October recap

Well hello, ol' friend. So... October happened. Let's share a few highlights from the month...

We road-tripped to Indianapolis. We made this trip when the girls were 3 and we thought it was a piece of cake then! At 5, it was a walk in the park. We got up and left around 5:00 in the morning - I had the car stocked with a basket of new library books, which single-handedly ruined any chance of Abby falling back asleep. "When will the sun come up?"... "Can we turn a light on?"... "I should have brought my book light..." ... "I just can't wait to read these books!". What's not to love about that? And read she did, with her sister joining after the sun came up. There was not a single negative peep out of either mouth - they traveled great, they slept awesome, they ate like champs (as usual), and they were charming guests in someone else's home. John's cousin and wife, Mark and Lisa, treated us to yet another wonderful weekend getaway, which included:

Children's Museum:

Neighborhood horses and fingernail painting:

After John recovered from the beer and tamale consumption that took place in Indy, life settled in as usual...

Lots of reading took place (as it does everyday):

A couple of teeth fell out... is anyone surprised that the girls lost their first tooth one day apart and it was the same tooth??? Oh, and at their 5-year check-up (which we just had done), their height was the same and their weight differed by only .4 pounds. Not FOUR pounds, but POINT FOUR pounds....

I know other great things happened between the teeth and Halloween but you get what you get. Toward the end of the month, we had our 28th annual pumpkin carving party, followed by Halloween. Abby dressed up this year as "an angel named Winter" and Elise danced her way through the holiday as "Liesl, from the Sound of Music". Homemade costumes rock - Abby picked her fabric and jewel for the shirt... Elise selected her shiny pink material for the poofy sleeves. Simple, inexpensive, and well-loved. Abby started coming down with a cold on Halloween and trick-or-treating was questionable... until the scolding began: Elise, finger pointed in my direction, "Mom, you cannot make Abby stay home. She gets to wear her costume and go and you can't tell her no." Typically, I wouldn't condone that type of tone directed toward an adult. But when your kids stick up for one another, regardless of the circumstances, it's worth supporting. Abby, you have your sister to thank for Winter, the angel, making an appearance at Halloween 2013.