October, where have you gone??

The month of October has been pretty crazy around here!  With our anniversary, meetings, the Paws on Scrapbooking crop, Riley's birthday party, plus just our everyday crazy life, I haven't had a chance to sit down and type.  In fact, I should probably be doing other things right now, but I thought you might all like an update :)

So, what have we done in October?  Well, we picked apples with the kids and mom and dad on our anniversary (which is mom and dad's anniversary as well for those who don't know).  It was a fun afternoon!  Oh wait, except Bridget cried the whole way there and back...right...well, at least she was good AT the orchard :)  And the boys had fun picking (and eating) lots of apples (which are still in our fridge...guess we got too many!).  Our big anniversary celebration was thai take-out and a movie, which we didn't even get to finish because Bridget kept waking up.  Good times.  Heehee. Some pics from our apple picking adventure...

Kieran became an inventor in October as well ;)  I swear he has seen t-ball stand once and that was months ago (and he didn't even play with it) yet he fashioned his own stand out of our toy ball popper and a paper towel roll. Then he got his ball and placed it on top and hit it with his bat.  He's a genius!  And he has some mad sporty skills as well!  This isn't the best pic, but you get the gist :)

The kids have all been sick, of course.  Bridget had a very high fever around Thanksgiving.  I waited it out but finally ended up giving her an antibiotic (which the doctor had given me before the long weekend in case the fever persisted).  Still not sure what was wrong with her but it seemed to do the trick.  She's just like the boys though, it never got her down.  She was still my happy, smiley baby!  This is at peek fever...

Let's see...Thanksgiving...we ate too much and had fun with family.  We also went bowling Thanksgiving Monday where I lost to not only Kevin, but Riley as well (sad, I know....I think my arms are just tired from carrying kids all day.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it!).

I had my first design team reveal for Paws on the 15th.  I was super excited to upload my very first projects.  I'm so lucky to be in the company of such talented ladies there!  You can visit my gallery if you want to take a peek at the projects :)

I also went to the Paws crop.  It was a fun event and a lot of money was raised for breast cancer. All the money raised went to a local mom with breast cancer to help pay for her meds.  So much fun and such a great cause.  I didn't get a lot done (too much chatting and eating going on, lol), but what I did get done is for a Christmas gift, so you can't see anyway!  I will however show you the nametag I made (remember....this was to raise money for breast cancer!)...

Riley also had his fourth birthday (time really goes by quickly doesn't it?  Doesn't it seem like just yesterday you all were being hounded with relentless pregnancy updates? heehee).  This year we went with the robot theme and he invited a few friends from school as well as a couple of family friends and cousins.  Yes, it was a little nuts, but they were pretty good overall.  I don't have pics since our battery was dead (don't worry, Grampie went home for his camera!), but I did get a pic of the cake earlier in the day...

We got Riley a playmobil castle that he had apparently wanted "for years" (he saw it at Indigo last month).  He LOVES it.  It has many small pieces, but he's really good at putting them away when he's done (we'll see how long that lasts).  

We had the second annual Winchester pumpkin carving party last Sunday (complete with pumpkin bread, apple cider and yummy roasted pumkin seeds...thanks for all your digging, Uncle Ben!).  The cousins had a great time getting their hands dirty and using sharp instruments, lol (ok...they were only the little saws, don't call social services on me!).  Their diseased pumkins ended up not looking too shabby (has anyone else noticed how gross the pumkins are this year...blech!  At least the ones in the valley....).  

Let's see....quick update on all the kids.  Riley is loving school again this year, of course.  He's writing most of his letters and know a lot of the sounds they make.  He still loves stories and will sit for hours on end if you just read to him.  He wants homework for Christmas, heehee.  We registered him for kindergarten already and he's excited to go to "big school".  

Kieran is finally learning to dress himself.  I'm sure he could have done it before but it was much easier to have mommy or daddy do it for him.  On Monday he put his sneakers on for the first time by himself and he tries everyday to put his underwear on (and everyday comes out with it on backwards!).  It's very exciting though.  He's developed quite and angry streak at times, but for the most part he's a pretty happy boy.  His two year molars are finally almost all through.   He's starting to identify some letters.  He had pasta and "meatbobs" for supper :)

Bridget is eating more and more solids.  She's on to full cheerios (instead of mommy paranoidly (yes, I know that's probably not a word) breaking them in half), and has had solid carrots and broccoli.  That girl loves to eat...wonder who she gets that from.  She's sitting pretty well now for long periods with no help (and even despite mauling brothers at times).  She's saying "ba ba ba" and clapping now.  She's so smiley that sometimes I fear she's going to pull muscles in her face, haha.  Here's a cute pic (this one's for Aunt Dawn)...

