A Fall Friday

Annabelle and I are, as they say, back on the road again. 

Mom came up to visit us over the weekend and we drove back to Massachusetts together on Monday. If you're thinking, "Wait. Didn't you just visit your family last month?" the answer is yes we did. We're ladies with wheels of our own and sometimes we hit the road. To be honest, after the summer of travel we had I had no (zero, zip, nada, zilch) plans to travel until Thanksgiving, but things came up so we packed the car and continued our new habit of living out of suitcases. 

How Sesame feels about our endless travels.

On Wednesday we went to visit my aunt. Her mother in law recently died and all her dishes, kitchenware, and artwork ended up in Carol's house. Carol took what she wanted and offered the rest to me. I'm all about free kitchenware and decor so it was right up my alley. That's how I ended up as the new owner of three round serving dishes, two rectangular trays, a cream and sugar set, a bowl and a water pitcher, all ornate silver. You know what doesn't match anything in my house? The box of silver dishes I now own. You know what I'll have to polish and keep clean? The box of silver dishes. It seemed like a good idea at the time. 

This afternoon we went to a small farm with Grammy. I was flirting with a meltdown by going during nap time, but it was the only opportunity we had. Thanks to a herd of goats she couldn't have been happier. Goats are a great distractor from dramatic crying. I could have used a few around after bath time tonight when the meltdown finally hit. 

This is NOT how I look when walking into a corn maze. I swore off corn mazes a few years ago. I refuse to pay to get lost when I am fully capable of getting lost on my own for free. We got lost in a corn maze when I was pregnant and I was sure we'd be in there forever and I'd have the baby surrounded by corn stalks instead of nurses. 

Even with the ribbons marking off the path she still got out before I did. 

Tomorrow I'm making scones for breakfast and cookies for a snack. It's important to replenish the calories I burnt wandering between corn stalks. Maybe I'll serve them on a silver platter.

Currently- the October edition

Planning: Annabelle and George's wedding. It will be bubble themed. The other day Annabelle told me "I'm going to mawwy P'ince George." My work here is done.

Reading: Eligible by Curtis Sittenfield. It's a modern day Pride and Prejudice and the easiest book to read. One chapter was a whopping three sentences. I just picked up A Mother's Reckoning by Sue Klebold, mother of a Columbine shooter.  These books could not be more different.  
Watching: Britain's Poshest Nannies. One of my after college plans was to be a live-in nanny, preferably in an interesting location. My plans were altered when I got married at 21 but I still think it would have been fun. A few years ago I learned about a nanny college in Australia then more recently I heard of one in England. This documentary shows the process the girls at the English school go through to become nannies for upper class families, celebrities and even royals. It's interesting to note that I watched it while we were babysitting Ivy and I was contemplating whether I really want another child or not. But sign me up to pay thousands of dollars a year to learn how to be the next nanny for Matt Damon's children!
Surviving: grocery shopping in the rain. I HATE shopping in the rain, especially when I have Sesame. 

Wondering about: toast. Talk to me about toast. What do you put on it? What's your go-to topping? I love a warm piece of toast with melted butter. If I'm feeling a little fancy I add sugar and cinnamon. I'm open to all toast related suggestions for any meal. Does garlic bread count as toast? I could eat it every day for a week and still want more.  
Listening to: AB talk. The other night she didn't stop talking until after 11. ELEVEN PM. She expected me to answer and have a full conversation with her. I was trying to sleep so I had no interest in discussing the new princess on Sofia the First. She talks nonstop. I think it's payback from when I was her age. 
Having weird dreams about: Christopher taking me with him to Fallujah. Apparently he was deployed there and I decided to go all to see the sites. I was uncomfortable sleeping inside the Humvee so they attached the back of a pickup to the back of the humvee and I made myself a bed and slept out there. My mattress kept falling off and I got so annoyed I decided to stay behind on the side of the road. Eventually Christopher came back to get me and brought with him a souvenir- a garlic garland for the mantle! I've always wanted to decorate with garlic! If only it had been a real dream I could have used it to make myself some nice garlic bread.

spoiler alert: I didn't need to defend us after all

Good news! We have heat again. The repair men spent all Friday morning installing a new furnace, just in time for us to have a weekend where the high was 74* and Christopher turned on the ac. We made the most of the time we didn't have heat by bundling up and wearing our crowns.

We take crown practice very seriously.

