End of September 2016

I volunteered again to help out at the elementary school during Kindergarten Lunch Time (again- at 10:30!)  It's a tight run ship during that half hour.  The kids just sit there and eat.  They aren't really allowed to get loud and talk a bunch.  Towards the end of lunch they will play some calm music as well but that's really it.  The kids are getting the hang of it - I was needed far less than the last time I came.

Landen

Avery

Mr. Dimple

His lunch is usually a slice of deli turkey, apples, cheese, snap peas, crackers or pirates booty, and some dried blueberries.

He is wiped out from those long days from 7:45 - 2:55

My car is always a mess, especially since now Emmalyn is big enough to contribute to the mess by bringing stuff into the car.  

I had one last work trip for the month - I went to a leadership summit for the Network of Executive Women in Orlando.  It was a great conference plus it was a lot of fun that I had a good group of friends from work there too.

Unfortunately, it appears that Emmalyn has gotten Hand Foot and Mouth Disease when she went to Britt's church (when Peter and I were in Chicago).  So it was hard to leave her knowing that she was sick.  

Kallie, Kari, Beth, Amy, Jessica, Stacey

Beth!!  Her office used to be right next to mine and it was great.

A couple of us went to Downtown Disney for dinner.  Dinner was just eh but it was fun to walk around and I got a couple of Disney shirts for the kids.

This musician was playing a didgeridoo.  It was impressive!

A picture I got of Emmalyn in the morning.  

Hanging with dad at Maxwell's tennis lessons.

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He's on the right side, smallest kiddo there.

Snapchat entertainment with dad

We had some time before the dinner gala so we went to get pampered!

I sat with Laura, who works for one of my clients, at dinner.  It has been fun building a friendship with her especially since she was pretty cold and aloof when I first joined the team.

Facetime at bedtime.  So glad I can still see my kids even when traveling!

Red carpet

We clearly were letting loose!

Kari Jessica and Beth

We decided to leave the party and go to Kari's favorite line dancing club.  We all piled into an Uber and it was non-stop laughs.

This line dancing place was like nothing I've ever experienced.  They lined danced to everything from country to Brittney Spears.  It was a ton of fun.

We had an epic time!

Amy Purdy was the keynote speaker in the morning.  She was great!

Never a shortage of cheese

Playing with one of the toys from Peter's birthday

We were "BOO'd" by our neighbors!  The kids were really excited!

A big moment happened this week.  On Sept 26th, it was the first morning that when Emmalyn woke up, I didn't nurse her.  It was time to be done nursing.  I was really proud that I nursed her past 2 1/2 years.  She was so upset with me.  I had even prepped her a few days ago and told her that she was a big girl now and didn't need Momma's milk.  In the saddest voice ever she goes, "I'm not a big girruhl... I'm not!...I'm not a big girruhl."  ("Girl" is a two syllable word for her.)  It was super sad.  Then when Peter came into the room she told him she wanted to nurse.  It was so hard for me not to give in!

The next day on the 27th was rough again.  She had slept horribly and was up at least 6 times crying and whining throughout the night.  When I said no, she yelled at me, "I...want...to...nurse!!!!" Multiple times.  She was so mad at me.  I felt awful :(

Emmalyn is such a Momma's girl and misses me a ton when I'm not there.  She just clings to me and begs to go to work or wherever with me.  She's getting feisty though too.  She hit me today when we were in the eyeglasses store because I was stopping her from running around. 

Maxwell still says, "Demember" instead of "Remember" and "Cucancumber" for "cucumber" and "panacake" for "pancakes".  I love these little things.  :)

Color Run = Miserable Run

It was finally time for the color run.  We had originally signed up to do the color run a year ago but it was rescheduled twice due to being rained out both times.  Since it was rescheduled for Memorial Day Weekend, we got the Kenyon's to sign up with us.

Well, it rained the night before and so we were partially expecting it to be cancelled again but it wasn't.  Instead they said that the parking at the site of the run was all muddy and so instead we needed to park in a parking lot and would be shuttled to the site of the run.  They recommended coming early since everyone would be shuttling in.

When we got to the parking spot, there were HUNDREDS of people in line and only 2 shuttles running.  It was HOT, HUMID, and awful.  There was no shade and we all just sat there.  Waiting.  Barely moving.  We grabbed a couple umbrellas from the car for shade for the kids but unfortunately didn't have enough water.  I had brought some snacks that we rationed for the kids.  The poor kids were just so bored and tired of standing.  We did everything we could to keep them entertained but it was just so HOT!!!

Seriously, it was miserable and we waited for hours in the peak heat of the day.  The parking lot had no water or restrooms.  It was horribly planned and there was no staff there.

At one point, I started feeling nausea and I think it's because I was starting to get heat or sun stroke (I'd been trying not to drink any water so that there was some for the kids).

So after hours we finally are about to get on the bus and rumors start circulating around us that they have opened up parking at the run site.  So the boys decide to not get on the bus and instead drive the cars to the site so that when we are done with the run we don't have to wait to get back on the shuttle to come home.

Getting on the bus was great because it wasn't as hot as waiting in line but the buses stunk from all those sweaty people!!

At the color run unfortunately things didn't turn around dramatically.  The set up was small... there wasn't a ton of vendors there.  They had bounce houses but you had to pay to use them and there were supposed to be food truckS but instead there was just one.

