November 27 - Stomach Bug Attacks

 The kids were counting down the days until vacation for months and were finally in the home stretch. On Tuesday, I went to school and had Thanksgiving lunch with both kids. That evening, Jillian threw up some water and I didn't think too much about it. Around 10pm, she started projectile vomiting all over her room, bathroom and JD (I have never seen so much vomit in my life). I was giving her a bath around 10.30pm and Julia ran into the bathroom...also throwing up. Not idea. JD ended up going downstairs with Julia and she was sick every 20-30min until close to 6am. Jillian threw up one more time and while I was rocking her...I ended up getting sick starting at 1am. I was up from 1-6am sick.

makeshift bed for sick Luke

Three of us at one time, what are the chances?! Wednesday was a tough day trying to work and take care of tired children. Wednesday evening, I realized Luke had not eaten any snacks after school (unusual to say the least) and he didn't eat any dinner. He was otherwise acting fine but when we told him to shower and go to bed at 6.30pm and he was sound asleep by 6.45pm with no complaints, I knew he had it too. He started throwing up around 7.30pm and was luckily done with it by 11pm. We packed up on Thursday afternoon and were off.

We drove to Gulfport, MS for the first leg of the journey and had an uneventful trip. The next day we drove into Florida and got to the hotel by 8pm. Needless to say, we were all excited to be healthy and on vacation!!

Thanksgiving at School

We made it to the hotel, Jillian loved the trees!

November 14 - Good Luck Luna Lovegood

After just over 2 months with our family, Luna Lovegood will be going to her forever home in Connecticut. The rescue picked her up this afternoon and she is being transported tomorrow. She will be joining a family with a large yard and a female Labrador (hopefully the lab is younger than Amelia and wants to play). Best wishes to Luna, I hope she loves her new family and they love her. 

November 10 - Plaid

In case you are wondering how Texas kids dress for picture day.....here you go:

Plaid. I let them pick out their own outfits and this is how they came downstairs. So cute. And yes, Luke is rocking long hair for his picture this year. Waves!!

Happy Friday everyone!

November 8 - Baby On the Move

smooch!

Little Jillian is officially a walker now!! She's been taking a few steps here and there for awhile now, but starting last week she made the transition to full-time walking. She is so cute and getting faster by the day.  She's already trying to squeeze behind the TV stand and loves opening up the drawers in my bathroom to get into my toiletries. She's obsessed with the clock in Julia's room and likes to take it and carry it around. Another thing she's found in the last 2 days? A baby doll! She LOVES holding her and carrying her, she even slept with her the other night. So sweet!!

November 6 - Halloween Recap

School dance, swim meet & new hammock from Uncle Jay

Dimpled munchkin fans, please accept my apologies. October proved to be one of the most challenging months of my life. Sometimes, when you try to do something good, things don't turn out as planned. That is life and I'm trying to stay positive and look forward. Sorry for the lack of blog updates, I will do better this month. So, without further ado, let's jump into Halloween. 

I volunteered in Luke's class for 'Pumpkin-ology' and I was in charge of the 'science experiment' station. I put a small cup of hydrogen peroxide and dish soap into the center of a hallowed out plastic pumpkin. When we mixed yeast with warm water and the kids had to guess what they thought would happen. I then poured the mixture in and we watched as a foam mixture exploded out of the pumpkin's mouth. So fun!! The kids loved it! All I had to do for Julia's class was bake pumpkin muffins, so that was very easy. 

The Friday before Halloween was the school's costume ball, always a huge hit with the kids. Luke was so excited, he was dressed (as a ninja) as soon as he got home from school. Julia donned her devil outfit and we were some of the first people to make it into the gym for the party. The kids had a blast dancing and running around with their friends. 

The morning after the party was swim meet time. We had a cold front come into Houston and it was literally in the high 30s. We normally set up for swim meets outside but they notified us that there would be limited seating available inside. The coaches recommended we get there by 6.45am to get a spot inside. JD and the kids left our house at 5.45am and got to the pool at 6.30...they got one of the last spots in the hallway! Jillian and I got there around 9.30am, just in time to see Luke swim. Both kids did amazing and Luke placed top 8 in the 25 free and won a glow in the dark medal!!

He dropped several seconds off his free and back (from the summer) and successfully swam the butterfly for the first time ever without being disqualified. Go Luke!! Julia did her first ever 100 IM and 100 free and did a fantastic job. Great job kids!

On Halloween eve I realized...we forgot to get pumpkins!! Oops. We went to the local pumpkin patch and were shocked to find it packed. Apparently, a lot of people waited until last minute this year. The kids picked out their pumpkins and we can back home to carve. I forgot to get pictures of the finished product but they came out very cute. Julia's had a huge mustache and Luke's said "Boo!" 

On actual Halloween, we had a big crew together for trick-or-treating. We headed out at 6.30pm and were back by 8pm. Great evening for all! 

Pumpkin patch fun

Halloween

I couldn't resist the puffer vest