We had a pretty lowkey weekend. I know we come across as the life of any party, but Christopher was in bed by 9:37 Friday night. I stayed up until 10 because I'm the real party animal in our relationship. Saturday we went to a paint your own pottery place then came home and painted pumpkins. Annabelle took the opportunity to paint herself as well because why not?

Sesame Pie has a cold and bad cough so we've been doing a lot of lounging. I'm too embarrassed to admit the number of shows she watched yesterday. She felt awful and my head was killing me, despite the 14 painkillers I took and sometimes you just have to get through the day. It's not everyday you see a sick girl wearing dinosaur feet. 

Annabelle has gotten so funny. I love hearing what she'll say next. Friday night we were eating tacos and Christopher ate part of AB's shell. She starting looking for it and when I told her where it went she said, "I am APPALLED." I'd be appalled too if someone ate my taco without asking!

Today a man came by who walked around the yard taking pictures of our house. I don't know him and had never seen him before. I have a long history of hiding from unwanted guests/repairmen/vacuum salespeople so this wasn't new territory for me. I snapped into action. I flattened myself against the wall so he wouldn't see me then scooted around to be sure the doors were locked. I put away a few toys on the way through the living room because if he was going to murder us I didn't want to leave a messy house as my last act. I picked up the nearest item in case I needed to defend us (overly dramatic party of one!). Normally my weapon of choice is a bat, but this time I grabbed what was closest: 

A MINI COLANDER. Because that will do a lot. "You're about to attack us? Let me just throw this flimsy thing over your hand. That will stop you!" 

Call me for all your self defense needs!

the Baby Brigade has a new recruit

I made a goal for myself this month to blog 2-3 times a week all month. Here we are at October 12th and this is only my second post of the month. Much like the pounds I am trying to lose, neither goal has gone according to plan.

Last week was awful. There were some family issues to deal with, Annabelle clogged up a pipe so we couldn't use the washing machine, my car had a flat tire and the furnace needs to be replaced so we don't have heat. My body decided it would be fun to get in on the negative action and I caught a virus and had vertigo. I had never experienced vertigo and I hope I never do again. The first night it happened I couldn't walk straight. I'd see where I was trying to go but walk into the wall. The next day I was laying on the bathroom floor and couldn't get myself off the floor for any longer than it took for me to throw up. (I know what you're thinking and no, I'm not pregnant.) For 45 minutes everything was spinning and I could not have stood up to save my life. Sesame was in the other room yelling "MOM!! I want more yunch! Mom! Where are you? I wanna new show!" She has no bedside manner. At one point I tried to pull myself out of the bathroom but never got farther than halfway out the door. AB came over to investigate and said "What's going on over here, Mama?" with a look on her face that showed she was annoyed I hadn't pulled myself together and gotten her another cheese stick. I'm dying, that's what's going on.

What I'm trying to say is I wasn't physically or mentally capable of blogging.

Good times came rolling into town on Friday. Daniel, Erika and Ivy came up for a visit! We live far from family so it always feel like Christmas when someone comes over. Saturday we had planned on hiking but it was raining on and off so we went to the zoo instead. The polar bear was feeling extra friendly. 

Daniel and Erika left Ivy with us Sunday night through Tuesday morning while they attended a wedding. Ivy's look of concern stayed the whole time she was in our care.

To be fair, I think we've forgotten how to care for a five month old. She was crying nonstop on Sunday night and we couldn't figure out the problem. We rocked her, bounced her, tried giving a bottle, found a pacifier she wasn't interested in but she would not stop. Eventually we decided to change her diaper and bingo. Happy camper. You'd think that we would have remembered about one of the most basic discomforts in a baby's life. 

I'm proud to say that for all of 30 minutes I achieved the simultaneous nap aka the envy of parents around the world. Once minute 31 hit I was staring at a baby who was wondering if my promises of being the coolest aunt around were going to pan out. I thought it would be fun to play dress up and she didn't voice much disagreement. I put her in the same Army bear uniform Annabelle wore her first Halloween. 

Sergeant Sesame in 2014.

The Baby Brigade has some adorable soldiers. Too bad they don't know how to change their own diapers.

pumpkin patching

Yesterday Annabelle's MDO had a field trip to a pumpkin patch. It rained most of the time but it didn't dampen her spirits. Give her a couple cows and she's a happy camper. 

Drawing a crowd where ever she goes.

Just a small smattering of pumpkins.

I now realize we should have been standing with her.
It looks like she went to the farm with a bunch of cornstalk heads.

She waited her entire life to have her face painted.
Four and a half minutes later she couldn't have cared about it less.