Bits.

Life is busy. Here we were...

Walking to school on National Walk to School Day. And about 12 hours before the weather turned!

Eating lunch every Friday with family. My mom and I take the littlest two cousins to McDonald’s on Fridays to celebrate surviving another week. Camryn has become quite cultured in everything fast food...

Going to the Mother-Daughter event at school where we spent a lot of money to surround ourselves with screaming girls while frantically trying to create a paint-and-take piece. Alcohol not included.

Here is Camryn about 5 minutes into her creation, and about 2 minutes before she ditched me for hide-and-seek with 200 hundred of her closest friends.

Lunch date with Alex, who has now professed his love to Camryn via post-it note on the bus. I’m assuming Carl, Alex’s older seat buddy, helped with the spelling just as much as Mason, Camryn’s seat buddy, helped with the reading.

Taking fall photos. And being glad that’s over with. All of us.

Playing football. Jacob’s team won the first round of playoffs 7-0 thanks in part to the kickoff Jacob returned for a TD! Way to go, Jacob!

Feeling all the fall feels.

Jumping in leaves. Notice the spectrum of clothing choices represented by the kids?!

Pre-Halloweening. At cheerleading class. I forgot that Cam was supposed to wear a costume so I used some quick mom wits to convince her she was dressed up as a ballerina at a cheerleading class. So silly it worked!
Next up: Halloween and round two of football playoffs.

Pumpkin Patching

Cottonwood Farms. Nine years and counting. It’s officially a tradition, folks.

{We take this picture. Every. Single. Year.}

{The zipline. The attraction Camryn was most looking forward to.}

{The rock wall. The attraction the boys were most looking forward to.}

{Mason finally made it to the top without wimping out. It’s a miracle!}

{The corn silo. Nasty as always. But a fan favorite, nonetheless.}

{We made it a solid 30 feet into the corn maze before calling it quits on account of mud.}

{The kids rode a camel for the first time. Because nothing says pumpkin patch like a camel ride. But, seriously, this was their most talked about attraction after we left. So there’s that. And to see the camel eat an entire ear of dried up corn was worth the steep price to ride.}

{And the train ride. Way more fun for some than others.}

{The new attraction: Alpine Slide. Steep but slow. Exactly Camryn’s speed.}

{The air pillow. A perfect way to practice gymnastics leaps and baseball slides alike.}

{And the hayrack ride. Out to a pumpkin patch with not many pumpkins. End of October will do that to ya.}
A perfectly sunny and crisp day spent on the farm!

Champs!

Fall ball has come to an end with Mason’s team finishing on top! They had a great season, winning all but their first game. It was fun to watch these kiddos learn and grow as a team. Way to go, Cubbies!

Bits and Pieces

All of the insignificant things we have been up to.
1. Birthday Parties. Lots of them. This one was for a friend of Mason’s held at what Mason seemed to think was the most coolest place ever.

2. Movies. These two saw a creepy PG -rated movie with my mom. And loved it!

3. Voting. Looks like my calendar is now wide open on Tuesday, November 6th.

4. Halloween costume shopping. Everyone’s costumes have been purchased online. Time will tell if everyone’s costumes arrive before Halloween. Fingers crossed.

5. Digging. One big hole in the back of our house so that the kids will eventually have a walkout basement to easily sneak people in and out of in high school.

6. Homecoming Parading. Because there is no better way to build up a Halloween candy sugar tolerance than with three freezer bags full of candy three weeks before Halloween.

7. Being weird. Mason picked out this gem of a game with his Target gift cards. I’m not sure the point of the game other than to involuntarily drool all over the place while you try to speak. Fun for them anyways.

8. Saying goodbye to friends. So sad to lose some of our favorite neighbors, but loving the nearly nightly excuse to get together and cheers to new beginnings. Looks like we will have lots of St. Louis road trips in our future...

That’s a Wrap

Spirit week has come to a close but not before the kids wore their pajamas, dressed their favorite decade, supported their favorite team, and went to school looking straight up ridiculous. And while I failed at documenting every day--because mad rush to get everyone out the door--I made sure to snap pics of my favorites.
Throwback Thursday:

{Camryn looking authentic ‘80s. Side pony and snap bracelet included. P.S. All clothing and accessories were a current part of Camryn’s wardrobe. Eek!}

{Jacob picked the ‘70s. Tie Dye and not much else.}

{And Mason. Dressed like a kid fresh out of the 2018s. Zero points for originality.}
Freaky Friday:

{A nauseating combination of mismatched clothes and colored hair spray for the win!}

We are Cubbie strong.

My mom and I were at Kirkland’s the other day where Camryn was admiring the monogrammed pumpkins. She told my mom that she needed a C pumpkin for Camryn and a W pumpkin for Cubs. A statement made by and only understood by a true Cubs fan. Love it!

0-2

Caleb and I had plans to go to The Cubs vs. Cardinals game on Saturday, but after weeks of procrastination caught up to him, he decided he couldn’t go so I brought my favorite Cubs fanatic instead.

The two of us had the best day ever! Mason’s enthusiasm for the Cubs is second to none. It was at that point I realized that going to a Cubs game with a lifelong fan sure beats going with a convert. And even though we didn’t get to raise our W at the end of the game, I wouldn’t have changed a single thing about our time spent together. One-on-one time is good for the soul!

And because my parents are season ticket holders, I got to get in a second round of Cubbies baseball yesterday. This time with my mom. We had a great time and met some very nice Brewers fans. True story. And though we lost, I got to spend the day with my mom, which is a win in my book!

Love me some Cubbies. But love me some family even more!