One Very Long Week

This week seemed like the longest week ever. Yet, as I sit here, I can't believe it's already Saturday night! I'm in a funk and I'm having a hard time pulling myself out of it. I swear I've had more anxiety attacks in the last few days than I've ever had. I have gotten all of the holiday decorations out, but we have yet to buy a tree. Maybe the smell of fresh pine will put me in the Christmas mood! Brady was sick all week and stayed home four days. Not super sick..he threw up once every 24 hours...just enough to have to stay home. And he really hates to miss school. He was so bored and sat in our driveway everyday during his classes lunch hour so he could watch his friends play (that's how close we live to school!)...it made him so sad :( Thankfully, he's 100% better now and looking forward to a full week of school (and so am I!)

In other news, Cate has mastered the backwards sommersault unassisted! Woohoo!

Kids Pictures

So happy with the kids pictures that we had taken last weekend. All the stars aligned that afternoon and it only took 15-20 minutes start to finish. I've obviously got these kids camera trained!!!

wth?

Cate's teacher couldn't wait to tell me this after school today.....

In class, they were talking about what makes them happy and sad and here are Crazy Cate's answers:

What makes me happy?.....my daddy

What makes me sad?....when my mom won't let me puke on the floor

Um, yeah. Miss Christi knew there had to be a good story to go along with this and there is, I was just too embarrassed to tell her! But what the hell, here goes (warning:kinda gross story).... Last night, after consuming an absurd amount of non-healthy food (raw cookie dough for dinner? umm hmm), Brady threw up in the living room. Just stood up and puked everywhere. He then walked into the foyer and puked ALL OVER the coat rack...drenching every single coat including my beloved Coach cashmere scarf!!!!! Scott and I had the same reaction...we were both pissed! Together, we set off on a 15 minute lecture about how ridiculous it is that our kids can't ever make it to the bathroom and to "quit puking on the floor!!". Obviously, we are not very sympathetic parents, but come on, you know when you're going to get sick and at least some sort of attempt needs to be made to run to the bathroom. (on a side note, I do find it hilarious that we can lecture and clean up barf as if it's no big deal...just another day in paradise). As usual, Cate was paying closer attention than we assumed which made for another great "Smallie story" to amuse her teachers. Never a dull moment.......

Thanksgiving Break

This year our school district gave the kids the entire week off for Thanksgiving. Parent/Teacher conferences were Mon-Tues so Scott had to work, but he was then off the next five days. I really enjoyed having this break and hope they continue to do it for at least the next 15 years :) It was a crazy busy week for us, but they all are, and at least I didn't have to worry about making school lunches and getting up before 9!

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Tuesday night, Scott and the boys had 5th row seats for the STL Blues game (thanks Fran!) They were all very excited and I received text messages from people saying they were on the jumbo-tron several times. I dvr'd the game and they were able to replay it and pick themselves out of the crowd throughout the entire game. Ben was especially impressed with his "power-play dance" that the camera man captured for the world to see :) Cate and I stayed home and watched Barney's Christmas!

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Brady and Carter were both in a turkey bowl indoor 3v3 soccer tournament Mon-Wed. Between the two of them, they played 7 games....which gave Cate plenty of time to play in the huge playground. Brady's team played awesome and won the championship game! (Carter's team...didn't. ha!)

Rather than hand out trophies or medals, each player had CHAMPIONS printed on the back of their tournament shirt. Soooo much better than adding another dust collector to our house!

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On Thanksgiving, we hosted 26 of our nearest and dearest. Two 25 lb birds were roasted and everything was delish! It was my first time having Thanksgiving at our house and it really turned out great *HUGE sigh of relief!* We even got the good china and silverware out for the occasion...fancy :) Big shout out to my mom who made the second turkey, dressing, cranberries, gravy, tea, etc.....she pretty much catered the entire affair. And we kept the leftovers..win-win.

I wish they sold candles that smell like Thanksgiving dinner!

Cate enjoying a nice glass of water and turkey while reading the Black Friday ads!

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We made a thankful tree for our dining room....I posted my tag earlier, here are the others....

(Scott)

(Bennett)

(Brady)(Carter...he may or may not have been home when we did these)(Cate)***************************************************************
We had some great weather over the break and the kids were able to play outside A LOT!

Carter giving Jack a ride on Jack's psycho-cycle

I'm not much of a Black Friday shopper but I did stay up til midnight and was able to get the three things that I wanted online...all at "doorbuster" prices and free shipping. Friday afternoon, I ran into Target and they actually had a few more things that were on my shopping list..I couldn't believe how much stock was left on their advertised "hot items".

Saturday we took the kids to The Mills for a little bit. Cate played on the playground while I ran into a few stores. Cabela's aquarium held their attention for awhile too
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And finally today, the kids had their pictures taken. Their behavior was surprisingly stellar and Carol commented 4+ times on how awesome they were and how easy it was to get great shots. I can't wait to see the proofs next week...I just need one good one for the Christmas card!
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!! 28 days til Christmas!!!!

Pinterest

pinterest.com is my very favorite website. I especially love all of the different home decor ideas and crafts. I've recreated a few looks for my own home...here are a few of my latest :)

I bought the frame pieces at Michaels (they were for canvas and only $1 each!), stained them, assembled, used eye screws and picture frame wire, and then found my favorite pictures and used tiny wooden clips to display them. All together it cost me about $11!

