Halloween/Birthday Photo Dump (also, turns out I wore three different costumes?)

I work in an office now where people dress up for Halloween AND I can wear denim. So of course I had to channel Rosie. Averson declared this the perfect office costume since it's not offensive, not distracting, AND I can sit in it. Agreed on all fronts. 

Because I'm a grown-up, I don't get a lot of birthday presents anymore which made it that much more exciting when a package from a friend showed up with these delightful shower steamer things (even better since I'm not a bath person) and a Crossfit keychain

And speaking of CrossFit. I got up at 7:00 on a Saturday to work out as Snow White and it was SO FUN. Even if the workout had wall walks which are... not great in a running skirt. But how cute is this outfit?!  

Birthday donuts are the best donuts 

Weeks ago I told C that I wanted to go out to breakfast and then to a local plant shop/vintage mall for my birthday. Then on Saturday night the shop announced on their IG that they were going to be closed for the holiday. I maybe pouted a little (or a lot) but C rallied and found another shop to go to. Eli joined us and it was the BEST morning. 

They 100% bought these hats

My pretties! 

I don't know who I've become, but I like her and she keeps things alive with more frequency than not. 

After plant shopping shenanigans, I cleaned my house and got everyone ready for Halloween. Usually I don't like school night Halloween, but this one was totally lovely and everyone was done by 9:00. 

The first year that my three aren't in the same picture. I only cried a tiny bit :( 

Sydney and her friend were matching Peppa Pigs, Averson was Mulan, and Eli was some rando thing that his friends put together and is likely just an excuse to flex. 

My mom handout out candy and was super spooky, and also kind of looked like an animatronic decoration. Also also, I bought this shawl at the nursery and it's my new favorite thing. 

Once the crowd was done trick-or-treating, Sydney asked if she and I could hit another couple of streets. Then we came home and sorted her haul while we watched Gilmore Girls. She giggled and was delightful and used hashmarks to count everything because she's a giant neurotic nerd and I love her. 

I also love this red sweat suit more than is reasonable and put it back on last night. So that's another thing I do now is wear matching sweats in ridiculous colors unironically. 

 

This and that

The kids went back to school. Averson and Eli are thrilled. Syd is... less so. We had her anxiety pretty dialed in but the last half of the quarantine has been tougher. She's doing okay and for her at least, I'm grateful that school is only 2 hours/ 2 days a week. Eli is back to wrestling practice and next week they're back on the mat. I have mixed feelings, but they're all getting tested weekly so I think it's as safe as it can be. And with half of the house vaccinated I feel a bit more risk tolerant. 

Literally the only picture I took of Easter and you'd never know what it was. Our baskets were ON POINT this year. New swimsuits, a new pool toy (from the "pool toys for teens" list on Amazon), a paper airplane kit, a new book, and a bunch of candy. I snuck an anime action figure into Eli's basket and he played with it all afternoon :) 

I had Cesar Chavez day off and the weather was gorgeous, so we ventured to find this bridge and tree that everyone's been posting pictures of. I did not take a picture (SMH). Then we realized that one of my favorite little pubs was across said bridge and decided to stop for lunch. Which Eli had to pay for because C and I had forgotten our wallets in the car. 

Ahh! Here's the tree! But you can't tell that it's cool from this angle. Trust me. It's cool. 

We celebrated my mom's birthday by going out to an actual restaurant! It was so fun and exactly what we all needed. We even got dressed up(ish)

Birthday donuts. She'll be so mad that I posted this picture, but I love it

There are about 700 pictures of braids on my phone because I bribe the girls with tv if they'll play with my hair. Most are kind of a mess but Syd gave me a bubble braid the other night and I really like it! Also, my hair has gotten ridiculous. 

In other, quiet announcement news, I sort of got a new job and will be leaving prison work at the end of the month. It feels SUPER weird and I'll dedicate a better post to it later. In true Corey fashion I 100% tripped into it. It's totally different from what I'm doing now (back to direct patient care!) I'm excited and nervous and also having a very hard time continuing to make my heinous commute. So more on that soon! 

 

A Cozy Christmas

Our Christmas was so quiet and cozy that I forgot to take almost any pictures. But I got the gist of it

Christmas is my favorite season on our street. The luminarias are a pain in the butt but they do make it all so magical.

