The bad news is Dempsey did end up getting sick and missed two days of school, including his school Halloween celebration ☹️ I was so bummed because he’d submitted a piece of art into the art show, but Joey, Lydia, Lori and Laney were able to go see it and bring it home at least. The good news is he was better by Halloween day, so he was still able to trick-or-treat and sick days with your six year old mean you get to watch some slightly better stuff than the little kid TV shows your daughter wants to watch a million episodes of 😂 We watched Night at the Museum and My Neighbor Totoro and he gave both two thumbs up! 🥰

Other weekend activities included a much needed mani for me, a flu shot wrestling match, Halloween decoration looking, pumpkin carving/painting, a successful if not chaotic trip to Target, a really fun night of trick-or-treating, a Denver Film Fest date for Joey and I ❤️ and the many dramatics of my children. They cannot get along to save their lives lately 😬

The kids were off to Grandma and Chaddy’s on Friday so I could work and get my nails done and just generally be alone for a minute. Later on, I picked them up and Lydi bejeweled me before we headed out for the doctor’s office. Dempsey had his 6 year old check up and then they both got flu shots. Lydi was NOT excited but fooled me into thinking she’d actually be okay by acting totally normal in the office right up until the point of her turn. Literally had to wrestle her into having it done and she cried big time about it then later I heard her tell Joey “actually it didn’t hurt, I was being silly” 🙄 Had her say it on camera for next year 😂

Afterward, we grabbed dinner at Edgewater — many a threat to get our kids to stop running around in there but it eventually worked — and drove past one of the houses in the area that usually goes all out for Halloween only to find it completely bare 😢 Came across a couple others on our way back home at least! I lowkey loved the “Sun-Dead Film Festival” one 😂 Got the kiddos home and into bed and the only good thing about them still being kind of sick is how easily they go to bed at night! Fired up GBBO afterward then went to bed ourselves.

Tattoos by Dempsey 🥰

Happy Halloween! I desperately need a break from getting the kids up and ready in the morning — I’ll be bending down to help one of them get dressed and the other one will crawl onto my back and then when I’m trying not to fall over, the other one will throw a blanket over my head — but then also keep telling my husband to go for his morning run 🤦🏻‍♀️ Anyway, afterward, one last spooky breakfast and then we carved and painted pumpkins. Lydi and I gave ours some tattoos because I just found out you could do that! Then we took a trip to Target to buy outfits for the kids because we have our family photo shoot next week. We did good, I think!

Back at home, bath/shower for the kids and some down time watching The Nightmare Before Christmas. I made us tomato soup and jack-o-lantern grilled cheese for dinner and then we all got in our costumes and headed out trick-or-treating! By far our most fun year yet, because the kids walked up to all the doors on their own to got their candy and they both just seemed so happy 👏🏻🎉 Plus it was nice out! We got back home around 8, let the kids eat a few pieces of candy then got them to bed and watched Hubie Halloween, because you just gotta 😜 We did have someone steal out entire candy bowl but otherwise, it was an A+ Halloween night!

Joey tried to give me a break on Sunday morning but Lydia managed to escape and sneak into our room to wake me up 😂 We all had bagels then rushed around trying to get stuff done before taking the kids over to Chad and Lori’s so Joey and I could grab lunch and see our movie. We saw Fatherland and I thought it was really interesting. I just love Sandra Hüller and we had seen another film by this director so I sort of knew what to expect tonally and visually. Not a fun or exciting watch, but captivating nonetheless. Plus it was one hour and 22 minutes and I can’t be mad about that 😂 Picked the kids up — Lori taught Dempsey to sew while he was there and I think he’s so cool! — and spent the rest of the afternoon finishing up chores and cuddling on the couch. Joey made us chicken tacos for dinner and then we got the kids to bed and watched an episode of East of Eden. I started my November book club read because I’m determined to make it to this month’s meeting!

Happy Monday, Happy November, Happy Voting!

A rollercoaster of a week for us, when Dempsey turned SIX, Lydia tested positive for Covid and Joey and I scrambled around trying to celebrate one and take care of the other, while also maybe being sick 🤪 Everyone was basically back on the mend by Friday, so we could attend both Halloween festivities and birthday parties. Please don’t let the other shoe (the shoe being Dempsey) drop this week! 🤲

I let Joey take over bike bus duty on Friday even though it hurt my heart but at least he has good enough balance to snap a few pictures (I never even try!) and once Lydia was up, I got her dressed and headed over to Grandma’s. Why’s she such a dream?? Post-work/school, Chad, Lori and I took Demps, Lydi and Delaney over to the pumpkin drop, which is always so fun and cool! Once Joey was home, we all headed over to the trunk-or-treat at Lydia’s school. They posed SO NICE for me! We ran into a few kids from Dempsey’s first year of preschool and LOL at these kids looking each other right in the face and saying they don’t remember each other 😂😂 Back at home, we had dinner and watched The Bad Guys Haunted Heist — Dempsey proceeded to tell us all the plot twist as we watched it 😂 — and AFTER the kids went to bed, Joey and I watched Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Look, it not NOT scary/disturbing, but why’s the acting so stilted?? Just felt off and not on purpose. At least I can say I’ve seen it now.

On Saturday, the kids had a 9 AM birthday party to attend in Highlands Ranch, so we were up and at em! I took them because I love to chat with the other preschool parents while the kids play and so Joey could bake Dempsey’s birthday cake. We all had a good time at the party but the 40 minute drive home was a lot of backseat fighting and yelling of “Mommy doesn’t like me!” so that was fun. Made a quick stop at the library to return/pick up books and then I drove off with those book on the roof of my car. Luckily, I realized it pretty quickly but that’s NOT the first time I’ve done that 🫠 We got the house cleaned up and decorated and Dempsey spent like an hour and a half outside setting up his display for the party 🥹 I made us pizza for dinner and then we got the kids to bed and watched GBBO!

Sunday was party day! 11 AM could not come fast enough for the kids. Joey and I had enough time to finish up decorations and get the cake frosted and we were all dressed and ready in plenty of time. Dempsey even did his own hair 😂 Just kids running through the house screaming, but more importantly, just entertaining each other! Joey surprised Dempsey by stringing light up eyes through the skull cake he made and the look on his face when he saw was priceless! Wish I’d gotten a video of all the kids pounding the table and chanting “CAKE! CAKE! CAKE!” 😅 I thought it was going to be really chilly outside, but it warmed up by the time we headed out for the piñata 🙌 Most people headed out by 2, so a handful of us went outside to launch a rocket Dempsey got from Aunt Bean and Uncle Wayne and I laughed so hard at how high up it went in the sky 😂😂 Spent the rest of the afternoon making pork green chili and salads for the week while the kids rested and played. We all ate dinner then headed back out for a “campfire” and s’mores with the neighbors. I had bought the supplies for the party then totally forgot, so this was all Dempsey wanted that night!

We have an insanely busy week, so I’m hoping we can all stay well and not lose our minds in the process, but that full moon is not reassuring! Happy Monday and Happy Halloween!