Well, I've been at this for almost an hour so it's probably time to sign off soon.  Anyone still with me? Anyone....?  I'll try to update more regularly so you don't have to spend your entire evening reading about my life (but you didn't have anything more important to do anyway, did you? heehee).  I'll just throw out a few scrappy things I did this month for those who are interested, so if that's not you, then you can get on with your life :)  These don't include the DT stuff I did...you can follow the link to my gallery for that.  Thanks for reading!

The cards were made for World Card Making Day (no, I am totally not making that up...it's real in the scrappy world! LOL!  Yes, Kevin mocks so you can too, if you must).  Paws sent the cards we made on that day to soldiers overseas.  They are blank so they can have them to send home to their families.  Ok...I'm seriously done now! :)

My day thus far...

4:54 - wake up and realize B has been sleeping all night

5:15 - can't sleep, go pee, check on B

6:00 - B finally wakes up just as I'm drifting back to sleep, go change and nurse her

6:30 - crawl back into bed for a bit while Kevin is downstairs with the boys (who woke while I was in with B)

7:00 - Kevin comes to me up and the day really begins, I get breakfast for me and go downstairs while boys play/fight, check Paws site (yes, I am addicted) and email

7:28 - say good-bye to Kevin, wish him luck with his meeting

7:33 - B is up, feed her cereal, R gets dressed (ok, rolls around half naked on his bed for awhile until I threaten to call his teacher and tell her that he's not coming to school, then he gets dressed)

7:50 - wrestle Kieran into his clothes (he wants to keep jammies on) that Riley picked out because K is stubborn

8:00 - wash face, straighten hair so I don't look like a crazy person, brush teeth, get dressed (yell at boys, the usual)

8:15 - brush kids' teeth, gather sweaters for the day

8:27 - go downstairs and nurse B before we climb into the car

8:40 - get kids into shoes, drag/push them out the door while trying not to let cats out (they always say now, "I'm ready to run, mom" LOL), run back into house to search for keys, find them the third place I look, run back out, get them into seats while yelling, "don't touch that, don't do that"!

8:58 - get to preschool, get them out of seats, "Riley, get your backpack!", into school, chase K around while R hangs up backpack/coat and washes his hands, chat with some moms, make R hug me good-bye (like he cares), chase K back to car (threaten to leave without him a couple of times), try to stop him from jumping in puddles with sneakers, get 2 kids into car, drive to superstore

9:15 - arrive at Superstore, get B into sling and K out of carseat, look for a 'car cart' so that K can't maul B while I shop

9:20 - K wants to see the 'monsters' (aka lobsters), visit lobsters, get groceries (debate what ham Kevin would want me to buy, lol), smile at all the people who talk to B (yes, she is gorgeous and hard to resist, but I'm trying to get groceries people!), find a short line, pay for groceries (kids were pretty good, bribed K with chocolate milk, heehee), go to car, unpack cart (remember...all this with a baby in a sling pushing one of those awful car carts...I'd say that's my exercise for the day).

10:12 - leave Superstore, there's a red light by the Tim's so I see that as a sign to go get a 1/2 coffee, 1/2 French Vanilla, get home, take K into house, unpack van, take B into house, leave her in her carseat while I take groceries upstairs and put them away, get K a snack

10:33 - nurse B while K watches some tv, surf the internet, B falls asleep in my lap

10:48 - wake her up to go get R, make K pee on potty, I quickly pee and heat up my coffee which I take with me

11:03 - get to school, K goes outside to play with kids, drink the rest of my coffee, get R's backpack, chat with moms, bribe kids with chocolate milk (it was a long bribe since I saved it for lunch), pile them back into car

11: 25 - get home, make kids wash hands, change B (who had leaked out of her diaper...nice), make 3 different things for lunch, sit down to feed B and eat, K made a huge mess with zoodles, clean it up, sit down to eat again, K has to pee on potty, get up to help him, sit down and finish eating, feeding B, clean boys up, clean B up

12: 15 - read Yertle the Turtle to kids before quiet time (a boy on each side, B on my lap eating her sock...yes, it was clean), sing Skinnamarink to K, kisses and hugs for naptime

12:25 - take B and R downstairs, set R up to play Nick Jr. games, nurse B and put her down for a nap

12:40 - check Paws, post the Friday Fun Poll, update blog

1:11 - turn on General Hospital (my quiet time) and finish blog update

Ok...are ya tired yet???  I am and my head is starting to pound!  That is pretty much a typical school day (in fact, usually there's more fighting and we only go to the Superstore once a week so most days the during school part is less hectic).  

I have one new LO to show you based on last week's sketch at Paws.  Fun paper :) 

Riley's preschool went to Brunswick Nurseries on Wednesday (I should have blogged about that day...I took K and B with me to BN with him, then to the playground which was also part of the trip...more exhausting than today!).  They had a great time feeding the animals and walking the trail.  Then to the playground for playtime and a snack.  I got a few cute pics from the day.

Happy Friday everyone!!  Looking forward to a somewhat more relaxing afternoon!