Mae's for carmels and then at Starbucks for some yummy coffee. It was perfect, and I got back just before Abby and Nicole. We sat and relaxed, and ate, and talked, and then started to get ready for the evening. We headed out to Navy Pier for some shopping and some dinner. We ate at Harry Carey's and then headed to the ferris wheel.

 

Abby and Nicole... Abby looks so grown up!

On the ferris wheel... it is a lot of fun, with great views!

Pretty girls with dimples! (Too bad I didn't take out the red eye...)

Reminds me of the fair.

Abby went on these swings. I nearly puked.

Loved the moon out over the skyline.

Thanks Nicole!!

Abby hanging out at the hotel. She got those new boots. From Payless. (Just because we're in Chicago doesn't necessarily make us shoppers!)

The next day, Nicole and Abby headed out again. I walked a million miles (okay, 3.5) to get my hair cut and colored. And then walked along the lake back to get a massage and a facial. And then back to the hotel, a ride back to the train station, and we were on our way. My friend Nina was again on our train, so we caught up some more and said our goodbyes at the Milwaukee station.

For me, it was the perfect amount of company and time by myself. The most perfect weekend!!

Fun weekend, boy version

A week ago, we all had a great weekend. But the thing is, we didn't all have the same weekend! Here was the boys' perfect weekend...

 

It involved heading down to Dave's parents on Friday night and then getting up early on Saturday. While Ava and Max got to spend fun quality time with Grandma and Grandpa and fun cousin Megan, Nolan and Dave headed to Notre Dame with John and Jake, Dave's cousin Joe and his son Brett. The boys, from what I gathered, played a lot of football while tailgating.

 Nolan smoked his first cigar. Or, ate a beef stick.

 As did Jake. Notice the matching Gatorades.

 Joe, Brett, Nolan, Jake. Those are football fans if I've ever seen them! Notice the keg of Heinekin on Joe's shoulder!

 Touchdown Jesus.

 Nolan was in Seventh Heaven.

 Brett looked like he was having a pretty good time, too.

 Like father like son...

 Nolan with the jersey of his new favorite player... Mante Te'o.

 The leperchaun himself.

 There he is, Nolan! So close!

 Something tells me these guys will grow up going to sporting events together, and bringing their own kids, just like their fathers.

 Nolan's proud bookstore purchases.

They all had a great time, and were more than happy to spend their day watching a Notre Dame win!

Boo!

We had lots of fun this Halloween! And it's still not done, but close enough that I thought I'd share.

 

Not quite in this order, but close enough...  We went to a Halloween party on Saturday night. Everyone was supposed to be in costume. I can't remember the last time I wore a costume. So, we went as a Notre Dame family! It just so hapens that we all have shirts, and the face painting and hair spray was the perfect touch. And, lucky for us, a big Notre Dame/Oklahoma game just happened to be on! Plus, the house we went to has an amazing theater room/projection screen where we could watch the game. The kids ran around, did a bone scavenger hunt, bobbed for apples, made mummies... crazy fun!

 The boys Tebow-ing...

 

 Fast forward to pumpkin carving. We have been so crazy busy, we never made it to a pumpkin farm this year. So, Saturday morning we headed to a local farm, where all pumpkins were $3 or less. We spent about a third of the money we usually do, the kids were just as happy, and we were good to go! We were going to carve on Saturday, but since the pumpkins were freezing, we decided to carve on Sunday instead. Much enjoyed by all!

 

 Max was so proud... he did his all by himself!

 And then Sunday night was Trick or Treating! It's such a silly day to do it. It's not Halloween, it's not a Saturday, it's a Sunday night. On top of that, it's a Sunday night when the kids had off on Thursday and Friday prior. I wanted to do nothing but get them in bed early... that wasn't happening!

Max was supposed to be Thor, but we couldn't fit enough warm clothes underneath, so went as a scary joker instead.

 Abby went with her friend Lizzy. They got a crazy amount of candy... and Abby got new pjs out of the deal!

 On Friday, since the kids had off school and I wasn't going to work, I told them they could have friends over. With my kids, we ended up with 16 kids here. I was exhausted, but we had a lot of fun! Here's the brains we cooked, with bugs of course.

 Blood with body parts, anyone?

 We also had some regular crafts going...

 Here were the only girls at the party... they were much overrun by the boys.

 I did let them make cupcake donuts at the beginning. They had a pretty good assembly line going, and they turned out delicious!

 The entire crew, prior to digging into brains, intestines and blood!

 Ewww!

 Ugh!

 Don't eat that!

 How many ears did you find?

 Is that blood on Ezra's mouth??

 Rayva and Ava kicked off the crafts with cute pumpkin baloons.

 And then we did mummy wraps!

 The boys alternated between football outside and football on the Wii.

 But since only two can play Wii at a time, a toilet paper war kept the others busy.

 Here is end state. For some reason, they would throw toilet paper and yell, "Flying Guinea Pig!" They are crazy.

 Awww! We should totally die her hair!

 Here is Abby at the party we went to. It was about 40 degrees out. And she stuck her entire head in a bucket to bob for apples. Seriously? It's not like she was actually going to eat the apple!

 Ava loved trick or treating. She liked the candy of course, but even more, she just loved to look at everyone's costume and comment, "Wow! Look Mommy!!"

 The boys' candy all sorted.

 And Abby's million pieces. How will I ever not eat it all!!

One more Halloween party left, at Ava's school on Tuesday. Dave is helping parent, so I'm sure everyone will have a good time!! On to Thanksgiving and Christmas. Winter is upon us!