October 2012

Mom left on the first of October and time flew by quickly until mid-October, when Brendan finally got to redeem his birthday present. He and Karl traveled to Seattle for a regular season football game between the Seahawks and the Patriots.  The Pats have been Brendan's favorite team for several years now, but the Seahawks run a close second, so it was win win for him either way.  It was a great opportunity for Karl and Brendan to have a whole weekend to themselves for some quality guy time. They got a little wet, lost a shoe in a parking garage and Brendan will never forget Ellensburg!

 Meanwhile, Rita and Anthony were fully in the swing of their second year at Give Them Wings Preschool.  The teacher was kind enough to schedule the fall field trips around my work schedule so that I, and another mom with a second year student, could attend them.  We both missed them last year.

The last weekend of October saw us finally get to visit my Dad and Cindy in Idaho, a visit originally scheduled for mid-July.  It was put off first because I got pneumonia and my Dad, being very susceptible to illness did not need someone coughing continually near him.  Then Mom broke her heart, as the previous post describes, and then the boys went to Seattle!  So, three months later, we finally got to go visit.  It was short but wonderful.  Not only did Cindy endear herself forever with my kids by making "the best cookies ever", but she fed us all to the gills with wonderful stuff.  She, being an awesome photographer, also did a photo shoot with us and took amazing pictures.  Maybe you'll see one of the twins on a greeting card some time.  She dressed them up as the cowboy and the ballerina. She did allow me full access to the pics and so I had a decent picture of the whole family for the Christmas card.  If you want to see more of her work, visit www.daydreamsart.com.   She isn't just a good photographer, she is passionate about it!  And I love watching my Dad haul equipment, following behind her, and patiently waiting for her to get the shot she wants.  He's whipped!

Most importantly, my Dad and I got to spend some time together, healing old wounds.  Not that we rehashed old hurts and conflicts, we just started fresh and let the past be the past.  That was the best part of the visit.  I feel a wonderful sense of peace knowing that if I died today, I mended relationships with both my Dad and Mom this year.  What a blessing!

We came home on Monday the 29th and two days later it was Halloween and Karl's mom arrived for her fall visit.  We packed quite a bit into this month!

If you haven't seen Madagascar 3, you won't get Brendan's costume. Google "Polka Dot Afro Circus" and you'll see what we were going for.  We didn't have time to get the polka dots in, but you get the gist. Rita was a princess who won't wear a crown because she doesn't like things in her hair.  Anthony was the same as last year, Dino Rider.
 
 And thus October ended, but I feel like I was still back in July in my head!