Joey was out of town this weekend, so it was just me and the kiddos hanging out and we had a good time. Lydia had been having a ROUGH time at bedtime for about a week, so I was feeling nervous, but she gave me no trouble 🙌 Having some two-on-one time with the kiddos was so nice and also, confidence building, but we’re glad to have Joey home!

I’m like five years behind everyone else who started baking sourdough during the pandemic but I was HELLBENT on getting a good loaf and it maybe took me ALLLLLL day on Friday, but I finally did it! PROUD 🤩 I also made it through double drop off for the kiddos and got some work done at home.

Lori brought the kids home that afternoon and gave Dempsey a new blow-up! I took them both to get their flu shots and it was quick and mostly painless. Back at home, we enjoyed the bit of daytime we had left and waited for our pizza delivery by playing in the backyard. Dempsey made an unboxing video and we sent it to Joey, who showed it to the group of guys he was golfing with and they’re all ready to subscribe 😂 Blue Pan hit the spot! And then we started the live action Aladdin. Can’t say I fully approve of Dempsey’s love for the live action over the original but to each their own. Meanwhile, Lydia just kept asking “where’s Princess Lee??” the whole time 😂 Got them to bed and finished Wicked One Wonderful Night, which I had started on Thursday night. I thought it was, well, wonderful 🥺 Definitely cried when they all sang “For Good.”

Woke the kiddos up on Saturday and made breakfast — I thought the sourdough was really good! Lydi asked for three slices that she licked the butter and jelly off of and Dempsey took one bite and asked for “regular toast” 😅 — and then we hung out before heading to Whole Foods for a few things. I bribed them with the promise of letting them pick out a bath bomb for later 😉 Steve came to visit us that afternoon, so we all had lunch then played outside. He and Dempsey made a new Halloween decoration display and I think it was the best yet! And Lydia carried around a hat filled with candy 🤷‍♀️ She’s too funny!

Afterward, baths for the kids and a shower for me then super early dinner and super early bedtime for my napless children. Lydia put up a small fight, but laid back down as soon as I asked her to. They were both fully asleep by 7 PM! I watched an episode and a half of The Summer I Turned Pretty and… I need it to end already. Every single episode is such a dramatic rollercoaster of emotions and plot beats, break ups and confessions of love, almost kissing this brother AGAIN, marrying that brother. Please, I cannot with any of it 🙄 I somehow still have three whole episodes to go, so pray for me 😋

Sunday 🥰 I peeked in at the kids at 6:45 and Lydi was sitting up, so who knows how long she had been awake but I still had to wake Dempsey up at 7:20 😂 I made us all some whole wheat buttermilk pancakes and then we played for a bit before heading out to the park for a meetup with Dempsey’s classmates. We had a really good turnout! Helped that it was like 70 degrees and beautiful outside. We were there for a while, then headed home for lunch so we could pick Joey up from the airport after. Lydia was sooooo excited to see her dad 🥺🥺 She even let him put her down for a nap?! I started salads then headed out for a walk and some much-needed alone time. Felt so good!

I got back around 4, finished salads and made Pasta alla Gricia for dinner. Dempsey kept coming into the kitchen for bites of guanciale but when I put the bowl of pasta in front of him, he wouldn’t even taste it! He’s usually pretty good about at least taking a “no thank you bite” but even that was a hard no for him 🤷‍♀️ so he had chicken noodle soup. Joey, Lydia and I thought it was good! I had everyone watch some of Wicked One Wonderful Night and Dempsey was excited every time there was a commercial break because it meant he could run back to the clay project he was working on. I love my little artist so much! Got them to bed and then Joey and I watched some SNL before heading to bed ourselves.

I hope everyone had a nice weekend — Happy Monday!

We had a pretty laid back weekend and, as a result, I only took ten photos. I have something like eight videos of Dempsey-as-YouTuber, showing how to set up your backyard for Halloween, if you need em though 😂

Friday, I got my nails done then worked until Lori brought the kids home. At four, I took them to the pediatrician for Dempsey’s five year wellness check and flu shots but when we got there, they told me they were out of flu shots 😅 The kids were so excited! Back at home, we hung out in the backyard and admired the pink clouds before having my sis and Wayne over for ramen dinner. Dempsey wanted to watch Zombies 2 with them and kept making Uncle Wayne dance any time there was a musical number 😂 After they left, we got the kids to bed then watched the first half of the GBBO finale but we were both falling asleep and decided to wait on the rest.

I know I’m not the first to realize this, but it’s not being with my kids that’s hard, it’s trying to do all of the other stuff WHILE being with my kids that makes it hard. Luckily, we had nothing on the agenda for Saturday and it made for a really nice day being able to hang with the kiddos. They both helped put out the few Thanksgiving decorations we have while I finally cleaned up the indoor Halloween decorations and then Dempsey and I made all those videos of him setting up Halloween decorations outside. He’s so funny and perfect!

Around 4:30, we picked up dinner for the kids, Lori and Chad and took them over to their house for the night. Then Joey and I went home, ate dinner, watched the second half of the finale (I had no doubt it would end the way it did and I think it was much deserved!) then headed out to an engagement party for my long time friend Jenn and her fiancé Korey. Saw a lot of people I hadn’t seen in years, so that was fun and the couple of cocktails I had were really good too! We left around 10 when we were both yawning and immediately went to bed when we got home 😂👴👵

Woke up the next morning and took ourselves to breakfast at The Fox and the Hen and then Joey dropped me off at home and went to get the kids. I knocked out salads while he was gone, so I had nothing I had to do once the kids were home! Dempsey and I played outside for a bit and we watched Lydi’s new favorite movie, the animated version of The Grinch. Joey cooked us dinner and I thought it was really good! The kids ate two bites then told us they were hungry in bed as we were tucking them in 🤪 After they were both asleep, we watched an episode of The Amazing Race and a bit of SNL and then I was in bed asleep by 9:30 😂 Woke up feeling refreshed, so maybe an early bedtime is what I needed! Hope you all have a good week 😊