Last Week of October

We painted pumpkins last night instead of carving them. The oldest two went on field trips this month and picked their own pumpkins, and they were really too small to carve. They had a fabulous time, I felt like a rock star parent, and it actually wasn't a big mess. Spencer and Genevieve both did tons of painting in preschool, so they were pros at it and Aaron had no problems either. It was a fun night.

 I found this Christmas ornament idea awhile back on Pinterest. It's pony beads melted in the toaster oven in cookie cutter molds. These are all the metal ones I own, and they turned out really nice! The first I did single layer and it worked but not for the points of the stars. So the second round I did a double layer and I like that even better. I need to round off the corners. Hopefully I can sand them down and have them look good. It was a fun little project. I like to get a new ornament every year for Christmas and this year these will be it. I'll drill holes in them for a string too.

 I ran my half marathon Saturday morning. It went remarkably well. I really enjoyed it! This particular training cycle I discovered the joy of audio books. I listen while I run and it has changed exercising into not only an enjoyable experience from the endorphins and feeling of being in shape, but also because it's now combined with listening to books, which is phenomenal. I love to read but I never have time to. I've listened to probably four or five books the last month. It's really pleasant and I finished one book during my race. The time goes by so much faster when I'm just listening and zoning into the run.

 I got this little guy from my kids' school fundraiser. It came white and I painted it one very productive day with the included colors. It lights up. This year is a Christmas on the mind super early sort of year. No complaining. :)

 Poor Chloe was sick on Friday and she is still sick. She's mostly just had a fever, which makes for very sad evenings and early mornings. Poor kiddo. I hope she kicks it soon.

Vignettes from the week

 We did family pictures last Friday. I sent probably 20 pictures to Bill that morning deciding on clothing to wear.

 Here's a sneak peek of our picture session. it was so beautiful out and the kids rocked it on pictures for the first time ever. We even got Chloe to smile. I'm so excited to see the rest of the photos.

 Chloe is such a climber. She stands up in her high chair any chance she gets. I took this to show off her cute outfit she just grew into, and then strapped her in. If she follows in Aaron's footsteps, she'll learn to stand up even when clipped in and then we'll be out of luck on the high chair, but for now she still will sit and eat thankfully.

 I picked paint for my snowflake. Despite the grain being really pretty, I want this snowflake to be more festive, so I'm going with white and then silver glitter. We'll see how it turns out.

 Instead of sleeping one afternoon last week Chloe was doing acrobatics. She had her feet above her head pushed against the mesh of her crib before I grabbed this picture.

 She was obviously sleeping. Obviously. Lol. I think she fell asleep later in the car, but definitely didn't take the opportunity to sleep during this nap time.

I made a couple of Christmas trees too with scraps I had. I'm going to put bases on them and paint them green, but even unsanded and raw I love how they turned out. The silhouette look is really appealing to me this year.

A few pictures from this week

 A little black frosting lipstick for the day. A friend and I hosted a baby shower for another friend. It was fun.

 She said she wasn't sick, but then she fell asleep in the car. Very telling.

 Finished drawer. I got my last piece of wood I need to do the other drawer on her bed hopefully today.

Another view of what the bed looks like without the mattress. I cut grooves into the drawer front with my router so it would match the planking on the ends and it really looks cool. It probably would help if I took a picture with something besides my phone camera, but no time for that.

Dirt

I let my kids play outside the other day while I was folding laundry and watching them from inside. They beelined it for the flower bed we cleared out this summer but didn't fill up yet and started digging. And apparently Aaron dumped a shovel full of clay dirt on Chloe's head and it was hilarious. She wasn't even remotely bothered. I had to bathe her to get it off. It wouldn't brush off even at all. Good times. 

Pictures from this week.

 Three of four drawers done for my kids' beds.

 Spencer got comfy during conference this weekend.

 These mini recliners moved onto a new owner this weekend. They were so much fun to have the last few years. The kids don't really use them anymore so we're going to do something different, but I had a moment of sadness when they left.

 Chloe climbs up to look out the window these days.

 She has a little mischievous streak that is so cute. I can just see the thoughts going on in her head of what funny thing she can do.

 I cut Aaron's hair a few days ago. He's looking so big these days.

 She wears these shoes all day long every day. True love.

I always love it when my kids put themselves to sleep. That blanket is down with soft minky on the inside. It's a napping blanket for sure.