happy halloween

Here's Cadie dressing up for dance class in the costume that Chelsea made her last year!

We had such a great Halloween! The girls enjoyed carving their pumpkins - they designed and named them themselves - Ella and Ellie. Very original. The pumpkins were both smiling :)

We also had a fun time trick-or-treating until the end when they both decided simultaneously that they were done and needed to go home. They proceeded to ask the house we were at to drive them home. Thank goodness we were at Kristin and Jake's and they said yes! Libby was Larry the cucumber and couldn't sit down in her costume. She also had no peripheral vision. Cadie was Bob the tomato and couldn't walk up or down steps as she couldn't lift her knees very high. Both girls, once toppled over (which happened often) could not stand back up on their own. I was sick of my double wide stroller (long story) so decided to carry David trick or treating. I had to put him down in order to pick up a toppled veggie. At one point Libby and Cadie ran into each other and were both down - it was so funny I didn't even pick them up right away - all the other trick or treaters were laughing and loving their costumes, too. I think next year practicality will win out, though! :)

so embarrassing!

So, when I told my husband this story after work, he exclaimed "why do these kinds of things always happen to you?" I was totally hoping for some sympathy after all I had been through, but that's all I got. So it had been a busy day and I was running out the door again. I had volunteered at Libby's school and there had been treats. So Cadie had eaten treats. And she was thirsty. Now, let me preface this with Cadie had decided to potty train back in the summer and was doing a great job until she decided she didn't want to anymore. During those few weeks of little to no accidents, we signed her up for dance classes. You have to be potty trained to go to dance class. No problem, until she decides she doesn't want to be a big girl anymore. So she's kind of in between being potty trained and not. So she drank a lot today - and usually on dance class days I don't let her drink anything too close to dance class and make her go pee before we go and she's been fine-accident free. Well, today I forgot and she drank and then actually took herself to the bathroom a good hour before dance class starts so when it's time to leave and she doesn't have to go I started freaking out - I could just see and accident coming so... this is where it gets embarrassing - you have to realize I was sleep deprived and in a rush to get out the door and just wasn't thinking, anyway, I knew I couldn't put a diaper on her under her skin-tight ballet leotard because then they'd KNOW she wasn't fully potty trained so I thought hey, I'll put her in panties and just slip in one of those thin maxi-pads in there and then maybe if there is a little accident it won't be too bad? again, I don't know what I was thinking. After class, the teacher calls me over. I have bad luck with teachers. They're always calling me over. I know, I'm a teacher, too. I don't get it. So, this teacher tells me that Cadie asked to go to the bathroom during class. And asked for help. Then she just raised her eyebrows at me. Sooo embarrassing! I just thanked her and left really fast. There was no explanation that could have explained why my two year old was wearing a pad...

ouch...

so while everyone else is doing "thankful for" posts I'm going to do a complaining post! No, not really complaining because I LOVE my life and these little pieces of discontent are part of what makes me love it so much! Seriously, I've heard quotes that I can't quite remember enough to actually quote, but that generally say "predictable days where everything goes according to plan are boring" well, I'm thankful for Libby because she's my beautiful daughter that keeps my life non-boring. It's partially my fault that she was so grumpy and tired today because I let her stay up late - she invited all of her classmates over for a PJ party. Her entire kindergarten class of classmates. It was fun, so she thanked me today by doing the opposite of everything I asked. seriously. Like when I said "don't touch the iron, it is hot and it will burn you." She slowly, deliberately put her finger on the iron. She now has a decent sized burn blister on her index finger but she refused to give me any indication she was hurt "oh, that didn't even hurt one bit!" uh-huh... A few hours later she was swinging on the fridge - like hanging on to the handle of the door and swinging the fridge open and shut. A few minutes after my cautionary "STOP swinging on the fridge" she swings into the counter and hurts herself. Tears and a band-aid later, she still won't admit she got hurt. Corey and I both have our stubborn streaks, I'm hopeful that Libby's will get her through some tough times as a teenager dealing with peer pressure, etc. This can be a wonderful trait to have! However, in the meantime, any suggestions on how to keep her safe?