October has been such a fun month! Juliet knows that Bradley is putty in her hands and has been enjoying following him around and basking in the love.
She's pretty happy anytime she can jump off the fireplace and make someone catch her. Fun story, she is completely capable of going up and down stairs on her own but it's slow and she has to crawl a bit and she doesn't like it so she'll just yell for one of us to carry her and generally that's what happens. So ridiculous. No other child refused to do stairs.
Cuddles during a show in the basement. I don't know which child is enjoying this more.
She ditched the wagon and demanded to be carried when we walked to far park a few weeks back. Bradley is so proud whenever she demands his services.
We found some monkeys at the park.
The other two on the swing. Later Patrick decided to stand up and swing on the baby swing and Juliet had to go over and yell at him a lot because it was so very wrong. Juliet is never shy to let others know if they are doing wrong.
We ran into some friends on the way home and Juliet was happy to see her good buddy Rhett. Juliet knows when someone is a member of her fan club and kind of follows them around once they make a bit of a fuss over her.
Eleanor has been very busy at school, about a week ago at bedtime she informed me that she had created a club with her friends Sully, Maya, and Ava. It's called the Happily Club. She told me about the club on Friday evening and apparently they had decided to have a meeting on Sunday afternoon at the school playground. This girl is quite good at arranging friend time. Sadly, the girls did not make sure their parents had contact info so the meeting didn't happen. The picture below is of Eleanor with Maya and Ava at a school recess. Eleanor also tried to spring a playdate on me when we were biking home from school one day, but Bradley already had a playdate at home so we couldn't just stay and play on the school playground as she wished. Bitter tears were shed. I have a bad feeling about how winter will go during a pandemic, we've been doing great with outdoor playdates but that's going to get tough soon.
At least she gets to go on exciting errand with her daddy to hardware stores. They fixed up the axe throwing target for a mom group activity I hosted at our house. Eleanor is so handy, it's a lot of fun.
Nathan with his helpers fixing up the target.
And me with the crew who showed up to throw axes. It was pretty fun! Although the target then lived in our front yard for the next couple weeks. Super classy.
Bradley has this thing about being surrounded by stuffed toys when he goes to sleep. He recently did this for a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's house and it looks like he's part of some weird stuffed toy pagan sacrifice. Sweet Bradley.
Sometimes it is difficult to be so beloved by the baby. Her attentions can be a bit much if you're trying to watch a show.
But at least he got her head. I got the feet kicking against me. Bradley found this situation beyond hilarious.
We managed a few more early fall swims at the lake.
My folks came out for an afternoon and got to paddle around the lake for a bit with the kids.
Paddling with Juliet is quite the experience, it's a good thing Grandpa is a good sport. She likes to have a turn trying to paddle and she knows you're supposed to stand up on the paddleboard, so she does. And then she yells at everything she finds interesting. It's all very busy.
Nathan got some more serious fishing gear as he and Patrick progressed to catching bigger fish.
Our neighbor Brad (Bradley thinks he's the coolest) came over one morning and got to witness Patrick in fishing mode.
Nathan has high hopes for getting Eleanor into fishing as well.
She certainly doesn't mind the bits of fishing I find intolerable.
There was a big storm and Eleanor and I went for a walk afterwards in our park. It turns out the little creek can turn into a waterfall in the correct conditions.
Juliet's 12 month Seahawks cheerleader outfit still fits her at 20 months of age.
Watching games with her is kind of the best. Everything about Juliet is pretty amazing right now. Nathan has her trained to yell "Go Seahawks" and she pumps her fists and high fives him on command.
I took the crew to go and get flu shots and in an act of impeccable parenting, I told them if no one whined that we could go get donuts afterwards. Everyone did great! They did so well that poor Juliet was excited to get her shot and happily laid down at the doctor's office when she knew it was her turn to go next. We started singing Row Row Row Your Boat to her and she was so happy ... and then the shot happened. Great betrayal. Poor baby. Good thing she loves donuts.
We also went by the library and got a whole new stack of library books. We really enjoyed the flexibility of virtual school, although we were perhaps not so diligent about the school part of it.