They were trying to have people start in waves but we were so OVER IT that we wanted nothing to do with waiting any longer.  So we started off without a big burst of color.  The site of the color run was just a big field.  There was no paved path.  Instead we were running in hay fields that had been recently cut.  The path was sort of marked with cones.  It was extremely uneven and so trying to push the stroller on the dirt was awful.  I ended just cutting across the field with Emmalyn but it was a serious work out because it was so uneven and I was trying to avoid ant hills.

The older kids had taken off running and Maxwell followed them out of site which had me freaked out so Peter took off after them.

There were no refreshing water stations.  At one point we happened upon a barrel filled with cold Dr. Pepper so we grabbed some just to put against our hot faces.  (Eventually there was *1* water station that served warm water.  Awful!)

We did have a little fun throwing the color from our packets at each other and got messy.  We stopped for some pictures and to get the group back together at about halfway through the run. (Really it was only a quarter of the way through because to do the full length of the run you would do the course twice.)

Maxwell and Natalie

Landen, Natalie, Maxwell, Makenna, Hayden

Natalie tried to pick up Emmalyn and she wasn't having it

Covered from head to toe

After we took pictures, some of them took off to finish the route.  Michelle and I and a couple kids had no interest in walking through the hay/weeds any longer and took a short cut for the finish line.  Well, Maxwell who was super excited about the run didn't want to take a short cut so Peter went with him.  He stayed interest for just a short while and then was tired but unfortunately they were too far out at that point to really do a short cut anymore so poor Peter who was already hot and drained had to carry him.

We survived!!! 

There was live music and other things going on after the run but you couldn't pay us to stay any longer.  When we got to the cars we worked on brushing off as much of the color dust as possible but it was incredibly messy.  I was irritated because right at the finish line some punk kid took a handful of the color and threw it right at my chest  - - well, I had PILES of it down my bra.  SO GROSS.

We didn't bring clothes to change into so instead we changed the kids into their swimsuits from the splash park earlier today.  

Seriously, this was the worst planned event ever.  I got onto their Facebook page and roasted them.  I complained about all of the horrible parts of this event and recommended that no one ever give them money to participate in this thing ever.

Want to know the icing on the cake?  The next day we realized that some of us had chiggers from being in the field.  (So glad none of my family had chiggers.)  So the pain and irritation of this "FUN" event stayed for days.  I think Richard will be probably be complaining for years.

To try and turn the day around, we stopped for snow cones on the way home.  That was delicious.  We were so tired and ready for showers that we made dinner at home which was a bummer.

Why I shouldn't do crafty projects

The last few days before Christmas were pretty busy.

Emmalyn has started climbing on chairs and getting into drawers.  She likes to get out her own silverware.

Maxwell received and envelope in the mail

It was a Christmas card *just for him* from Grandma Donna!  He was so excited and immediately wanted to put it on his door so he could see it all the time.

I visited Max at school during lunch (can't remember why anymore now)

Gas was so low I couldn't help but take a picture.  It's crazy to see it drop this low when it was up around 3.50/gallon!

Look how cute Emmalyn's hair is, thanks to Britt!  This is her most elaborate hair style yet.

We took the kids to look at the lights in downtown Frisco.  Max was really into them and enjoyed it (Emmalyn enjoyed it too).

Peek...

...a boo!

So, I decided to take on a project.  I've taken a couple Friday's off work in December to work on my to-do list so it was the perfect time for a project.  Max is going to get the below lego table from Santa for Christmas.  I am not in love with the color or characters on the table so I figured I would use chalk paint and paint over it.  I have multiple friends who have been singing the praises of chalk paint and how easy it is to use.  So I went to Home Depot, got everything I needed and was ready to start when I sent pictures of the table to Peter and he said that he liked it the way it was.

...Well... Darn!

I spent some time on cleaning up the flower beds and laying down mulch for the rest of winter.  Here's the before...

...and the after.   I love how clean it looks.

While Momma worked at home, Emmalyn was working out with Brittany and Joe.

Here's the chalk paint.  Since I wasn't going to paint the lego table, I decided to find something else to paint.  I already had the supplies, the time, the motivation...got to put it to use!

Here's my new project.  This kids table I was given by one of my employees.

Everything was going well and I was having a great time.  Until I lifted one part of the table up to get to part of it but had totally forgotten that I had the paint can sitting on the top of the table.

It totally spilled on the floor.  And of course right on the garage floor and not on the drop cloth I had on the ground.  Sheesh!

I scraped up most of it

And then scrubbed at the rest.  I got most of it up but wasn't able to get it all up. ugh.

So then I'm walking around and step right on the lid of the can and get paint on my foot.

And THEN I freaking get paint on my pants AND shirt.

I just am so clumsy.  This is why I shouldn't do crafty projects.  It's a disaster where I'm certain to ruin something.

Here's the finished product all painted and just waiting to dry.  I'm happy with it.  

I tried to get a picture of the two of them together but it just turned silly...

Max ended up being the only kid in his swim class so Coach Katie challenged him to swim the whole length of the pool.  He did great and did it a few times!  Since he was the only one in the class, that meant he was swimming the whole time.  He was certainly worn out that night.

Max has been enjoying listening to Aunt Jules Christmas album.  Feliz Navidad is one of his favorites to listen too.

Maxwell has loved doing the countdown to Christmas this year.  It's fun seeing him really getting into more of Christmas.

Gasp - - I started wrapping presents a day BEFORE Christmas Eve!  Go me!