Catching up with October

Hey!
So October has done a pretty good job of coming and going right?
Time for a mash-up post to recap.
Fall is in full swing. The kids and I kick leaves as we walk Greta to her class line. Boots are back out, and Oliver has already outgrown his new ones.
Oliver and I do our errands while Greta is in school. We have a good time together, he and I. The key with this guy is a steady stream of snacks, and plenty of conversation. I consider us very similar in this way.
He's also turning into quite the little care giver. He's got a pet seal named Hazel, that he likes to carry around and pretend talks in a high squeeky voice. The care and feeding of Hazel is sweet to watch, as he changes her diaper, rolls her in a blanket, and feeds her toys for food.
You go ahead boy, learn to nurture, and smash gender stereotypes while you're at it. (Maybe next one you could work on is that "boys are messy". Let's work on proving that one wrong because seriously your toys are in my bed, my shoes, my everywhere.)

Greta is either writing books*, spending an hour in the bathroom, or sitting on my lap. She is serious about being as proximate as possible, at all possible times. Which besides the jabbing of sharp little knees and elbows, I find comforting. The world is kind of the worst right now, so if she would like to hitch a ride in my pocket indefinitely, a large part of me is cool with that.

This weekend was good for our family. We just sat around and worked on Halloween costumes, did laundry, and took it easy. Days have been busy, and emotionally overwhelming these last few weeks, so this feels like the first true weekend in a while.
Kent went on a 5 day bachelor party trip to the Outer Banks week before last, to celebrate his friend Aaron getting married. The relationship he has with Aaron (who was our best man) and his friends from college is so awesome. They sharpen each other like iron sharpens iron, and it was my joy to send him off to be a part of that time together.
But I think I'm still mustering up energy from my reserves that were depleted during his absence. Man, home is just not home without Kent. His being gone taught me some good lessons for sure. Like you think you're this nice person and doing ok as a mom. And then you watch your own kids (that you love more than life) without a break for a couple days and find out that no, actually, you are the worst version of yourself after 5:00.

But I think we are getting back to normal around here. We pushed the reset button this weekend,
so here we go, fresh new week.
I will return with the 2014 Halloween Costume reveal, and my Holiday Game Plan.

*She has been a prolific non-fiction author and illustrator. She likes to write honest books about butterflies, monsters, creatures, love, etc. and refers to it as "non-viction". We go through a LOT of paper.