It's been a fun October with some fun outings! We got to do a pedal pub in Detroit for our friend Adam's 40th birthday celebration. It was so fun, highly recommend!
Cruising Woodward at 5 mph
Party gang
Smiles get bigger as the night goes on
Jamie helped coach his school's Powder Puff team this fall, and the girls were super excited to go! They enjoyed cheering with their pom poms, and then ignoring the rest of the game while they made new friends!
Go Lakeview!
They won... time to go to bed!
Jamie representing with his elementary shirt along with another teacher who went to Lakeview!
Outdoor soccer is winding down, and we're getting ready to start indoor (sort of wishing there was a gap!). I've had a lot of fun helping coach Maggie's team, and have a greater appreciation for the patience of teachers. So. many. questions.
Maggie got muddy this weekend!
Evie and Cece, together always (Evie snuck her hair chalk to the game and colored Cece's hair before we realized it... the coach was not impressed)
One perk of coaching - free photo with your kiddo!
New school year means new school pics! Ben's daycare will do photos in November which I'm looking forward to, since they didn't do them last year.
Evie - 1st grade
Maggie - 3rd grade (probably taken after recess?)
One of our new neighbors has a big sidelot yard, and invited us over for a random football Sunday. They had a big screen anchored to a tree, mimosas and bloody mary's for days, brunchy yumminess and good conversation. It was an awesome start to the day... unfortunately we had soccer all afternoon so we only stayed for a couple hours. Jamie went back at 8pm to pick something up and they were still going!
One couple was celebrating their anniversary, so they brought these champagne flute shooters (think beer bong for champagne) and we all toasted. These were super cute and I need someone to get married to I can buy them as a gift.
Cheers
We went to Royal Oak's fire station open house, and as predicted, Ben was psyched!
The truck actually made him a bit nervous - his favorite part was watching firefighters scale down the wall
Face painting fun
Beautiful and serious butterfly
I got this
Some others:
Maggie and her new bestie down the street
Helping walk Cece's dog... continuing to beg us for one
Evie has an obsessive addiction to hot chocolate
Taking a dip
Exploring the nature trail by our house
Yoda is here to share his wisdom
An umbrella is a good way to distract a toddler while trying to watch the game
Grandma made the girls custom booties to keep their feet warm all winter, they love em!
After running a bunch of annoying house errands, we celebrate Oktoberfest for a bit in Detroit at Eastern Market Brewing Co. with a couple friends. Jamie talked me into buying yet another beer vessel, and was sooo close to winning the stein holding contest.
Prost!
mmm beer
There's not much else going on lately, just cranking through the grind of school, work, soccer and meetings every week! Maggie is turning slightly teenager, but for the most part she is still our sweetheart. Evie is really improving with reading, and we try to spend some time each night reading together. Ben is doing well at daycare, and each morning he stops to give each sister a hug and kiss before leaving the car, it's too sweet!
Making the world's tallest pizza
He spent about 2 days with this unicorn necklace, so attached (then he got over it)
So much energy after playing a full game of soccer!
Evie's team - the unicorns! Somehow they are all blonde or blonde-ish, and fierce!
Buds for life
Jamie has been begging for years to get a giant Stay-Puft blowup for Halloween. I finally caved, and it really did make him so very happy. The kids are also big fans.
Ghostbusters... Jamie is still envisioning additions for the future
Giving Stay Puft a hug before bed
Some others:
Dentist checkup (no dentists were harmed)
Helping with the housework
Ben adores Grandpa
Fruity-Pebbles donut for the win!
Jamie took the girls to a football game at Lakeview. They weren't hyper at all.
The girls started at their new school after Labor Day. They were a little nervous, but showed up on the first day with no tears or whining! In typical mom fashion, I was super anxious and worried about them all day... they came home with smiles, new friends, and lots of details! Evie is now good friends with another girl one block from us, who we met in line before school that morning. She whispered to me, "I've already got a friend, Mommy!"
First day of school 2021! (plus Ben)
Ultra cool third grader
First grade, here I come!
So far everything is going great! We drop off Ben at daycare each morning, then the girls go to school and I head off to work. The biggest issue has been finding lunches that the girls will eat without any nuts/peanuts... small potatoes (no, they won't eat those either).
Picture day
End of the day... so we'll have to see how the pictures turned out...
Looking very grown up...
In other huge news, Benjamin is now potty trained! We spent Labor Day weekend around the house working on it; I kept my expectations low since everyone says boys are harder to train. By day 3 he was all set! He still freaks out when #2 comes along, but we've had successful delivery of the package most of the time!
I'm a big boy!
Playing some tunes in my undies
Big boy underwear, big boy shoes (actually big girl shoes)
We went to St. Lawrence's Apple Fest to celebrate my dad's birthday this year. The kids had fun on all the rides, and we enjoyed the tasty treats!
Happy Birthday, Pops!
Mmm mmm good
Checking on the ferris wheel
Ready for action
I think the swings were Evie's favorite ride
Double trouble
Evie and Sarah are very into this
Thrilled in a very shy way
Waitin in line like...
Afterward we went to a block party for our neighborhood and got to meet some lovely neighbors! The kids watched Home Alone 2 outside, it was great.
Ready for the movie!
This past weekend was our last one with the pool open, so we made the most of it! Lots of friends, lots of food (maybe a little bit of a hangover). I'm sad to close it already, but fall is here!
Swim chicks
Rabine takeover
A few others:
Evie's soccer team photo - all business (didn't get Maggie's because I was in it - I'm helping coach this year)
This kid loves dental hygiene
Did some outdoor chalk-work during the potty training marathon
Proud artists
Babysitting the kids at our house while we went to a movie!
