I had an inkling that Quinn was a bit taller than my other girls. It started when I was arranging clothes and noticed Quinn was already growing out of things that Alex had worn past Christmas at this age. Since their birthday's are so close I figured that perhaps the outfits had shrunk with time. Then I glanced at the family height chart.
The little giant is zipping up like a weed and not giving me time to dress her in all my favorite Alex and Heidi clothes before she outgrows them!
Since we had done trunk or treating with at the church and already had our fill of candy, on Halloween night we sat on the porch and handed out candy to all the sopping wet kids who had braved the downpour for candy that night.
The girls ate as many suckers as they could while we filled bags and voted on the best costume. They were so content, and didn't question me for a minute when I said that we had already gotten our treats and now it was our turn to sit and share! This was good as Tyler was gone at school all night and there was NO way I was taking all 3 kids out by myself, in the rain. We ran out of suckers just as the big kids descended on the streets and the costumes started to get creepy and gory.
Saturday we had the treat of welcoming my old friend Brianna for a visit! I think she may be the only high school friend I've held onto over the last 10 years. So it was pretty exciting to hear that she was moving a few hours away to Ohio for her residency after medical school!
She did a great job of not acting too bored while I did homeschool and juggled the kids, and we did do some fun things like the Zoo!
This could be my favorite animal at the zoo. I get so excited every time I see this pretty little stingray.
Our Zoo day was a cold one and our fingers and noses froze (except the ones that had mittens). Quinn was chill as always and perked up when she got close enough to grab some plants.
Brianna was made an official Aunt after wiping a snotty nose, taking Heidi to the bathroom, and babysitting Quinn and Heidi at the Zoo for probably an hour while I ran Alex back and forth from Zoo class. Keeping Heidi in sight and alive in public is a major feat. She did some other amazing thing that normally only parents do and I remembered why I had hung onto this friend.
After the zoo we picked up Tyler and finally made it to Primanti Brother's for the infamous Pittsburgh sandwich! Fries and slaw on french bread bun- it was delicious and super filling and I'll post the picture when I find it.
The polar bear was actually moving around and Heidi was a mix of fascinated and bored.
I bribed her with a handful of M&M's to stand by the glass so i could take a picture. She wasn't afraid, she just usually resists doing anything I ask her to. When she got a glimpse of the polar bear a few inches away she did pull a good face though.
Poor Polar bear must have been suffering a mental break, because he paced the same path over and over and over for about 10 minutes. It was great for pictures.
Tuesday the kids were acting a bit sick, but wouldn't commit to actually lying still and getting better so we went for a short outing.
Brianna's mother had attended Chatham and so we went for some pictures and such on campus.
Dressing the kids has become an unsurmountable challenge. I had to go through their drawers and steal every contraband skirt because they kept refusing to wear pants underneath and it's cold here! So they tapped into the dress closet. Getting the kids in warm enough clothes AND in the car in less than an hour is tricky, on this day I don't think I realized exactly what the kids were wearing until I looked at them through my "we are in public now" eyes and had to laugh at the rainbow of pink Heidi had donned.
I'm trying to focus on Happy right now. Life is a bit stressful and happy can be hard. Right now what seems to be making everyone happy is Mom not caring what clothes they wear out of the house.
It seems Brianna and Heidi did coordinate their outfits though.
It's such a beautiful campus. There are so many trees and paths and hills. The girls had a blast running along the sidewalks and gathering sticks.
The weather had warmed up just enough to make it a nice jaunt. We ended the outing with a trip to Trader Joe's and picked up some of our favorites for an afternoon snack and dinner.
On Wednesday after homeschool finished we decided to try out the Natural History Museum! I know it may seem like we are made of money or something, going to all these great places all the time, but we have a pass that gets us in to all of them for 1$. Maybe the only benefit of being a poor student family.
It was REALLY cool. We spent a few hours looking at the giant gem collection, the dinosaurs, stuffed animals and then decided we had better leave before the kids imploded. There were barely any people around so we had the place to ourselves. It was very "Night in the Museum"ish.
Brianna convinced Tyler to watch the kids that evening so we could have a girls night. It was SO needed! We went to my new favorite place 'Burgatory' and had a shake and fries. The most heavenly fries in the world! Danielle you need to come so I can take you. It was poutine on steroids and you would love them!
It was sad seeing Brianna leave after all the fun, late nights, girl talk, TV and candy. But knowing she is only a morning drive away made the goodbye bearable.
Having the company made the week fly by and there was just enough time to prepare for the ward Souper Saturday. I was in charge of the Ollieblocks and it was a bit of stress getting it all together the last few weeks but it came together nicely. Tyler has class all Saturday and Sunday so the neighbor watched the girls all Saturday while I was gone. It was pretty amazing. I've made some really great friends and learned a lot about myself and other people.
It's been so humbling to be on the other end of the service spectrum and instead of constantly giving, it seems I'm now the one who is constantly having to ask. I've learned some good lessons this weekend and made some good connections.
2 comments:
Whoo hoo! I made the blog! Polar bear :)
Here is a list of some things your post reminded me of:
1) You always did better in pumpkin carving. You still haven't lost your touch.
2) Annie learned how to dress from Heidi. According to Annie, we are all princesses in our family, and she loves dresses. Thank you Heidi.
3) Polar bears are super cute. I think you should name her Winifred. Also, if she is a he, I think he should still be called Winifred, but you can call him Fred for short.
4) And finally, one day, when we are super duper, ubber luxurious rich, I mean stinking ugly rich, we should buy Chatham College, turn it into a movie set staged in the early 19th century, and just film a gazillion BBC British dramas. This will be my gift to Kate, to make Kristen dress up like a Jane Austin character and drink hot ovaltine with her in the gardens. Oh the civility. I make sure your dresses are always pink. How quaint.
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