Trunk or Treating

Last night, we went to the annual St. Mary Magdalen Trunk or Treat. Josephine had to wear her pumpkin Halloween shirt underneath her fairy costume. She was also supposed to wear the angel costume that both Rosie & Anna wore as 2 year olds, but she won the fight. Who cares - she was happy! We had fun but it got very cold & windy as the night wore on. I missed the school Halloween parties (my first year) because of a work trip. I'm trying to not feel too guilty, but it's not working. I'm still so bummed. I'm a room mother too - what can you do? Just smile & move on. Tonight we will be on the infamous St. Clair Street with our friends. It is a happening place, and we will have lots of fun. Fortunately, we have no rain in the forecast for once!

A devil and a bumble bee for the Rosie & Anna

Happy Birthday Mom!

My sisters and I met my mom at Go Spa today & treated her to a facial & then lunch. It went by too quickly, but it was great to get away for a bit & chat with each other. My mom is the best. She is helping Joanie by babysitting Elizabeth this year, so Joanie doesn't have to bring her baby to daycare. I know Joanie is so relieved, and my mom loves little babies. She could rock any baby to sleep, I think!

There are so many wonderful qualities of my mother that I'm not sure where to start. I witnessed & learned so many things from my mother that I am forever amazed at her ability to make mothering look so easy. My mom is so compassionate, patient, loving, giving, caring, smart, realistic, and just plain GREAT! Being a mother now, I am constantly thinking "what or how did Mom get us to do that or behave that way?" I think my parent's amazing relationship & her dedication as a mother is the reason. I love my mom, and I do cherish my time with her. I try to talk & see her as much as I can, but it is never enough. Happy Birthday Mom!

Josephine & Ryan Hand in Hand

I caught Ryan holding Jo's hand on the way to our car after church. She loves Ryan and would only hold his hand. He loves the attention & being in charge of someone! Poor thing is always surrounded by girls and usually gets shoved aside by his big sister, Cara & my two girls. Not Jo, she loves playing with him. Their favorite thing is doing tricks on our gymnastics mat. They laugh so hard & have a great time together.

Rosie all grown up!

Rosie's friend, Cara, invited her to her dance recital on Saturday night. Rosie was excited to wear some of her new clothes, especially this jacket. She loves her boots that her aunt Mary gave her too. I thought she looked adorable & very grown up. Wow - flash back to when she was just born & was our only child. Weird how you suddenly see them as an infant & then poof, they are almost 10 years old! I love you Rosie!

Rain Rain Go Away

Our soccer games were cancelled again this weekend. What a bummer! Of course, it was sunny on Saturday, but our games were early & given the rain the night before, there was not enough time to dry out the fields. Ugh! Who knows when they will reschedule all these games. We are patiently waiting, but November can be so cold! It's raining again right now, and the week ahead doesn't look good.

On Friday night, I went out with some of my close friends. We had a great time eating at Chuy's (& drinking margaritas), and then we headed to a bar close to home. We told our hubby's that one of them was in charge of driving us home from there! Robert closed his pizza place & then took us goofballs home. We played songs from the jukebox & sang & danced & were silly. What a great night - out way too late but I sucked it up on Saturday with the kids. I did go to bed at 9pm on Saturday night...

Anna's Prayer Service

The 1st Graders led the Friday prayer service last week, and they did a super job! Miss McNair is a great teacher, and the kids really respond well to her. They each made a poster for their portion of the prayer, and they were so cute & proud of their creation. Each one represented part of the "prayer poem" that went along these lines, "God created flowers for...."

Way to go 1st Graders!

Observation Evening at Dance Class

We are trying out dance class on Monday nights. Rosie loves it, and Anna wants to go back to gymnastics only. I told her she has to stick with it - she wanted to do it & she has to finish it now. She gets to do gymnastics once soccer is over, but she still has to do her dance class (plus I already paid for it!) It's with her best buddies, Caroline & Hailey, so I don't know why she doesn't love it??? I think she just wants to learn routines & doesn't much care for learning the names of each step. It does seem a little challenging especially to a non-dancer like me. I love to pretend to dance, but I have NO formal training.

Rosie really enjoys it, so that makes me smile. We'll try this for a year & see who wants to do it again next year. The parents could "observe" the classes this evening, so we watched both of them. Jo was pretty good & did some dancing of her own, but we were all "done" by 7pm when Rosie's class was over. I was still in my work clothes & hungry & tired of keeping Jo occupied. She needed food, bath & bed!

She was actually pretty darn good the whole time. I packed some good snacks for everyone, so that helped. She gave my good friend, Tera, the biggest hug & sat on Ro Ro's lap during Anna's class.

The little dancer doing some tap steps. I do like the teacher; she is very sweet, calm & positive.