Reporting from November! The scrub oak in the hills behind our house is still a rusty gold color. I am enjoying the breather between Halloween hustle-bustle and the upcoming holiday hustle-bustle. Jared LOVES Christmas, and his birthday is in November, so he gets free reign over when the Christmas tree goes up as a birth month perk. He was ready to get it up the day after Halloween, but I bought an extra week by commenting how beautiful the scrub oak was out our back window, and how once the Christmas tree goes up it would block some of the view. So I got to keep my view last week, but two days ago Jared was full-steams-ahead on the tree, and I'm glad he was because we had the loveliest morning getting it all set up while the kids played out of our way because it's a bit of a dangerous set-up (15-foot-tall tree). Then we decorated it a bit together and got all the sentimental ornaments up on our smaller loft tree.
Just like in the fall, it feels REALLY nice not to be in the middle of a move this holiday season. In fact, to my surprise I've really enjoyed Alice and Jared asking to put up pockets of decorations here or there during November. I'm not going to deck my house out fully for Christmas until Thanksgiving is over, but there's something calming about getting the main trees and kids rooms decorated, knowing that will be one thing off my plate next month. Not that I don't enjoy decorating for Christmas, but time feels so limited with kids these ages. Alice is in a particularly clingy/demanding/meltdowny phase. I've observed this with some of my nieces when they were freshly four, and they seemed to grow out of it a bit by age 5. Fingers crossed. Her younger toddler years weren't so bad so I suppose we're due for some turbulent months.
This weekend we also watched the byu game with my parents, and had the kids' primary program on Sunday. I'm glad my parents were there to watch Alice's expressive singing, since we couldn't really see her while we were sitting with our class. It was a lovely day and then a lovely squash ravioli dinner with my parents afterward. Now for some pictures:
^^Alice isn't waking up fully pregnant every day anymore, but every once in a while she will still wake up ready to birth triplet stuffies and it just makes me giggle and smile so much.
^^We ran out of groceries and I didn't have it in me to rustle dinner together, so I took the kids to Houston Hot Chicken and they loved it and did really well! I am such a chicken (lol) so I can't even remember the last time I've taken the kids out to dinner in a restaurant by myself. Maybe never? Our kids weren't really take-outtable as babies/toddlers. At least not without help from another adult. It went well enough that I will probably attempt again in the future.
^^Blowing leaves at Grandma and Grandpa's house
^^i heard an idea on a podcast about taking a video of your kids trick-or-treating at your own house in their Halloween costumes each year, and I'm the one to answer the door, filming, with a bowl of candy and ask them about their costumes. Then I close the door when they leave and when I open it again it's them trick or treating the next year. Usually I'm not one to actually implement ideas like this when I hear them, but I love the idea of watching them grow up that way in a video so much that I had them dress up in their costumes yesterday even though Halloween was over and we filmed them trick-or-treating our house. Very cute, would recommend.
Our Halloween week was a success! Alice had a Halloween program for her preschool (adorable), and Jack had a costume parade at his. We really made the most of fall activities and have enjoyed being settled into our house for this Halloween season. Jack went as a knight again this year, but decided to be a football player for his school parade so he could run and play better at recess. Alice went as a "ballerina princess," which meant she toggled between her ballerina costume and princess costume. But when she saw me dressed as a witch for our ward trunk or treat she said, "Wow mom, you look like someone different! No one will know you're my mom! I want to look like that too." Which meant she wanted to wear orange and black instead of her pink costumes. So she wore her sparkly black dress and crown and went as, "Halloween Ballerina Princess." A neighbor asked what she was and Alice was shy so she nudged me to answer. I told them she was a Halloween princess. This got me such an intense death glare for Alice until I realized I forgot the "ballerina" part, so I had to flag down the neighbor and tell them she was actually a Halloween ballerina princess. That lifted Alice's mood so we were able to enjoy the trunk or treating.
On Halloween itself we spent the morning at Lagoon with Jared's parents. We had a great time-- the weather was perfect and the lines were short. Then in the evening we had Halloween dinner at Tim and Abby's house and then trick or treated their neighborhood, and then our own neighborhood. At Tim's house I walked the neighborhood with the kids. At our house I stayed back to hand out candy. I think this will be the new tradition going forward. I loved handing out candy to the neighbor kids and puttering around the house between knocks.
The scrub oak behind our house has turned a vibrant gold color so I'm not ready to leave fall behind just yet, but Jared is already angling to get the Christmas tree up so it's only a matter of time. Jared LOVES Christmas and his birthday is in November, so I usually give him free reign of when the tree goes up. But this year I'm going to see if I can hold him off another week or two until the scrub oaks have dropped their leaves. Merry November!
