Good morning from Trump’s America. Jesus, I can but can’t believe it. We had a snowy but otherwise great weekend! Dempsey was home from school all week (two sick days and a snow day!) but both our babies were finally better by Friday and Joey and I got to sneak away for a movie. By Sunday, the sun was out and it was luckily warm enough to go outside for our family photo shoot and maybe an impromptu ice cream outing after 😉

Just when we thought Dempsey would be able to go back to school, we got a huge snow storm and school was cancelled! He got to go over the Grandma’s at least. I worked and cleaned the house because our cleaners had to cancel as well. And then Joey brought the kids home and we had a really good chicken and rice dinner. Joey suggested we watch Cool Runnings after and I thought that was a great idea! It was mostly just Joey and I laughing but the kids managed to pay attention too. Check out all that snow! And more was coming. After the kids went to bed, Joey and I watched GBBO per usual 😋

Joey got up early with Lydi on Saturday, then once Dempsey was up, I was on kiddo duty and Joey made us some really good blueberry vanilla waffles. The rest of the day involved a run for both Joey and I, lots of laundry for Joey, Legos for Dempsey (he seriously played with them for over an hour!) and then Aunt Bean and Uncle Wayne come over to watch the kids, so Joey and I could go see Emilia Pérez for the Denver Film Festival! I don’t even know how to describe the movie, it was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. I had no idea the plot was going where it went and I was pretty blown away by Zoe Saldaña. I’ve had some time to think about it and I do wonder if there was a bit too much going on and not enough time to fully delve into all of the ideas that were packed in there, but I did really appreciate how unique it was. Back at home, the kids seemed to be having a great time with their babysitters. We let them leave and got those crazies to bed before watching some of SNL. I don’t know how I feel about Bill Burr…

I had pre-ordered Snooze on Saturday night, so we woke up to a hot breakfast and then no dishes to do, woo! Dempsey was back to his Legos afterward and Lydi did some yoga then helped me with my Peloton workout 😂 I had a 10 o’clock haircut and it was lucky timing because it meant my hair looked extra nice for our photo shoot that afternoon. I got salads made then we all got dressed up and headed over the Cheesman. For as snowy as it was Friday and Saturday, it was actually pretty nice out come Sunday! The kids took a bit to warm up for the photos but then they were running and playing and smiling and POSING and it was the funniest. I can’t wait to see how they turn out! On our way home, Dempsey said “we should get ice cream!” and it suddenly seemed like we should! The kids were so happy (even though Lydi wouldn’t share with her brother 😂😂). Back at home, Joey made us one of our favorite fall dinners — cavatappi with butternut squash, blue cheese and walnuts — and then we watched a bit more of Cool Runnings before the kids went to bed. Afterward, we watched an episode of Fargo and finished SNL.

I’m finally ready for a regularly scheduled work and school week, so fingers crossed for that!

Well we made it through Halloween, including a school party for Dempsey and a night of trick-or-treating with my parents and both kiddos — Dempsey was most interested in everyone’s front porch decorations and Lydia was having the time of her life walking and singing with a package of gummy bears in her hand 😅 — and then we woke up to one sick kid and had two sick kids by the end of the weekend. Noooooo! So, here we go again!

Poor Lydi Bitty was not feeling well on Friday, so we kept her home. I had a manicure appointment, so she and Joey hung until I got back and then I tried putting her down for a nap but the poor thing couldn’t breathe from her nose, so I ended up holding her upright for few hours. I honestly haven’t held her for a nap since May when we sleep trained her and it was giving me slight PTSD but I also felt like she really needed the rest to get better quicker. We picked Dempsey up from school then played at home until Joey arrived with Park Burger take out. Lydia was straight up losing her mind waiting for food to come, so we got it on the table as quickly as possible. Got them both in bed and whew, some days you just barely make it through! We watched GBBO after and I’m going to miss Nelly!

We let the kids sleep in on Saturday and then it backfired because once they were finally up, they were hungry and wrecking havoc and it was way harder to get breakfast made! I made apple cider donut pancakes and Dempsey told me I “ruined his breakfast” by putting cinnamon sugar on it 🙄 They continued to act completely unhinged while we tried to clean up our Halloween decor, so I suggested we go build our craft at Home Depot. Lydia seemed well enough and Dempsey wasn’t sick yet, so off we went! Getting out of the house really improved all of our moods. Dempsey blows me away with how easily he builds these crafts and Lydia was too cute with her mini hammer. We finished up and took a peek at the Christmas decoration section before heading back home.

Lydia took a good nap and Dempsey put up our Thanksgiving window decals before helping Joey take down the Halloween yard decorations and putting up “the big turkey.” We left Miguel up for Dia De Los Muertos, but now he’s back in the backyard. We had planned to have the kids sleep over at Grandma Lori’s that night but wanted to see how Lydia was during the day and if she napped okay before making a final decision. She seemed okay, so we took them over around 4:30 then headed back into Denver for dinner at A5, which I thought was so so good! They sat us at a four top that faced the rest of the dining room, so that felt weird but otherwise the food, drinks and service were great. We saw Venom: The Last Dance afterward and it was good good fun! In a Marvel world that feels so weighed down by all the multi-versal, multi-layered storylines, the Venom strand seems way more streamlined and less self-serious. We made it home and through all of SNL, who are we??

Was so excited to sleep in on Sunday but then I checked the clock and it was 6:15 (which was really 7:15, but still!) 😅 Joey and I walked over to Coffeegraph for lattes and pastries and I swear I wasn’t posing for that photo that Joey took to send to the kids 😂 I had been wanting to make that seven-strand braided bread from the Bread Week episode of GBBO, so I got to work on it when we got back from coffee. While it rose, we went to pick up the kids and then I finished it when we all got back. It turned out so pretty! I was really happy with it. Now why can’t I braid hair like that?? 🤔 Unfortunately, Dempsey seemed to have come down with the cold and was sniffling like crazy the rest of the day 😞

The rest of the day was a mix of chaos and fun. Not proud of how much TV the kids have been watching, but sometimes it is the only way to calm them down. Lydia sat me down at the table and gave me her lunch plate then ran away to play 😂 She had a really hard time napping again and Joey had to hold her, ugh. I feel like it took me the rest of the day to get salads made but I did it and Joey made us a really good dinner to eat with our bread! They were both so tired and Lydia was a MESS, so bath and bedtime was nice and early. Every time they are sick, I live in terror of their nighttime sleep, but they slept from 7 PM to 7 AM, hallelujah! So I guess the way to avoid Daylight Saving Time issues is to just have it coincide with your children’s monthly cold 😅 After they went to bed, Joey and I watched Dìdi and though it was a lot sadder than I had expected, it was wonderful as well.

Sick kiddos + Election Week has me feeling anxious, but what can you do? Happy Monday!