OLD MACDONALD.....

Oh ya, remember that totally awesome holiday we celebrated a few weeks ago. I guess I forgot to let you in on the full monty of costumes. Here it is... finally...
Drum roll****************************

Kday and I were the farmers

Layla was our chicken

Owen was our sheep and Rider was a cow.... a mad cow

 And here are some of the pumpkins we carved... out of the 100 total that were completed for the pumpkin show at Kday's parents house. An annual tradition

Better late than never right?

I TRIPLE DOG DARE YA

I thought I could avoid it. I've survived for a solid 10 months without it. I don't need it for day to day places like walks to the park or even long outings at the zoo. My belief is that a 3 year old is plenty old enough to hike, walk, or bike a few miles without the need to be pushed around in a stroller. So when people told me I should get a triple stroller I laughed because I knew my Buca, and she is a walking machine. In fact, she'll walk for hours and hours if we take the boys for a stroll, or better yet, now she rides her bike while I walk with the boys in their favorite double stroller.
There's a missing component though, a huge part of my life - pre-baby boys...
My all natural depression and weight management...
My passion...
The only thing I can do to clear my head and feel great about myself...

RUNNING.
I haven't been able to run since the arrival of Owen. Yes I could drag my already sleep deprived self out of bed at 5am to run if I really really wanted to. But that's not my modus operandi. I LOVE NOTHING MORE than throwing my kids in a jogger with their messy hair, jammies, blanket, a few crackers and sippy cups and off we go for an adventure. To be able to run WITH my kids and not IN SPITE of them  would be a really great feeling.

So I'm doing it. I'm getting a TRIPLE JOGGER. Yes they're massive. Huge really. Heavy. Bulky. Totally not ideal. But to me I can taste FREEDOM just with the idea of it! I need to run. I need to get my weight down. And most of all, I need to feel like myself again.

The problem: there's only about 3 triple jogger options on the market.
A) the uber expensive one that is super duper bulky, heavy but has all the bells and whistles and great reviews.

B) the less bulky but high quality triple that seems to be off the market now and almost impossible to buy but I really love it because it is the perfect mix of function and size.

C) the moderately pricey one that I'm drawn to, but it has VERY mixed reviews. Some great - some terrible

 

D) the totally affordable one that has terrible reviews and is bound to fall apart most likely the first time I use it.

SO WHAT DO I DO? SHOULD I TAKE A CHANCE ON THE MID-RANGE JOGGER THAT GETS THE JOB DONE BUT HAS MIXED REVIEWS AND HOPE THAT MY REVIEW COMES OUT **** FOUR STARS?

HELP PLEASE!!!!

OUT....

Today I must shop. 

Here's what we're out of:

Toilet paper - been using wet wipes...
Wet wipes - used too many in place of TP.
Milk - kind of necessity
Formula - I have enough for 1 more bottle. Let's hope WWIII doesn't happen before I get to the store.
Bread - Layla's breakfast of choice, not a happy camper this morning

That's basically the total necessities, and the only reason I'm not out of diapers is because I stocked up on size 5 right before Layla potty trained (I didn't think that one through) so if we ran our of size 3-4 for the boys, I'd have back up.

We're also going for a walk today and babysitting Layla's only cousins on the Silver side. They're awesome kids and make my life so much easier when they entertain my kids. We'll then be hitting up the bank and planning FHE while pulling dinner out of the freezer and throwing it in the oven.  And I'll keep stewing over a big "baby equipment" decision I'm trying to make. I'll fill you in on that money guzzler tomorrow, if I survive this Manic Monday.

Now high five me and tell me what your Manic Monday has in store for you.

LIKE A RECORD BABY....

SPINNING.

MY LIFE IS SPINNING LIKE A RECORD.

ROCKTOBER ALWAYS ENDS WITH A BANG AND I'LL BE POSTING ABOUT OUR HALLOWEEN EXTRAVAGANZA WHEN THE SPINNING STOPS. 

OR AT LEAST WHEN IT SLOWS DOWN TO A MANAGEABLE LEVEL.

One of the most important techniques I encouraged with my HOPE GROUP was to RECOGNIZE when the spinning gets too out of control.  And then MAKE THE NECESSARY CHANGES in your daily routine to settle the spin down.