I gathered the kids for the requisite Christmas Eve Matching jammies pic (after a quick alteration on Syd’s because she grew since Black Friday.) man, these are so much easier with big kids

Or maybe not...

Not to toot my own horn, but I KILLED it with the gifts this year. Each kid got at least one gift that blew their minds and a couple more that made them really happy. Syd got the iPad she was convinced was too extravagant to ask for. Eli got the TV for his room that we’ve been fundamentally opposed to for years (until we realized that between his phone and laptop, he already has access to a bunch of screens.) And Averson got a new bike with gears AND a kickstand and more legos than she knows what to do with. 

And it’s not a robe (and I actually got mine last year), but the whole family got the Sherpa hoodies. These might have been the all around favorites. 

All Girl Rock band! LOL!

It was declared to be “The Best Christmas Ever!” Movies were watched, the food was delicious (cinnamon rolls and tri tip chili), and everyone stayed in their jammies all day. We managed to talk to or FaceTime everyone we were missing throughout the day. It was perfect. No notes (except that I think C and I will start buying, wrapping, and hiding gifts for each other [or ourselves] in January. The SNL skit is funny because it’s true. I will say though that the gifts I got were really on the nose)

Tired, happy parents

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, however that looked. Five more days until 2021. We’ve got this! 

 

Festive AF

We’re having an outbreak at work (150+ cases in a week. It’s scary) and I thought for sure that my time off this week was going to get cancelled. But after working the weekend and Monday, my boss sent me away. I’m taking this gift and running with it, determined to fully enjoy the next week and make as much merry as I possibly can. When I left the house today my mask smelled like frosting so I’m pretty sure I’m nailing it 

My first foray into royal icing. Half my cookies looked adorable and the other half looked like a demented, inbred cousin of adorable. 

Eli and I went Christmas shopping and he bought himself this suit. He is FEELING it and has worn it for two straight days. I love how he looks like his first job is in the mailroom at the North Pole

C brought home a poinsettia from the school that’s bigger than any plant I’ve ever successfully kept alive

And then he hung my giant wreath on the house. But now I think it needs to be bigger maybe?

These two ❤️

MORE COOKIES

We’re watching at least one Christmas movie a day. Last night was The Night Before. HILARIOUS but maybe I could’ve skipped watching dirty bar sex and numerous duck pics with both my kids AND my mother

I just love these so much

This Snapchat filter brings me joy (and confirms that I was not actually secretly adopted.) Its all me, but the resemblance to my mom, my brother, and Averson are uncanny

My presents are bought (and wrapped!) My cards got sent out today. I bought the ingredients for our traditional Christmas Day chili. All I have left to do is make cinnamon rolls and eat all those cookies! 

 

#Halloween2020

I turned 40 yesterday and it was as perfect as 2020 would allow. C surprised me with a new coffee pot to replace our 15 year old Mr. Coffee. My mom had flowers delivered to the house (growing up in the country, I will ALWAYS be excited to have things delivered to my house.) The kids made and picked out sweet and thoughtful gifts. My birthday donut was pumpkin spice flavored.

We really struggled with what to do for Halloween. After a lot of thought and efforts to come up with ideas, we settled on “measured and thoughtful decision making.” We didn’t have people over, but we let Eli hang out with a friend and I took the girls trick-or-treating. And we decorated the hell out of the house.

Averson REALLY loves our skeleton collection and plays with them constantly

Case in point: the Morning After still life

Syd had a VERY last minute costume change that found me at Party City on Halloween morning and Thank God because otherwise I never would have impulsively bought a Bob Ross costume to make C laugh only to find out that it’s been his dream costume

Dr. Dolittle, Hermione Granger, and an inmate (OMG I had some feelings about this one until I remembered that I was a Playboy Bunny in 4th grade. At Catholic school.)

Trick or treating 2020 style. Our neighborhood did so many cool candy delivery systems. The girls were great about masks and overall it felt really okay

 

It’s Halloween somewhere

I still don’t know if we’re going to trick-or-treat or put on costumes and let the kids watch age inappropriate movies to stay safer at home, but our house at least is festive AF. It’s 2020. I might put up the Christmas tree next weekend