Juliet liked to join Patrick for his zoom calls. Patrick hated zoom classes so much, it did not work particularly well for kindergarten. Eleanor was fine, she figured it out and her teacher made it nice. Bradley was flat out ignoring his teacher and reading books on the online Epic app during the zoom calls. Or he would play math games. We were very grateful when full-time in-person school started on October 5th.
Juliet loves Sookie. Lucky Sookie. Fun story, the cats had been acting really weird and we couldn't figure out what was going on. Turns out our indoor cats somehow got fleas. By the time we figured it out we had quite a few of them. We don't want to use harsh chemicals to get rid of them because of Juliet so it's been a bit of an ordeal vacuuming a lot and flea baths for the cat and doing a lot of wash. Fun times!
It has been great fun going to the park with just Juliet on the mornings the kids are in school. She is a maniac and I love it.
She also has decided that her high chair is for babies and she belongs at the table with the big kids. We got out the booster seat for her and she is one happy little girl!
We got to host a cub scout event at our lake lot, which ended up being a huge success even though it was too cold for the kids to swim. Here's Bradley whittling soap.
There were lots of yummy snacks. I don't know how much Bradley ate. We're happy he didn't throw up.
The crew of scouts by the blazing fire. They whittled, fished, some kids went kayaking, they made s'mores, and they generally ran around having a blast together.
This correctly sums up the energy of the afternoon.
S'mores! Alex, the boy on the far left, tried to spend the night in a tent with his dad but it got too cold for them so they went home in the middle of the night. But he had a lovely evening playing tag and sardines with our kids and I think he had a pretty excellent time.
It was chilly in the morning so the girls had cuddles and reading time.
I played Zombie Kidz with the boys, it's our new board game obsession.
They got in a bit of fishing once it warmed up.
And this warmed my heart - the Monahans had given us a hammock and apparently it's the perfect place to cuddle up with a sibling and look at a Where's Waldo book together.
Meanwhile, the fishermen hard at work. Patrick's sweatshirt glows in the dark, I actually bought the kids some seasonal attire at Target and poor sweet Patrick is used to only getting hand-me-downs so he was beyond thrilled to get something new and super cool.
What a good fisherman!
More Zombie Kidz Evolution. This game has been fantastic, it's fun that me doing a board game website is a great thing for the whole family.
Eleanor managed to rip her new spooky kitty skirt while playing outside and was inconsolable until her wonderful daddy helped her fix it.
I deserve a medal for taking four very excited children with me to the Dollar Tree to get Halloween trinkets for boo bags for friends. Although they only ended up booing the neighbors directly across the street - the rest we're saving as Trunk or Treat prizes for Eleanor's girl scout troop.
Juliet prides herself on self-sufficiency and tried to go roller skating the other day. I certainly didn't get them out for the one year old.
Do you like her outfit? It's actually her unicorn Halloween costume. It matches the one we got for Eleanor. I have let Eleanor know that I'm basically against buying her new clothes unless it's something that makes her match with Juliet. Juliet is cute enough and Eleanor is desperate enough to go along with this for the time being. Juliet also goes nuts for pumpkins, we're not sure why. This is Addison's very pumpkiny front step.
So much joy over all the pumpkins.
I love taking her to the park. Where we live is just so perfect for us.
We've been visiting Addison's front step even more than usual now that there are pumpkins therer.
Addison got to babysit Juliet for about 20 minutes the other day when Bradley was at a playdate with his friend Luca and Eleanor's friend Ava from the next street over wanted Eleanor and Patrick to come by for a few minutes. So I left my baby with Addison, who is basically Juliet's second mother. Juliet hollered when I said goodbye but she was happily playing with rocks when I returned, so it was a success.
Every once in a while Juliet will tolerate a headband.
This is an Iowa State one! Nathan was very pleased when I sent him these pictures.
So in big news, in honor of Nathan's 40th birthday his folks made a surprise trip out from Boise! I knew about this for a couple months in advance and had to keep it a secret. I didn't even tell the kids because have you ever told Patrick a secret?
They arrived during Juliet's nap time and we got the kids from school and had some fun at the park before Nathan got home from work. He's officially back in the office now, Juliet and I miss having him work from home.