Since we don't have a fireplace, I wanted a shelf to display seasonal stuff and soon Christmas stockings! The dead flowers in the vase were picked by Cate :)

This is an antique ladder that I attached 5 picture frames to. I bought $1 frames (again from Michaels) and decoupaged current holiday paper to the front...then I put my favorite Halloween/fall pictures in them and decorated the sides with fall berries. Tomorrow I'll begin changing it up for Christmas. And after the holidays, I'll hang my favorite magazines over each wrung.

This is our thankful tree (although it's a terrible picture and Scott is hiding behind it!) I filled the bottom of the vase with glass leaves and pebbles then collected sticks from our backyard. I found tags to attach to the sticks and everyone wrote what they're thankful for....
This one is mine :)

Can't wait to get started on my Christmas projects!

5k Run!

Brady made his 5k race debut yesterday and he rocked it!! Our school district held their 2nd Annual 5k fun run and this year Scott and Brady decided to do it. This was also Scott's race debut...even though he runs 3+ mornings a week, he's never entered a race and he was pretty nervous about it. I was nervous about Brady running because even though he is the energizer bunny, he has never run 3.1 miles consecutively and that's a long way for 7 year old legs!!!

Pre-Race

Carter's friend Zach ran with Brady the entire time and Scott was so thankful he was there! Zach was very encouraging to Brady and motivated him to keep the pace :) No way Brady was going to back down in front of one of Carter's friends!!
My parents, sister, and nephew joined me, Cate and Bennett at the track to cheer on the boys. We watched the start, then walked over to the park to watch them finish their first mile, and then headed back to the track to watch them cross the finish line.
Candi's son Hunter placed 3rd in the 10 & under division! He did awesome!

When they entered the track they sprinted the last lap...the wind was brutal and they ran the last 100m with it right in their face..so unfair!!

Crossing the finish line in 32 minutes!!! Brady received 4th place in the 10 & under division. Woohoo!!!

As soon as the race was over, we took Brady home to change clothes and then we were off to his soccer game. It was soooo cold and windy but his entire team played a really great game. Last one of the season, holla!
After the game, Brady went home with his friend Chase and then to Chase's birthday party. We picked him up at 8:00 last night and when we got home, he cleaned his room for over an hour. I would seriously give anything to have 1/4 of the energy he has!!!!

I Got Nothing...

My mind is full of Thanksgiving preparations and my blog is suffering. Cute pictures of Cate will have to do for now......

We Need Space!

The bedrooms/sleeping arrangements in our home are becoming ridiculous! Six people in a three-bedroom house was at one time do-able for us, but lately, things have been spiraling out of control. Until Cate came along, everything was smooth sailing....Bennett and Brady shared a room, Carter had his own, and we had ours. As with everything else post 2-8-08, our content sleeping situation became chaotic. We moved all three boys into one room and set Cate up in the 3rd bedroom. However, we co-sleep with our babies until another is born, so in reality, Cate has never slept in her room. NEVER! Well, maybe twice in the last six months, but that's it. At some point, we moved things around and now Brady sleeps in Cate's room, Ben and Carter share theirs, and Scott, Cate and I live in ours :) And to put it mildly, we're all WAY OVER this set-up. Carter and Bennett are at each others throats most of the time (Bennett has to fall asleep with the tv on and Carter wants it pitch black), Brady has become a hoarder and he has organized crap all over Cate's room which drives me crazy, and Scott and I are done with having kids in our bed. Cate is the only one still thrilled with the arrangements :) Lately, Scott and I have been brain-storming to figure out what we can do to better this situation. Our basement is finished, but it's just one huge tv/play room. So, we've decided, with the consent of the boys, that we will create two "bedrooms" downstairs, and Ben and Carter will move down there, then Cate and Brady can have their own rooms. BUT, we're not sold on Carter and Ben's enthusiasm, so we're hesitant to do anything permanent with the walls, etc (other than installing an egress window..a must-have). I have been scouring pinterest and other resources trying to find a visual of what we need and I think I have finally found it. Makeshift walls created with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and curtains. Insert exhibit A:

Source: google.com via Debbie on Pinterest

Ben and Carter could each have their own space and we would still have plenty of room for the two couches, three tvs/gaming systems and toys. IKEA (roadtrip!) sells bookcase systems on the cheap and also carries room dividing drapes/suspension systems that I think would work well. We're hoping to get things going on it after our Disney trip in January. Keep your fingers crossed that Ben and Carter haven't killed each other by then and that Cate will go along with the plan!!!!!

Zoo

We thought Saturday would be the perfect fall day to visit the zoo...and it was! A little chilly but so much better than the 100 degree summer heat :) Carter and Bennett opted out of joining us....apparently, they're too cool for the zoo. Whatev.

A little sunny :)

But the scenery was absolutely gorgeous

Cate could play for hours in the children's zoo farm area. She loaded and unloaded that wheelbarrow a zillion times.

I have created a complete monster in Cate... took us 4 hours to get through the zoo because she insisted on posing in front of every animal and statue! She loves having her picture taken!