Happy Halloween

From Snow White, Rupunzel, Russell Wilson, The Wicked Queen with the poisonous apple, and the crazy Russell Wilson fan.

Backpack, Backpack

Natalie has been obsessed with her Dora backpack lately.  She loves to walk around the house with it on her back, and it must come with us in the car. Today, I watched her as she filled it up with books, then decided to go up to her room to put herself down for a nap.  She unloaded all the books on her bed, read them and fell asleep.  This girl is full of ideas!

The Sleep Monster

I have decided after much reflecting, that Natalie must be part werewolf.  This child is so happy and full of life all day, but as soon as the sun sets she turns into a little monster.

We have been completely spoiled by good sleep since we moved to Issaquah, minus a few horrible nights here and there.  But compared to what we were dealing with before, I have to say we've been spoiled.  Most nights all three kids sleep through the night.  This is a far cry from where we were just a short year ago when Natalie was up 2 or 3 times a night. 

For some reason, Natalie's sleep habits have taken a turn for the worse again.  It's not horrible by any means, but it's definitely not what we were getting used to.  Some nights she'll wander into our room, which is just fine.  I pull her into to bed with us and then after a bit of tossing and turning she goes to back to sleep.  This is rare.

Her usual routine is to wake up screaming, and demanding things.  If you give her what she demands (which we do to get her to be quiet and not wake up the other kids), she suddenly doesn't want it.  It's absurd and so confusing. Eventually she'll calm down, but man, this kid makes us bonkers!

Here's hoping the werewolf side of her decides to hibernate for the winter.

The 1st School Dance

For some ridiculous reason I decided to take my kids plus a friend of Ryan's to Ryan's school for the Fall Dance.  I met up with a friend and her kids, which was the best part but it all went down hill from there! 

It was dark for one.  It's not an easy task to keep track of 4 kids in the dark.  And the boys just ran around like crazy fools for two - in the dark mind you.  Totally not safe.  Then the girls, who love to dance, decided to be clingy and whiny the entire evening.  All in all it was basically the ultimate mom nightmare.

Lesson learned for sure.

The girls preferred to hang out in the quiet, lighted hallway.

Ryan and his buddy Phar; so not into sitting still for a photo.

Oh, Natalie

This girl is so full of life and personality.  As crazy as she makes us, she brings us an infinite amount of joy everyday.  Her wheels are always turning.  She definitely knows what she wants, when she wants it, and always has a plan for how she's going to get it! 

The Week In Review

It's been another one of those "see how much we can cram into a week" weeks. 

It all started last Thursday with my work event, The Harvest Hoedown.  It turned out to be a really fun event, but wasn't well attended.  Overall RFH raised about $7500 to support our work.

The following night I had a Rotary event for Lake Union Rotary.  I hated taking another night away from the kids, but felt I needed to be there to support my club.  Grandma Karen and Grandpa Bill came to watch the kids so I could attend, so made it a bit easier for me to go. After it was all said and done, it was nice to get out of the house and get a break from the daily grind and especially the solo bedtime routine.

I had Saturday to recover from a busier than normal work week.  Then on Sunday we headed to Idaho to celebrate Aubrey's 1st birthday.  It was super fun to be a part of Aubrey's special day and visit with family and friends.

The trip over was anything but dull.  Natalie ended up getting car sick so we ended up making an extra long pit stop to clean her and her car seat up, and enjoyed the rest of the trip with a vomit smelling van.

While in Idaho, the kids visited Dr. Michael for their first dentist.  They did really well overall, but Ryan did end up with a cavity.  Boo.  Oh, and Natalie refused to let her Uncle Michael get a look in her mouth.

We arrived home Monday night and jumped right into a new week.  Our neighbors invited us over for the start of the World Series on Wednesday.  We so enjoy our new neighbors and had a great time hanging out with them all. 

And to round out the week we got new neighbors!  They have two girls - 8 and 2 1/2 years - so a perfect fit for our little neighborhood.  We are excited to have more kids join the cul de sac!  

I'm ready for a quiet weekend at home.  

She's Got Some Moves

See for yourself!

David titled this Natalie's "nudey nudey" dance!  She was totally cracking us up!  Her facial expressions killed us!