We debated going somewhere for Fall Break, but I got exhausted just thinking about prepping/ordering/packing the meal supplies, packing everyone up, and then settling in for rough nights because Alice doesn't sleep great outside her bed. At least with young kids, and maybe even just in general, I mostly prefer a day trip to an overnight getaway. It is so much less prep work and I get to sleep in my own bed at the end of the day.
^^Alice took me on a "walk in the mountains to get leaves in our backpack." This was a must on her fall break list. I wasn't prepared for her to hike me straight up to the top of the mountain in our backyard, and then spend two hours earning our "explorer badge," collecting bits of nature, finding birds in scrub oak brush, and then a private improv pop concert on top of the mountain--incredible concert location, by the way. It was the most fun two hours I didn't mean to spend.
That said, we are really going hard on our Fall Break staycation this year! It has been lots of fun. I've learned that Jared burns out on an outing right before the children burn out, so instead of being annoyed that he wants to leave the zoo/corn maze/other activity two hours in, I'm going to start taking it as a cue that we should pack it back to the car before Alice starts losing her marbles. Jared's outing burnout is a good barometer.
We started our break with a fun-filled casual day spent with cousins and friends. First, the park. Then, an afternoon at home with a cousin and neighbor friend. Then, an evening walking around Ashton Gardens looking at scarecrows with Jack's friend Daniel.
The next day we had our very first trip to a zoo as a family of 4. It was magic to see Alice's excitement. Our favorites were the gorillas, mountain goats, and sea lions. Jack loved the cougars. Alice's favorite animal is a zebra. We got to go with my brother Tim's family, and the kids had fun playing on the playgrounds together.
The next day we went to Cornbelly's for the first time and were blown away by all the offerings. When I was growing up it was just a corn maze, and a few other little attractions like the bouncy blob and corn pit. Now it is dripping with activities, including an impressive half-hour circus show and a trick-or-treat. We stayed for nearly 4 hours and didn't even do it all--didnt even make it to the hay ride! We debated if it would be worth the price of entry, but it proved itself, and we'll be back again next fall.
We also got some family pictures taken for the first time since Alice was a baby. I found a girl on instagram offering half-hour fall mini sessions for under $100. I scrambled to get some outfits together and we took them at Tibble Fork. It is wild what attitudes family pictures bring out in kids😅 They did really well when we were there (I totally bribed them), but on the drive up Jack started melting down in sobs because he was tired and didn't want to go (we did let him stay up late watching the byu game, which maybe wasn't the best call with early fam pics the next morning). Then Alice started crying in response to Jack crying. I was able to bribe them into better attitudes, but Jack definitely had salt streaks down his face from the tears during the pictures, and I didn't catch them to wipe them off until pictures were over. It's ok, it will be great for the memories😅
On our last day of fall break we visites Rowley's Red Barn in Santaquin. We get free entry once a year with our Get Out Pass, and while it doesn't have as many attractions as Cornbellys, overall fall vibes are better due to the remoteness, the tractor ride through the apple orchard to gain entry, and the incredible caramel apple cider ice cream slushie we get at the end. Now for some pictures:
Jack had his flag football tournament on Saturday. He was Christmas-level excited about it and even woke up extra early the morning of the tournament. His team this year has been really good and they went undefeated all season. Unfortunately, their best player was out of town, and just enough of his team showed up that they didn't need to forfeit but there weren't any substitutes either. The first game was really exciting. His team played excellently, even without many of their best players, and they ended up winning in overtime. Their next game was the semi-finals against one of the best teams, and they lost. Jack was devasted, but we had some good talks about practice (his team didn't really practice at all this season and just let their best players carry them), and about actionable goals vs dreams (he kept saying his goal was to win the tournament, but there wasn't really any action going into that). Even though he was sad they didn't win, Jack played a great game and it was fun to watch. On the way home I had a great idea for Jack to get some daily practice by strapping some flags around savvy, and then having Jack try to pull her flags while Jared and I toss her fetch ball back and forth to each other😂 This has actually been more effective and fun than expected so we may be keeping it up until next season to see if it really improves Jack's game. It's great exercise for Savvy too and just an all-around good time.
Other things this week....i'm kind of blanking honestly. Oh! Jared got sucked into prime day and wanted to finish all our Christmas shopping for the kids. I honestly wasn't ready for this, but knew Jared would buy all the gifts for them on prime day regardless, so I would need to figure out what I wanted for them if I was going to have input. We scrambled a good list together and I think succeeded in buying enough for the kids' Christmas. I'll end up being grateful when Black Friday rolls around and most of our shopping is done.
