Happy 7th Birthday Parker!

You're 7 Parker!  It seems surreal that we're here already.  Another 12:10 picture.

I made a few more bean bags for him to give to his classmates at school.

The last few years we have made a tradition of eating at Perkins on his birthday.  Parker plowed two whole pancakes and his sausage.

Esme has been eating like a bird lately and barely touched her cakes and whipped cream.

I am so excited for another great year!

Holiday Mall Visit

We try to get out to the Mall of America at least once during the holiday season.  It is always decked out with lights and decorations and puts you in the spirit of Christmas.  We headed out early Saturday morning and had breakfast at Cinnabon.

It's been ages since we stopped in the LEGO area, but it was almost empty, so we gave it a try.  Esme really enjoyed building things and even found a "slide" for the blocks to go down.  I later figured out it was part of the Duplo Airport set.  Parker played a little, but mostly jumped around on the cushioned benches.  At least there weren't too many folks to bother.

 Parker also got his new bedding this weekend.  He's has his truck comforter for a while and it was time to get something a bit more grown up.  He's had a moon on his wall for a while, and I recently added one stars with clips to hang his artwork.  We continued with theme with an out space comforter set.  Parker was so excited for it to come out of the dryer!

So many snuggles!

Thanksgiving 2018

Thanksgiving creeped up on us quick this year.  We had lunch with Jimmy's extended family and got to meet our new cousin, Claire, and munch on some delicious food.

Bck to my parents' house for the evening meal.  Our friends, Caleb, Cindy, and their 3 kids, joined us again

We had an even 8 for the pool tournament, which made for an easy bracket.

We took a break for dessert before the final games. Alice didn't get any pie, but was still all smiles.

For a second year in a row, it came down to my mom and dad for the championship.  My dad one two in a row to take the title.

He is now a 4 time champion and got to add another feather to the trophy.  I updated it with all the historical winners, but forgot to take a picture.

Someone will have to take him down next year, I better start practicing!

Living at Urgent Care

Ugh, it's been a rough fall for us in the health department.  Both kids have been to urgent care more tha once.  We'd had colds and ear infections and pink eye.  I feel like Esme has had a non-stop cough to months.  

The second to last time we took her in, she got a chest x-ray.  Jimmy said she did great, but the tech briefly mentioned that her heart and other organs were backward.  Jimmy isn't always one fore details, but I figured her primary doctor would contact us if needed.  I also thought it was strange since there was an echocardiogram performed in utero and right after she was born.  Not sure how it could have been missed with all of that.  Her doctor did call a couple days later to discuss.  She called the U of M to have them review the echo from birth and they confirmed her organs were not backward.  Likely, the x-ray tech just marked the image incorrectly.  A minor and short-lived scare. 

We didn't go to the doctor for these, but both kids got a goose egg on the same day a couple weeks ago.  Esme ran in to a table and Parker slipped on some rocks at school.

Last week things hit a new low when Parker got pink eye.  He went to bed with a slightly goopy eye and woke with them welded shut.  I managed to keep him quarantined from Esme that morning and headed to the clinic.

It was likely viral, but we got drops just in case.  Walgreens is right next to Dunkin' Donuts, so I grabbed a pink donut.  I think that made Parker feel much better!

We took another trip on Sunday afternoon when Esme told Jimmy her ear was hurting.  Double infection and on to antibiotics.  She was already doing better this morning and was back to daycare.

Hoping to we can get healthier as we head in to the holidays.

Turkey Bowling, Date Night, and Christmas Jammies

I don't recall mentioning that I have been volunteering in our church youth group this year.  We start each week with a game or fun activity.  This week was turkey bowling.  It was especially fun since our church used to be a bowling alley!  We greased up the tarp with cooking spray and flung frozen birds down the lane.  A unique and fun activity for students and leaders alike.

 Friday was date night and we finally made it out to Cheesecake factory.  We were planning to go many weeks ago the night my bumper was stolen.  It was well worth the wait.  We continued our tradition of cheesecake roulette and our server packed up a slice of the new Cinnabon variety.  It was so good!

 I found some cute striped jammies for the kids at Marshall's and will probably add some festive words. I can't wait for the holidays!

Halloween: Part 2

Halloween Day itself was jam-packed with fun as well.  Work had their annual costume contest.  The entries were pretty epic, as always.

Rick came in his Ferrari racing shirt and I wrangled a trophy and glass of milk (Indy 500) for him.

 I shared Jimmy's costume with Tyler and made an extra "M" for Jordan.

 I also hand-crafted the winning costume, a Kraft single, complete in plastic packaging.  I am so pleased with how it turned out.  Bri is going to let me hang on to the trophy.

 I headed over to church right after work to set up our car for another Trunk or Treat.  I stuck with the M & M theme and made the whole car a bag of them.  I snagged some brown tarps for free on NextDoor and painted the logo.  I used felt and heat transfer vinyl to make the panel for inside and a bean bag toss game.

The finishing touch was a disco light shining inside.

There were some really great displays again this year.

 Jimmy brought the kids right at 6:30 and we did a quick lap.  Parker was not nearly as cooperative this time.

Parker wanted to check out the Upside Down in the Stranger Things van.

I got out some major creative juices this Halloween, can't wait for next year!