ROCKtober

my sister is preg with her first baby due about a month before me. since i am an expert on all things parental and maternal she has been positively peppering me with questions. about 3 weeks ago she asked me to tell her something good about motherhood. as i received this text i was wrangling children for bed and i saw that this is what they did to the bathroom that i had futilely and stupidly just finished cleaning moments before: toothpaste is my nemesis.

needless to say i never answered that text.

but now i will, by recapping the month of october.

the family has been suffering from a lack of food and fun since my short term abdominal incarceration and the kids have been forced to fend for themselves for entertainment more often than usual.

 scarlett got especially tired of my useless self laying prone on the couch that she got the dog's leash and tied it to the banister and had me hold the other end so that she could "jump rope". i felt pretty lame.

pumpkin carving was especially thrilling as we threw caution to wind and let everyone hold the knife at once whilst carving.(thomas instructed us that we would ALL BE PARTICIPATING IN THE PUMPKIN CARVING or else this year. he's such a temperamental artist. i didn't receive an ounce of help on my ugly pumpkin.)

scarlett pitched in by cleaning various kitchen accoutrements. with the sink and grout scrubber. so i got to clean everything again. with bleach.

reagan filled books and books and books with pictures and letters and notes with messages like, "no girls allowed, this means you." 

trunk or treat at the church. i was a grinch who only gave out one small piece of candy to each kid who came to our trunk. and they got nothing if they didn't say trick or treat or wear a "real" costume. 

and it was quite apropos that i dressed as darth vader since  thomas' term of endearment for me while i am pregnant is darth madre. because i breathe loud and i'm mean and i want to squeeze people's windpipe's closed with my mind. (and that is why everyone only gets ONE piece of candy. obesity is an epidemic and i am doing my part to curb it!)

grandma sandy came for halloween and that made me completely happy. every day she said, "heidi, you look tired. go take a nap. i would love to play with the kids." thomas would never call her darth madre. he would call her saint sandy the benevolent and long-suffering. 

and i learned that my favorite hand me down pot is actually at least 50 years old and that my grandma bonnie cooked with it when my mom was a child. (it has a copper bottom, the best and most even conductor of heat!)

we took family pictures and only the ones without thomas and me looked good. 

target is my go-to lunch date with scarlett. they cook the food for you! we get the pretzle and icy bear(slurpee) combo. 

actual dia de los muertos. princess leia, hot dog/buzz lightyear and me. a gross old homeless woman with a raging 2 week old sinus infection wearing two sweatshirts while walking a fat, smelly ancient dog who can't walk more than 10 feet without marking something or gasping for air. it was sort of a disappointment for me.

AND FINALLY...

scarlett got her ears pierced. she BEGGED and promised to stop sucking her thumb(liar!) and to clean up her room everyday. i'm the sucker. but she sure looks cute.

plus, once i got some REAL sinus medication in my system, i noticed how lovely the trees are in autumn. i had been missing so much.

yay south cackalacki!

so, in short. being a mom is awesome. this month i learned to be patient with them and they were very very very patient with me.