I think that's about it for this week! Our house is decorated for Halloween and I am pulling up Halloween shows and movies as needed. I wish I could get it together enough to host some neighbors before daylight savings hits us, but with this hurricane weather and wanting to figure out family pictures, that may have to wait. We are hosting our primary class this week if the weather holds up. I'm still feeling really grateful that we are not preparing for a move this fall. I need to hold onto gratitude for that. I'm loving having space for seasonal activities this year, even if there isn't enough space for ALL the activities and hosting, etc. It may take another few seasons but we'll get around to meeting more neighbors. Now for some pictures from our week:
^^The patio furniture that was formerly on our front porch is now living on our back patio, so we are in the market for some new front porch furniture (especially since we have an unobstructed valley view this year we'd like to enjoy, as it will definitely be blocked by new homes sometime next year). Before looking into all the Prime Day/end of summer clearance sales, I went to check out my favorite antique mall to see if they had anything great and cheap in their outdoor section. Nope. It was all mediocre and expensive so we ended up ordering a little porch set on Prime day after all.
^^Alice is still young enough that I'm really only catching about half of Jack's football games and spending the other half helping Alice stay entertained, but each season I am able to watch a little more, and that's a lot of fun.
^^We put up the carved wood mirror and brass candle sconces I thrifted years ago in our entryway. It is PERFECT for Halloween. Eventually I will need to replace the old wooden table with something ultra-modern and possibly acrylic to balance it all out. But I am LOVING this corner for spooky season.
We had our first backyard fall gathering over the weekend. It was a spontaneous evening with cousins, pizza, and s'mores. It's the backyard gathering I've dreamed of for years. I need to remember that October is the best time for backyard hosting--the sun starts setting sooner, the temperatures aren't as hot. It was really a perfect time to enjoy an evening together and watch the sun set. Here are some pictures from our week:
^^Sunday fall morning apple-cinnamon oatmeal on the patio. Dreams do come true
^^Jack had some much-needed wins this week. He started a short after-school martial arts club he is loving. He started a before-school chess club he is also loving. And he was awarded student of the month in his class! When he got home from school we took off for pizza and donuts to celebrate Jack.
^^In home design land, our entryway is coming together! That window has the best view in the house of my favorite mountain, so in the winter when it's too cold to be outside I like to eat breakfast looking out the window. I've always wanted a breakfast nook banquette and this was the unsuspecting best spot for it. I would've preferred a patterned banquette, but wasn't willing to pay the price for a custom banquette, and this one fit the dimensions for really cheap. I will eventually get a more modern table to balance out the heaviness of the gothic wood mirror i thrifted for $5 in Washington. I think I will do one or two simple gingham pillows. And the rug is too big for the space but it's the general feel I'm going for. It may take another year to get this corner finished, but for now it's functional and it makes me happy--especially that gothic mirror at Halloween time (I'll get it hung next week). Ten years down the road I picture the walls and staircase painted a moody color, but that's a future project.
^^My girl--Witch Al
^^Alice wanted to go ice skating for her birthday and we finally made it happen.
^^very flattering angles for everyone at our backyard pizza party. Next time I'll attempt a savory smores situation. We also got two baby spruce trees this week. We just needed one for our front yard, but Jared accidentally came home with the wrong kind so we just planted it in the backyard and then grabbed the right one for the front yard. The accidental tree was one of those Seuss-looking evergreens, which I've always wanted, so it was a happy accident. Yay trees!
We made it to another week! By the skin of our teeth. This week was filled with a brutal unresolved cold, pots flares/intense fatigue, UTI/cystitis flares, urgent care visit. Just kind of a bleh/survival fog over last week. Jack is having a hard time being nice to Alice ever since school started, which is tough. At least the kids both seem to be enjoying school. Jack's having a fun football season. We aren't moving this fall for the first time in 3 years! The weather is wonderful. There is a lot to be grateful for.
^^The kids wanted to decorate for Halloween this week. Alice loves the Halloween decor. She loves the costumes, the spooky, all of it. Jack doesn't care for Halloween at all, except the candy part. So I probably shouldn't have encouraged this prank Alice played on Jack snuggling a skeleton into his bed, but I couldn't help myself. He did not appreciate it. Alice really thought he would love it though, so the intentions were good.
In direct defiance of our exhaustion, we planted three trees in our backyard over the weekend! We're novice gardeners, but everything we add makes the backyard feel more layered and complete. Next year we'll probably add a few fruit trees too, and I'd love to do a pumpkin patch if we have the space. Now for some pictures:
^^getting out of the house to try and reduce after-school conflicts😌
^^alice wants to be an astronaut for Halloween. Jack's old costume is big on her but she'll probably change her mind by Halloween anyway.
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