Juliet demanded that Grandpa sit in the red chair and this is what he managed. She wasn't sure if it counted or not.
The video of Nathan being surprised!!! Spoiler: he didn't faint or cry or anything exciting like that, he was just very smiley and happy.
The kids had to go to school on Nathan's birthday (the day after Dan and Kati arrived) so we took them down to the lake lot. No big deal, but Nathan had been asking about days to take off of work a few weeks ago so I suggested he take off the Thursday and Friday leading up to his birthday and I managed to do this without ruining the Dan and Kati surprise so I am a sneaky genius.
Nathan's birthday activity of choice? Using his new chainsaw to cut down firewood. If it's a midlife crisis it is a studly and handsome one.
The two of us on his birthday! Juliet napped for most of our time at the lake, we got to just hang out with Dan and Kati and even played a board game (shocker).
It was a beautiful day, the girls got in some swing time after school.
And then it was time for the birthday pumpkin pinata!
How sweet are the big kids with Juliet and this pinata?
Juliet got such great help.
It is fair to say the kids were dazzled when Nathan took a bat to the pinata.
Later Bradley kept talking about it. "He did one swing and it exploded!" Nathan has quite the fan club these days.
However, we perhaps did not think things through so well and Juliet LOVES pumpkins and kept saying "oh no!" while looking at the broken pinata. Candy did not appease her. Poor baby.
I got a red velvet Nothing Bundt Cake for the birthday boy.
Eleanor dazzled by showing off her piano skills later on. The lessons are still going really well, I'm very pleased with the program we have them on.
And then we settled in to watch a few shows.
Friday while the kids were in school Nathan took his folks on a park outing with adorable Juliet.
She's pretty fun at the park these days. She loves the swings.
Followed by cozy reading time.
Everyone enjoyed surprise grandparent time.
Aw, Daddy and Bradley together. There is a slight resemblance.
Juliet got to run around naked on evening so we handed her a pumpkin and took a picture.
Some things don't change, here's when we did the same with Patrick back when he was 2 and we were visiting Boise!
That night we let Dan and Kati in on perhaps my favorite Halloween tradition - watching The Legend of Ichabod Crane (Disney version) with the kids.
It's so cozy.
But the best part is watching the kids watch the movie. There is so much screaming with delight and cuddling during the scary bits.
More cozy cuddles the next morning.
Our new horse swing I got for free from a Buy Nothing Facebook group I'm in. Fun story, I'm so used to Nathan being able to fix things up that when this was posted and they commented that it needed new rope I didn't even check with Nathan before picking it up because I knew he could easily handle that and would be happy about a new swing for the kids. I was proved correct, he hung it up the next day. Yay Nathan!
Juliet in her glow in the dark Halloween dress and all the pumpkins! Happy girl!
And woohoo, the big event of the weekend! Nathan's Brewfest backyard birthday party.
Yes, we all got quite fancy for the occasion.
And there was axe throwing. Of course. Kati did great for her first time ever throwing!
Many thanks to our friends the Krenns for hosting and for all of our friends who put together a delicious snack table.
Bavarian Dan.
Later on in the evening the guys started throwing a full size axe so I tried it out too. This is perhaps the most terrifying picture of the afternoon.
Oh wait no, this one is.
We had such a fun time.
Smoochies!
The birthday boy! The beard was resplendent this evening.
With some of his best dudes, Brian and Mike.
With his pops.
Us with the Krenns.
And the whole party crew! Nathan's Aunt Tami even made the drive out from Lake of the Ozarks. It was a very fun time.
Afterwards, Nathan's folks had a little more time with the kids before they had to go back to Boise.
The weather was so perfect, we got to be outside quite a bit.
Bradley even got to go on a nice walk with his grandpa. He chatters like crazy on these walks, it's one of my favorite things to do with him. We were sad to see Dan and Kati go but it was a really wonderful visit.
More swing time! Yay!
This is what it looks like when we take all four kids to the park.
I tried to take a picture of Bradley in front of a pretty tree but Juliet ran over and grabbed his hand because she needed him.
