Halloween Recap

We had a nice Halloween around these parts.  Mac dressed up as a tiger and was stinkin' cute, if I do say so myself.

You judge.

We don't get many trick-or-treaters at our house, so we went over to the sitter's to hang out.  Mac had a good time running around and playing with the other kiddos.

We tried to go over to anther friend's house, but Mac was not having it.  We should have seen the signs when Mac had a meltdown while getting him out the carseat, but we powered through.  

Mistake.

I think we hung out for 7 minutes before we gave up.  Those 7 minutes were spent with a crying monster.

So, to summarize, Halloween was fun, except when we stopped listening to Mac's very clear, "I'm tired" signs.

Happy Halloween!

Meal Plan...Tuesday?

Oops... We were traveling yesterday and I meant to post this from my phone.

Monday: Turkey Burgers
Tuesday: Book club- potato bar
Wednesday: Buffalo Chicken Chili, corn bread
Thursday: Black Bean Tortilla Bake
Friday: Out/Leftovers
Saturday: Italian Wedding Soup, bread

Stinker

Last night David went to Kentucky for work--it was a short trip.  He was gone less than 24 hours, but it did leave me to do bedtime and morning all by my lonesome.

Earlier in the day, before picking up Mac, I deep cleaned the bathroom.  That night,I gave Mac a nice long bath...playing and killing time. He let out a MONSTER fart and I was relieved that it was just a fart...until 15 seconds later, when he pooped in the bathtub.  My nice, clean bathtub--no more.

I got out the bleach twice in one day.   Stinker.

First Haircut

On Saturday, my little man turned 15 months old and had his first hair cut.

I wasn't sure I wanted him to have a haircut--I have always been a big fan of the baby look and worried that he would start looking like a toddler without his mullet.

So here it is, one last shot of his glorious mane.

 Is it bad that I LOVED that I could put it in a pony tail?  It was so curly and blond!

 But also so in his eyes, all the time.

We went to a speciality kid's salon.  Because I am a sucker, we opted for the 1st haircut package.

Yep, sucker, but Mac enjoyed the continual stream of milk, fruit loops, and fruit snacks.  I had a long conversation with the hairdresser about how it was VITAL that Mac still look like a baby after the trim.  We made it through with minimal tears.

 Well, maybe I got a little teary.

After the haircut, we decided to capitalize on the nice day and go to a pumpkin patch.  Since we have been out of town nearly every weekend this month, I had been HOUNDING David for weeks to go to a pumpkin patch.  I'm not really sure why I thought hounding was the way to go--he always agreed and has enjoyed pumpkin patches himself.  Maybe I was worried that it would be something we would just forget to do and I would wake up in November, full of sadness and regret? 

Who knows?  All I know is that our now short-haired little man LOVED the pumpkins,

the wagons,

and the trackers.  Although David looks like the happy one in this picture :)

 We even got my favorite picture of the day--can you believe everyone was looking at the camera??  It's a Halloween miracle!

Meal Plan Monday

Here we go again... meals for you to love.

Sunday: Taco Chicken Bowls (a crockpot AND freezer meal)

Monday: Buffalo Chicken Dip, Celery, Snackies (we're snacking while hoping the Cardinals win game 7)

Tuesday: Spicy Chicken Pasta Bake, Salad

Wednesday: Turkey Spinach Enchiladas, Salad

Thursday: Leftovers!

Friday: Mac and I fly to Kansas City--David's on his own

Saturday: In Kansas City... Celebrating my father's birthday

Back Home.

I've been absent for a week.  I've decided to take this week off weekly Peace Corps emails in favor of a life update.

On Saturday, my little sister flew into St. Louis and we drove to Kansas to be with family after the death of another family member.  It was a sad reason to get together, but it was good to be able to support each other and remember Adam.  Growing up, he was one of my favorite people to spend time with at family events--always with a joke to crack and enthusiasm for whatever food he could convince Grandma to send home with him.  He had a kind heart and I will miss him.

Mac came home with me for the trip.  I was hesitant to bring him, but it turned out well.  He sprinted back and forth in my grandparent's home, laughing and grabbing for breakables.  He made things a little less somber at time and it was good for him to spend some time bonding with his great-grandparents, great aunts, great uncles, and the plethora of extended family we have.

Plus, he got to ride a tractor.

We returned to St. Louis on Tuesday evening.  Since Lindy's flight wasn't until nearly 8pm on Wednesday, she opted to watch Mac all day on Wednesday.  Around 11:30 I got a text saying, "Should I keep feeding him until he stops eating?  He's had a big lunch."  Turns out, my little stinker ate 8 mini corn dogs, a package of Easy Mac, a banana, a package of mandarin oranges, AND some applesauce.

I said that she could probably end lunch.

Mac definitely knew he could convince Aunt Lindy to keep feeding him.  :)

Thanks for your patience while I was absent.  I'll try to get things running better next week--and give you some meal plans by Monday!