Things are getting a little cooler around here. My dad sent me a picture the other day of peppermint ice cream at Hy-Vee so Ellie and I stopped by before gymnastics last week and picked some up. Some hot chocolate with peppermint ice cream makes the cold a little more bearable.
Then they headed downstairs to play and came up with some of the plastic serving pieces. I didn't get a picture of it, but Bennett was acting like he was feeding Miles I was able to get a couple of other pictures though.
And since we didn't have small group on Wednesday, we got to go to my parents for dinner and to watch a bit of the game. Amanda and her kids and Lissy all got into town that evening so it was good to hang out with them for a bit too. Then Thursday evening Andrew and I went to Parent Teacher Conferences for Jackson and Ellie. They both went really well which I am thankful for. Lissy came over and watched the kids for us and then everyone else came over and we grilled hot dogs and s'mores outside. It was pretty chilly though so some of us didn't spend too much time out there. It didn't seem to bother the kids too much at first. But then they came inside and went crazzy while we tried to watch the Cardinal's game. And they won so that was fun. And did I mention that Andrew randomly bought me roses :-)
The kids didn't have school on Friday so Ellie and Lincoln ended up going to my parents Thursday night for a sleepover and Lissy brought them home Friday afternoon. The rest of my family (except our Florida residents, Caroline and Jared) were getting into town on Friday so I made some Halloween sugar cookies to share with everyone. Jackson and I also worked on some pretzel treats for the Halloween/Birthday party. We topped the pretzels with Rolos and Hugs along with candy corn. So Jackson and I had a competition of who could unwrap the candy the fastest. It was a good way to to get him involved and my work went a little quicker. Then Friday evening Lissy took a quick family picture of us to use for our Christmas card. Molly came along with her and they were nice enough to help me finish getting everyone ready. Once we got everyone ready, the actual "photo session" probably only last 5 minutes. But Lissy got a cute one (Miles and Bennett did require suckers) and Christmas cards are ordered. Thanks Lissy and Molly!
After we finished up the pictures, we went to my parents house and had some yummy soup while everyone got into town. Andy got the kids all riled up and the house was complete chaos. They had a lot of fun though. We were back over there Saturday afternoon while Andrew headed out to the ranch to stack hay yet again. And my dad bought some straw bales of his own and set them out in the yard for the kids to play on. Even though a few arguments ensued, they still had a pretty good time climbing around on them. Jackson spent more time climbing up in the trees though.
Then that night we got to celebrate Lola, Preston, and Grayson's 1st birthdays along with my parents Halloween party. My mom made some really cute decorations for the party. Our crowd was a little smaller this year but it was still a nice night. It was a cold one though and I never made it back inside to get my warmer clothes on. The party was ready to start by the time I got everyone in their outfits and out to the pool deck so I never made it back to the house. It was fun seeing everyone in their outfits. Jackson was a ninja, Ellie was Eloise, Lincoln was a cowboy, and Miles and Bennett were Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. We also had Mario and Luigi, a kitty cat, a cowgirl, Cardinal's player, a chicken, a butterfly, Jake the pirate, Ace Ventura, and an elephant. I'm not quite sure what Preston and Grayson were. Amanda didn't put them in their actual costumes (they are wearing the seals from last year) because she didn't want them to get dirty. I don't think anyone really got good pictures of all of them together-again chaos. Especially with all the meltdowns that occur with getting dressed up, I bet there was someone upset most of the time during the night. I did try to get a few here and there. The kids got to do a pinata and along with s'mores. I think Kaitlin had a game for them to play but they kept themselves very well entertained. And we also celebrated the 1st birthdays with the three of them thoroughly enjoying their cakes. My dad and Andy also set up the projector so we could watch the Cardinal's game outside on the side of the pool house.
I ended up not making hats for Miles and Bennett because I knew they would just pull them off. I did think it would be funny to put their Cardinal's hats on them and call them Molina and Wainwright after that dropped ball. I only got one on Bennett for a short period of time.
Andrew took the twins home a little earlier (their outfits showed that they enjoyed the night but they thankfully cleaned up pretty well) and I stayed behind to help clean up. I don't think I was that much help though. I was starting to feel pretty crummy by the end of the night and couldn't wait to get to bed that night. And I didn't feel any better the next morning. It was like I had a touch of the flu. I was really tired and achy, but nothing horrible. I didn't think it was the best idea to go to church but Andrew had to go to both services since he was doing the communion message. I just tried to keep going while he was gone. I knew I wouldn't get much rest while he was gone so I thought I better keep up on laundry and stuff instead of having it accumulate with more to do later. Andrew even asked me at one point if there was anything I wanted him to do around the house even if he was hesitant about it :-). I was able to rest some while he was around. And then he took the three oldest out to the Hettingers for another wienie and s'mores roast for Alex's birthday. So I got the twins down for a nap, got some stuff done around the house, sat down for a bit. When the kids got home, they spent most of the time playing outside and the twins were still napping, so Andrew went to the office for a bit. Then he picked up some pumpkins and dinner for us at Hy-Vee when he was done. I decided I would try to run to the store quickly instead of taking all the kids the next day since they didn't have school. It wasn't too quick though as I had to go to three stores to find vampire teeth. I was needing them for a treat for Jackson's class and all the Halloween stuff was so picked over.
As I mentioned earlier, the kids didn't have school on Monday so they got to sleep in a bit. I worked on getting some gift certificates ready for our pastors since October is Pastor Appreciation Month and then we ran them and some Halloween candy for the Trunk of Treats by the church. After we got home, the twins went down for a nap and the older three spent the rest of the afternoon playing at their hideout. Now they have started constructing something-not sure what. At one point, Jackson and Ellie both came home and Jackson said that Ellie probably looked sad because the others weren't being very nice to her. He proceeded to tell me that they had been working on making a doorway and Ellie accidentally knocked it down when she was reaching for something. He said they were all mad at her and she started crying. But Jackson just stood there holding Ellie by the shoulders telling her that it was okay and that he wasn't mad. He was totally taking care of her and trying to console her. I was so proud of him. I had told them earlier that I wanted to take some pictures of their hideout and so they decided to take me over and show me around. I think Ellie felt better about going over since I was with her. And it seemed like everything was back to normal...as normal as their hideout is. They had two wheelbarrows of wood scraps and a random baby bassinet. But they are outside using their imaginations and I love it.
After a little fort construction, we were off to Colton's for dinner. I guess I wasn't thinking too clearly when I was sick and making my shopping list because I forgot a couple of things we needed for dinner. Two of the kids had certificates to Colton's so I thought it would be a good time to go. We actually ate at the restaurant and it wasn't that bad. As long as Miles and Bennett had a roll, they were good to go. Plus there was no mess to clean up. I really appreciated that one.
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