I said something nice about some macarons a friend made and so she gave me some. I tried to take a picture of just me with the macarons to post on Facebook and thank her (and give her new business a shout out) and guess who was naughty delighted to get in on my photo?
I also bake and this good baby helps eat any leftover batter.
However, it's so tough, sometimes I lose Juliet and can't find her anywhere.
Where is the baby? Where is she?
I love how much all of our kids like books. Juliet only occasionally rips pages these days, we still try to limit her to board books.
More park time, more swings.
This was my favorite dress for Eleanor, I so love Juliet wearing the clothes she used to wear.
Whenever we would get back from biking with the kids to school Juliet would yell "wing!" at me until I took her back and pushed her on the swing for a bit. She's copying everything we say these days, I love hearing her yell "I get you!"
I've been trying to load the kids up on playdates while the weather has been nice. Some adults walked by and asked if the girls were having a tea party and I said "no, they're playing a zombie board game together." We are really big fans of Zombie Kidz Evolution, it says something that even Eleanor is very excited about it.
Poor Nathan. Sometimes he just wants to have a nice meal but then some good music is playing so I initiate a wild dance party. How adorable is Bradley dipping Juliet? And how hilarious is Eleanor casually eating and ignoring us?
Juliet says "I love you" and it makes me melt.
A less happy bath. Flea baths for the kitties!
It's been pretty miserable for them. Fleas are the worst.
Juliet insisted on riding on the swing like this one morning. She's crazy about her pumpkin socks.
Waiting to pick up the kids at school. We got to bike for a lot longer than I thought we would, we had nice weather for it for a long time.
Biking had its perks, like easily being able to invite friends to come by after school. Luca and his brother Koehn were over already and then Bradley's friend Luke came over to give him a Bakugan toy that had somehow been traded for a cheesestick during lunch ... I was afraid to ask too many questions. Bradley has been really into football lately and they had a fabulous time playing around in our yard.
The Bakugan craze has hit our family. Some precious allowance money was spent. Patrick cried a lot at first because he didn't have enough money because he keeps getting fired from jobs because he doesn't do them. However, he swept up some leaves from the deck and the middle school girls next door gave him $5 for helping out at their lemonade stand so he somehow scrounged up the $20 for the toy he will care about for at least a month.
Eleanor is super into knock knock jokes these days and this book is brought out for many of our evening bedtime cuddles.
Took the kids to "the pumpkin patch" aka Price Chopper to pick out their pumpkins they wanted to carve. Fun story, Juliet found a tiny pumpkin there that she loved and I thought I could tell the one year old that she already had tiny pumpkins at home and didn't need another one and I was so very wrong. We got the extra pumpkin.
Other things I have been wrong about - I thought we didn't have to take a tiny wagon with us all the way to the playground in the park.
I thought one couldn't swing while holding onto it. Well, I did turn out to be correct about that one. She got down soon after this.
I thought it didn't need to go up on the play structure.
Silly mommy.
I did suggest to Juliet that she put some hedge apples in the wagon on the way home, which she took me up on with great delight. She put so many hedge apples in her wagon! But then it was heavy so she had to throw all of them out. But then she wanted the hedge apples so she put them back in. Heavy - back out. Then we tried to walk home but the sun was in her eyes and that was also wrong so I had to carry her while she clung to me and buried her face in my chest and I also got to carry the wagon. Good thing it didn't have any hedge apples in it anymore.
Desperate Meg tried to cuddle on my lap during lunch but then Juliet needed to cuddle too and Meg tolerated a LOT before giving up and getting down.
Grandma and Grandpa have kinetic sand at their house and it is very popular. Also, I am glad it is at their house and not mine.
The boys have had a bit of a love fest going on lately and decided to have a sleepover together at Grandma and Grandpa's house.
Playing with a Gauss rifle in the morning. There are perks to having a science teacher for a grandma.
Meanwhile, Nathan went down to the lake with Eleanor for a special Daddy/Daughter outing. We joined them later in the day.
