Hello and Happy Monday to everyone, especially Mikey Madison, Sean Baker and Team Anora, who reigned supreme at the Oscars last night! I had predicted an Anora Best Picture win but I did NOT see that Best Actress award coming and I was so so happy to witness it! This weekend was otherwise a lot of kid chaos, some fun and much not, but what can you do? Let’s take a look!

Thursday night, Dempsey planted a lemon seed in the backyard, so Joey picked up a lemon at the store and planted it where the seed had been. Guys, his reaction the next morning is what makes parenting small children magical 🥺✨🥰 He was so so excited! The rest of the day was pretty normal and we had a very low-key evening of leftovers and hanging out with the kids. After we got them to bed, we watched Sing Sing and it was heartwarming and heartbreaking all at once. I really really liked it!

Saturday was just a day of small frustrations and small joys with the kids 😅 We tried to fit in a trip to Home Depot before Dempsey’s school-organized playdate but didn’t quite have time to finish up our crafts. It was so nice and warm at the park and the kids played and played. Back at home, lunch and Lydia playing around in her crib instead of taking a nap. I took a walk to the lake and back and found this pretty copy of Puff the Magic Dragon in a little library. I miss when Dempsey would sing the song all the time 🥺 He helped me mix up a “candy cheese ball” for the Oscars then they both played outside. Dempsey had a giant meltdown while playing outside with the neighbors twice this weekend and it was WOOF. We went to dinner with Aunt Bean and Uncle Wayne afterward and the kids were only slightly insane inside the restaurant 😩 They get so hyped up around their two favorite people 😅 We grabbed ice cream at Sweet Cow afterward then headed home to put those crazies to bed. What a day!

Dempsey woke up screaming at 5:30 on Sunday morning! Poor buddy had a nightmare. Lydia and I got up while the boys laid in bed a bit longer. Once they were up too, the girls went out to get coffee for everyone. We also watched Kiki’s Delivery Service and it was a hit! Lots of playing afterward. We finished the kids’ Halloween costume Legos and they are sooooo cute! It was like pulling teeth to get Dempsey to finish the last few pieces but we did it 😂 They also painted their nails, which was a whole mess, then ate lunch under their blankets 🤷‍♀️😂 Lydia DID take a nap and the boys played across the street while I worked out and then we all filled out our Oscars ballots!

With half an hour until the show started, we realized we were out of the ramen we planned to cook for dinner 😱🤦‍♀️ I feel like I am so Type A but then sometimes I will space out a major piece of the puzzle and am so mad at myself. Joey dashed out to try to find some while Dempsey and I finished up the cheese ball. Both kids were pulling a million snacks out of the fridge and I was losing my mind. We also had trouble getting Hulu to fire up the show but luckily we were able to rewind to the beginning. Dempsey watched Conan crawl out of Demi’s back and he was shook. He asked me questions about it for a full ten minutes afterward! For what it’s worth, Joey and I thought that bit was so funny and we loved Conan, in general. I was also BLOWN AWAY by Cynthia Erivo’s performance of “Defying Gravity.” She sounded incredible in the movie but her live vocals were astounding! Thought Bowen, Ben Stiller and the “CinemaStreams” bits were so funny but I definitely could have done without that Bond tribute and Adrian Brody’s long rambling speech. If that was him keeping it brief, I’d hate to see what the opposite looks like. Oh yeah, I already saw The Brutalist 😋 I love love loved Sean Baker’s little speech about going to the movies. Made me feel reinvigorated to do so and take the kids too!

Anyway, we’re back to the work week and I’m ready for routine. Hope you all have a good one!

We had NOTHING on our calendar for this weekend and it turned into such a good and fun time for all of us 🤍 Dinner out on Friday, a little bit of productivity and a little bit of relaxation on Saturday and some one-on-one time for Joey and Dempsey and me and Lydia, respectively. Topped it all off with homemade garlic-parm wings and the SAG Awards and let me just say, Timmy forever!

We had a big storm come in overnight Thursday going into Friday and I was positive school would be cancelled for Dempsey but lo and behold, it wasn’t! Joey had a conference, so I got Dempsey out of the snow (can you spot him?) and dropped off, took Lydia to my MIL’s, then sat down to work and drink my coffee 🥰 Joey cut out of work early enough for us to brave Vine Street again and even though we still ended up waiting 45 minutes 😱, we got a table and I ate a tempeh reuben for the first time since 2019!!! Got those kiddos home and into bed before starting Nickel Boys but more on that later.

I think the kids were up and rearing to go by 6 AM on Saturday and I also think they were crawling all over my face while I was half-awake in my bed but that might have also been another day 🤔 Motherhood is a blur 😂 Either way, we got them downstairs and I made us some pumpkin waffles because I opened a can we still had in the pantry earlier this week to make granola with Lydia. Other happenings included a workout for both Joey and I, bookshelf installation (I am loving how the playroom looks and feels with those books on the wall!), making dumpling dough, playing outside and Joey took the kids to get Dempsey’s ski rentals for Sunday.

Our big event of the evening was making soup dumplings! What a labor of love though 😩 Dempsey made about three of them all on his own and I tried not to cry over how cute they looked 🥺 And Lydia helped scoop the filling (and some other things that I would say WEREN’T helpful 😅) and even though I was very over it by the end, Dempsey kept slurping the soup filling and saying “that’s so good!” so it was all worth it! After their baths and bedtime, we finished Nickel Boys and even though I really wanted to love it (and wow, there are some really beautiful shots), the POV filming kept taking me out of it. Such a sad and terrible story (that I maybe had to look on the internet for clarification on) though.

Joey and Dempsey were up and out of the house by 6:30ish on Sunday and somehow, Lydia slept through her brother leaving the room and didn’t wake up till 7ish 👏 For a long time, mornings felt really unpredictable and it was hard to wake up before the kids, but now I can and it makes such a difference in my mood. Lydi and I had breakfast then took a trip to Target. She grabbed that little wheelbarrow at the front of the store, then pushed it around the rest of the time, putting things in it, while I emptied the last thing she put in it to put back on the shelf 😂😂 And she only threw a tantrum over a couple of things that I absolutely left the store with because I’m weak. We stopped at the Sloan’s Lake park on our way home and it was PACKED but fun. Back at home, lunch and naptime. This girl is still giving me hell when I put her down. She yelled for me and played around for an entire hour before giving in 😫 I did manage to make lunch salads for the week, ranch dressing for dinner later and open up a new book though.

Joey and Dempsey called us earlier in the day and it was not going well on the slope, but they ended up getting a few good runs in and Dempsey seems to love the chair lift. They called it quits 11:30 when Dempsey’s legs were “too tired” and headed to have lunch before the drive home. When he got back, he told me he didn’t have fun 😅🤦‍♀️ but I think he secretly did. He wanted to play outside the rest of the day and I love that for him! He eventually came in and the kids and Joey watched Sonic 3 (for the millionth time) while I finished up our dinner. I made steak fries to go with our wings and I thought it was all so good! Started the SAG Awards then paused to make us all some kettle corn. I truly don’t know what’s going to win Best Picture at the Oscars next week but after that win and that speech, I am ROOTING for Timmy to win that Best Actor trophy! Happy Monday 😊