It’s Thanksgiving week and I’m so happy! Plus we had a real good weekend, starting with a visit to Sissy’s gymnastics class (loooove hanging out with she and Delaney, even if it’s just one of them singing and one of them screaming at the other to stop singing 😂😂), then looooots of time in the kitchen, many movies (my mom and I saw Wicked!!!) and pizza for Sunday dinner. The best!

I hadn’t been to the rec center gymnastics class since Lydia was a teeny tiny baby and Dempsey was in the class! It was so fun to see how Lydia plays in there and wild to think back to 2-year-old Dempsey 🥺 She insisted on carrying around those mini maracas the entire time 😂 Afterward, I headed home to work, then at 3:30, I picked Dempsey up from school and we drove back to Grandma’s to pick Lydia up. Made a spontaneous decision to head to Ginger Pig for dinner then immediately regretted that decision when both kids were running laps around our table 😅 Dempsey settled down after Joey talked to him about it, but there is no talking to Lydia. She escaped from our table about eight times 🤪 Back at home, we started The Grinch with the kids — Dempsey has been in Halloween mode since August but he’s fiiiiiinally allowing some Christmas content — and after they went to bed, Joey and I watched GBBO and started the original Gladiator. I’d never seen it! We made it a whole 20 minutes 😂

I made us some gingerbread waffles on Saturday morning and then we spent the entire day getting some stuff done. I cleaned the kids’ humidifiers, got salads done and made fruit snacks with the kids! I aspire to be all the Instagram moms I see homemaking everything but not knowing if the kids will be into helping or if I’ll have the patience to let them help 😅 makes it really hard. Lydia is a bit chaotic in the kitchen but Dempsey always really impresses me. He was so good at using those droppers and they seemed to enjoy the final product. After nap time, my sis and Wayne came over to visit us. Dempsey showed them a bunch of Michael Jackson music videos and the kids danced around like fools, it was a fun time. It also gave Joey time to clean up leaves and gutters and blow out our sprinkles. I made us tofu tikka masala for dinner and Lydia was shoveling it into her mouth 😍 After the kids went to bed, we finished our movie and I thought it was… pretty good!!

Started Sunday with an egg sandwich and coffee with rosemary-vanilla syrup and oat milk, yum! Afterward, we got out allllllll our Christmas books and then I took off to meet my mom and the movies. Wicked was so good!!! The world is so fully realized and Cynthia and Ariana were amazing! My only criticism is that sometimes a talking goat is wearing glasses and it’s hard not to find that silly 😂 We had a great time! Back at home, Joey and the kids had picked up our turkey and then made blueberry muffins! I was so impressed and I got to eat one as soon as I got home. It was the best blueberry muffin I’ve ever tasted! Dempsey cuddled right up to me on the couch too 🥰 We had a pretty cozy and lazy rest of the day and then the kids helped me make dinner. Dempsey makes a mean salad. We read some of those Christmas books and got the kids to bed, then watched the Holiday Baking Championship before going to bed ourselves.

Happy Monday and I hope everyone has a very nice Thanksgiving!

Going into last week, we literally had nothing planned for the weekend, which is sort of the best because it means you can say yes to dinner invitations on the fly and schedule Saturday morning swim lessons that the whole family can go to and have a free Sunday for chores. Don’t even get me started on how much fun the kids (and adults 😉) had over at Hannah and Josh’s! Never seen Dempsey so happy 🥺🤍 It was such a good weekend!

I had my nails done on Friday and worked a bit before Lori brought the kids home. We were all hanging out, waiting for Joey to come home when Lauren invited us to Edgewater for dinner. Twist my arm 😉 Dempsey’s first priority is always the gum ball machine and luckily Auntie Lauren had change to spare! We all ate and then I chased Lydi around before we all headed out to go back to our respective homes. After we got the kids to bed, we fired up GBBO and we’re getting so close to the end!

A pretty chill Saturday. Lydi woke up with the cutest bed head and I made us all oatmeal pancakes, which are thick and hearty in the best way. Afterward, we played then headed out to Dempsey’s swim lesson. It was a make up for the lesson he missed while sick so he had a different coach, which always makes him nervous but he did great! I can’t believe how far he’s come in just the past few months. I can’t remember what else we did but around 4:30 we headed to pick up pizza then took it over the Josh and Hannah’s. The kids actually sat down and ate and then they were off playing. Mostly just climbing up into Mason’s lofted bed and playing funny music with the lights off. Lydi escaped and made it up there a few times and then would come out saying “scary!” 😂😂😂 The four year olds are literally so fun and cute together, calling each other “buddy” and “best friend,” we had a looooong goodbye because they were just having the best time. The next time we see Mason he will probably already be 7 and I literally can’t believe it 🥺 Our crazy kiddos passed out on the drive home, so we changed them into pajamas and laid them in their beds. They were out!

Late weekend nights are kind of nice because Joey and I still go to bed at our normal time but the kids sleep in, so so do we! I got up and went to a new bakery near us for pastries and coffee. I do want local spots to prosper but sadly, I wasn’t super impressed. The staff was extra kind though! The rest of the day was spent doing chores. Joey got our outdoor furniture put away for the winter and our new wreath decoration had come, so he plugged it in for the kids. While Lydia was down for her nap, Dempsey and I sat at the table to eat lunch and build Legos. I don’t have any prior experience but I was impressed at how easily he found the pieces and put them together and also his attention span for doing that sort of tedious project. I really loved it! I made us an “Oktoberfest cheat sheet” for dinner and Lydia tried to trade me my entire bratwurst for a single slice of hot dog 😂😂 Afterward, Joey and Dempsey made us popcorn and then we fiiiiinally finished up Cool Runnings. I asked Dempsey if it was a thumbs up or a thumbs down and he said “THUMBS UP!” so I was happy 😊

We have a busy and fun week coming up and I’m really looking forward to it. Happy Monday to you all!