For me - this week, that means stay home and get back on top of my Domestic Goddessing duties. And also focus on this month's theme, gratitude for my life... even the spinning parts.

EPIC FAIL

The day started bad, then got worse, then peaked with a few tantrums and then rounded out with an actually pretty awesome evening.
7:40 am - I slept in. Not in a good way though, it's a school day and now I'm 40 min behind getting all kids fed, dressed and in the car by 9:15.

7:50 - Layla FREAKS out because Kday zipped up her cowgirl boots and SHE wanted to.

7:51 - Layla heads to her room for a little "Uh-Oh" time (Love and Logic technique) The next 25 minutes are filled by trying to get the boys fed and cared for, all the while listening to the ranting and raving of their sister in her room.

8:30 - Layla comes to her senses and decides she'd like to "be sweet" and be around us for what's left of breakfast time.

8:40 - Layla FREAKS out again because she was asked to complete her daily chore of making her bed. Normally she does this with a sing song voice and no problems. Not today. Back to her room for a little more "Uh-Oh" time.

9:00 - we're all functioning and ready to throw the extra car seat in the car so we can pick up a little boy on our way to Layla's school.

9:01 - I realized the car seat isn't here.

9:02 - Realize said car seat is in my mom's trunk a few miles away. We can make it on time if we hurry.

9:17 - Kids finally loaded and we're 10 min behind schedule now.

9:27 - Car seat finally installed and heading to pick up darling little James.
(Layla's supposed to be at school in 3 minutes - mind you)

9:33 - James is in the car after a bit of a long story fiasco and we're headed up HWY 89 to school.

9:34 - Car runs out of gas. SUPER.

9:45 - My darling Dad rescues me with a gas can.

9:50 - Layla's dropped off and we're headed back down the street to fill-r-up at Smith's Gas Station.

9:55 - After waiting to pre-pay cash at the pump (we use the Dave Ramsey Cash System) I realize the attendant has left a "BE BACK IN 5" sign. 7 minutes later I storm outta the place cursing the store and the attendant and tell them I'm taking my business elsewhere.

9:57 - I enter Maverick to pre-pay and I SLIP ON THE FLOOR AND ALMOST BREAK MY NECK except for the AWKWARDLY NICE MAN WHO HAPPENS TO CATCH ME. How monumentally embarassing. I quickly pay for my gas, repeatedly assure all the on lookers that I'm perfectly fine - just humiliated and I get back in my car and come home as fast as possible before something else goes catastrophically wrong.

The rest of the day was pretty much history - a few more melt down's by Layla. (typical three year old kind of stuff and thanks to Love and Logic I'm a MUCH MORE patient mom) A few snuggles on the couch with the boys, a long nap for Layla and then we headed to my dear MIL's house for some crafting and great hospitality. And a certain three year old was so awesome after her nap. She was using manners, talking sweet, and even sharing her cookie with her brothers! Double awesome.

So the day ended well but boy was it a rough go until about 10 am. Yikes.
Cheers to a less "eventful" day tomorrow.

OH MAC!

I'm prepping three little Halloween costumes today. Here's a few hints. Can you guess what the kids will be this year?

Rider

Layla

Owen

Have a good MANIC MONDAY

ROCKTOBERFEST = BIRTHDAYFEST

I'm a little selfish and I love celebrating my own birthday. I know, annoying right? I just love any reason to celebrate life and friends and food. So a birthday seems like a pretty ideal time to fit all three into one big chocolate piece of cake.
My birthday has been a fantastic one. Again. Last year was hard to top. I was welcomed into my 31st year with dinner and crazy cake with friends, a fancy feast that Rita made, thoughtful gifts galore, facebo0k shout outs, family fun, a day of shopping, and a surprise pizza dinner. Could a girl ask for more? Nope.

This year even included a hand picked gift from my Buca - and I loved it. And My Mr spoiled me as usual.

As for the rest of the month - our plans include:

Free J&J pumpkin patch and hay ride

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Halloween costume preparations

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The kids party at Station Park

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Trick 'or treating at Great Grandma Marge's 

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Planning out our pumpkin carving ideas - to top last year

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More trick or treating and halloween parties than a girl could imagine. 

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Is there anything we're missing? Leave a comment and let me know if there's some fantastic Halloween tradition or party you'd love to share!