After we had some of the apple pie Juliet helped Grandma and Grandpa make while I was at tennis lessons with the boys. Apparently Juliet had quite the excellent time baking. She was in charge of placing cut up apples into the pie and I'm told she would take a bite and then toss the rest of the apple piece in. On repeat. She is a big fan of this baking business!
The Monahans gave Nathan a bow and arrows and a target to take down to the lake and after a little bit of practice Patrick shot pretty close to a bullseye. Both Nathan and I were unable to do as well as Patrick even though he helpfully tried to give us nonstop hints as we made our attempts.
Juliet wanted in on the action as well.
It was our last weekend out at the lake, it was pretty lovely. We might be able to go out for an afternoon now and then but Nathan had to winterize the RV so there's not going to be any running water in it until the spring.
It's pretty fun to be down there even when it's too cold to go swimming.
Happy Juliet.
She cuddled up with Eleanor to watch The Adams Family.
More Zombie Kidz Evolution the next morning.
And a very cold campfire and s'mores before going home.
Bradley stayed with Nathan for some quality time and to help put things away.
Then we celebrated my dad's birthday with ice cream cake!
Monday on the way home from school the kids spotted a leaf pile in our neighbor Penelope's yard.
We really like leaf piles.
Penelope was super nice and proud that we were all so excited. I think she rather enjoyed the Juliet cuddles as well.
An Eleanor emerging from the leaves!
Cute girls posing in front, boys trying to tackle each other in the background. Delightful.
Patrick was really proud about climbing Penelope's tree and then all three of the big kids wanted to climb the tree simultaneously and there was a lot of fighting and who knew I could hate a tree?
Fortunately Penelope and Juliet were very cute together.
Juliet watches everything, I couldn't believe it the other day when she spilled some water out of a cup she was walking around with so she walked over to the oven and grabbed a hand towel and cleaned it up. This is exactly what we have the big kids do when they spill something. Except they don't clean up as well as Juliet did.
However, she followed this up by grabbing a music toy and standing on it so I guess she doesn't want me to get too cocky.
I decided it would be a good idea to make a bunch of sugar cookies that afternoon and have the big kids decorate them when they got home from school. Juliet is tickling Patrick in this photo, who has a half blue head because it was mismatch day at school so we colored half his head with colored hair spray. Fancy!
I did food dye in the glaze and we had about 5 different colors going on. It was rather chaotic but it was quite impressive to see what the kids created.
This was Patrick's tray. I had each of them decorate ten cookies to bring in to their teacher the next day. We were very hopeful that Patrick's teacher, Ms. Scarborough, would like a fair amount of glaze on her cookies.
Another big event - Nathan got a basketball arcade game off of Facebook marketplace and it has been getting some serious play time.
All the kids like it but the boys in particular are quite obsessed. It's a nice thing to have in the house to get some energy out during the winter, Patrick in particular gets pretty sweaty while he plays.
We started to have a sticker chart for Bradley to earn screen time on Wednesdays and Saturdays and it's been fantastic. He earns stickers for being kind to siblings and helping out. He's doing great, earning lots of stickers, and Patrick is a little jealous and wishes he had a sticker chart too.
It was 80 degrees a couple days ago. Snowing now. Juliet and I had our last hurrah for a morning park outing and it's really good I think kids should get dirty at the park because Juliet thoroughly agrees with me.
This girl loves her puddles. She took off her own shoes and socks, I was silly and initially thought they should stay on.
More football in the yard. It gets a little cuddly when it's just Bradley and Patrick.
Yet more swing time.
We had an adult game night with the Monahans a few days ago while my folks watched the kids, except for Patrick who we brought with us. It was very cold so Patrick got to be inside for his playdate with Mabel. I know there's a pandemic, but he also keeps telling me about the food and snacks he shares with Mabel at school on a daily basis so we figure they're kind of in this together as it is.
Eleanor made the most beautiful art creation in the world and Juliet would not let it go and kept singing happy birthday to it.
Lots of creations in this house, Eleanor followed this up by making brownies all by herself for dinner. I got ingredients out but she mixed them all up and even greased the pan by herself. The final touch was the pumpkin m&m decoration, which was a huge hit! We have even more baking planned in preparation for our Halloween driveway party this upcoming Saturday!
