Little of This, Little of That

 I have been itching to blog for weeks and weeks but I never seem to muster up enough energy after the housework, the homework, babysitting, raising my children, and trying to just stay sane. I did, however, get a short post up the other day before my computer died on account of me forgetting to take the cord to my parents' house.

Anyway, I'm back. The internet is working again at my house and I'm ready to catch you up on some of the things we've been up to. I'll try not to make this post to mushy-gushy but that's really how I've been feeling lately. I'm either crying from happiness or crying from pain but either way, there are a lot of tears flowing around here.

Saturday was a super special day for me. Last minute, I got invited to do the ROC (Ridiculous Obstacle Course) race with some of my favorite friends. We had one man and six women running in our group and since we found the most awesome dalmation outfit for the guy, we all dressed up as black cats. At first, it sounded a bit boring to me but after seeing almost EVERYONE in tutus and crazy knee socks, I knew we were the ones standing out.

The only picture I took was this one...while I was driving on the freeway. Don't worry, I didn't look while I was taking the picture so this is what I got. Rebecca applying black whiskers to Jamie's face while Dawn smiles and Lacey looks like she's ready to beat someone up. Hope it wasn't me! ;)

The "race" was really fun but not really much of a race...definitely my kind of race. =D If you've ever seen Wipeout, just imagine some of those crazy obstacle courses and you'll have an idea of the things we did. It was so much fun! I hope I can go again next year and every year after that!

School is going great right now. I am ready to sign up for next semester and am trying out a completely new schedule to see if I like it better than night classes. I have one online class that ends in 3 weeks and the rest of my classes end in 5 weeks. My grades have stayed up and I'm loving the learning and social aspects of school. Only 11 more semesters until I can be a fully practicing marriage and family therapist. Ha!

 Both Spidey and Hayley were given balance bikes a month or so ago and have been doing great learning how to ride two-wheelers. Petey insists that she is going to ask Santa for a bigger bike but that she doesn't want it if it comes with training wheels. I told her she needs to practice a ton before Christmas then because I won't let Santa bring her something that is just going to sit there forever. I'm such a nice mom...

 Mr. Dec loved having his mom push him around on Spidey's balance bike. Isn't he the cutest little boy in the world? I mean, besides my Spidey, of course.

 We had one super fun, CrAzY weekend where I watched all FOUR of my friend's children and I was also babysitting my little sister. I took 7 kids to 8am church by myself and we were still on time...barely. The kids had a blast all weekend playing together and having sleepovers.

 My goodness, my friend makes adorable children!

 Also while I was watching those 7 kids, our ward had it's annual fall festival and I braved it with all of the kids. I could not leave without a picture of Leyla's son. Seriously, isn't his costume awesome?

 Baby love!!! Aww, Dec and his little buddy from church.

I found ways to keep the Halloween spirit in Petey's uniforms. Those awesome necklaces I make {and sell} sure do come in handy when I feel like dressing that girly up!

A couple of things not pictured that have happened lately:

-I signed Spidey up for a hip hop class with Petey's old teacher, JaNae, and he loves it! He actually performed with his group at a trunk or treat and was such a cute little stud! He had been asking to dance like his big sister so I decided to give it a try!

-Petey performed at the state fair and was a rockstar! Seriously, we barely made it in time for her performance and she still rocked it out on stage. She has improved immensely since the beginning of this dance year and I'm so proud of all of her hard work.

-Petey also learned how to do a back walkover by herself at home one day. I was in AWE. My 5 year old is doing tricks I was finally brave enough to teach myself at 8 or 9. She is amazing.

-I hope I posted about Spidey turning 4 but if not, Spidey turned 4 this past month. I can hardly believe it. Who told him he was allowed to grow up?

-I was sick for almost 3 weeks straight in October! It was absolutely miserable. It started with a persistent cough that turned into an ear infection {the worst ear pain I have EVER felt} and made it's way into a sinus infection after that. Of course, two of my friends had babies during that time and it's been killing me that I couldn't hold their newborns! Sunday was my first day of feeling almost completely back to normal and I got to hold the sweetest little baby girl at church! Yay! I plan to sneak attack the other friend soon and steal her baby for some cuddles. I am so in love with new babies!

It has been a whirlwind of a month and I'm excited for the holidays to really kick into full gear. As hard as this year is/has been, I plan to make the best of it because I've been given so so so SO so so much!