HOCKEY Sunday. The first one, so we are still excited about it.

This is Jack walking the dog yesterday morning.  He was so adorable I had to take a picture, but I am afraid this picture does not do his adorableness justice.

 While cleaning Dorothy's room, I came upon Miss Elaina and Prince Wednesday in a compromising position.

 Harry had his first hockey game of the season today (LOSS 6-0) in Monroe, a tiny town with an adorable main street/town square.  We dropped Harry at the rink and headed to a cute little bar for bloodies and fried things. It was perfect.

 Then we took pics with some weird wooden statues that adorn the square.

 The kids were happy to run rampant around the rink and play with their hockey friends.

 And even though the kids lost, we were also happy to be back on the bleachers.  We are SUCH a hockey family.  Who knew.

I made this for dinner, and I recommend it even though it looked like vomit.

ALDI, I love you.

My Thanksgiving motto FOR SURE:

 Oh, you guys.  He is SUCH a tween.  So whenever he wants to hang out, I am RIGHT THERE.

 Have you ever had a Kringle?  WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

 Jack is my ultimate grocery shopping buddy.  Today we hit the high

 and low end.

Seriously, you guys.  At Whole Foods, I got a SINGLE BAG of groceries (and a 6-pack of wine) for $100, and at ALDI, I only paid a little bot more than that for an entire trunk of stuff.  Its insane.  I wish I could get all of the money back I wasted all those years NOT shopping at ALDI.  Last night for dinner I served the kids ORGANIC spaghetti and sauce, garlic bread, and green beans with their favorite jarred peaches, and the whole table of food cost $11.  I MEAN SERIOUSLY.  That's amazing.

SATURDAY

Something I realized on Friday morning:  HARRY CAN MAKE HIS OWN SMOOTHIE.  Bam!

 I chaperoned an awesome field trip to a science expo for Jack;s 4th grade class-- the same field trip I chaperoned for Harry.  As usual, the kids and the parents had a blast.

 Dorothy is so happy Halloween is over because now her unicorn is hers to ride all day long.

 We had another terrific family movie Friday with our favorite greasy pizza while Harry was at hockey and then E.T. after we all convened at home and took showers.

  E.T. was a huge hit.

 Today Jack and Cooper and I made these candy cooke bars (that are amazing), and Jack and Cooper were super serious about selecting the right blend of candy.

 We watched ANOTHER movie this afternoon-- Daddy's Home, which only Harry had seen, in preparation for the sequel on Friday.

 Then Coop circled basically everything in the Toys R Us holiday catalog.

 And Beatrix helped herself to Dorothy's plate.

OK.  There you have it.  SATURDAY.

Notes from a friggin WEEK

 Taking their Halloween candy seriously.

 Ok seriously.  How much longer will the face painting station be a choice?!

 DANCE CLASS!  Usually I am the only asshole not watching through the window because I have shit to do, but I am a real sucker for the teeny ballet bar.

 IT'S TIME FOR MY OTHER FAVORITE HOLIDAY!!  (Spoiler alert:  all holidays are my favorite holidays)

 I went to Michael's thinking I would be paying full price for Thanksgiving stuff, but no!  Actually all of the fall stuff was on the way out the door to the tune of 80% off on Nov 1.  Next year, I am going to get there the second they open.

 I asked Dorothy to go get my phone and found 84 of this exact pic:

 HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

 She is addicted to Tootsie Rolls.  DOn;t you love the way she squishes them over her teeth?

 Gymnastics before hockey, the perfect time to do homework!

H-A-Double L-O -Double U- Double E- N

 I LOVE HALLOWEEEEEEEEEEEN!

The first year we lived in our house, I had maybe the best time of my life taking the kids ToTing in our actual neighborhood.  Then we sort of started celebrating with other people-- once or twice at someone else's house and then here at ours.  But I really missed just our little family walking the hood together-- with neighbors of course, but not in an organized party kind of way.  So that's what we did this year.  At first I felt bad not inviting anyone over, but then I realized they were all getting together and didn't invite me, either, so it was cool. 

Except for a huge tantrum from Dorothy about wearing a coat (seriously you guys.  the only clothing rule we have is that you must be weather appropriate), we had SO MUCH FUN!!

The day started with an always-adorable Halloween party in kindergarten

And then kept getting fab from there (I am totally mad at myself for not taking finished food craft pics-- they were adorbs)

I didn't get any pics of all the kids together because Harry left early to go with friends (first time on their own, and they LOVED it.  I asked him to check in every hour, and he was like why and I said oh I don't want the kidnappers to get a head start, and he was so freaked out.  He checked in MORE than I asked and at one point called because he saw a helicopter with a search light and he just wanted to make sure his phone wasn't broken because he worried about an accompanying Amber Alert.  So, really top notch MOTY-ing there).

Ben helped him re-bloody his mask before he went:

The rest of the crew:

And a sweet little Minion:

I ate myself totally sick, but thanks to the magic of intermittent fasting stopped at the crack of 8:30 and haven't been a teeny bit tempted since.  I figure if I polish off all of the Almond Joys today, it should be smooth sailing from here on out.

Harry and his friends stopped by and Ben tried to give them tuna and pureed pumpkin.  There were not amused, but they were happy to get some water.  A friend's mom was tracking them via app, and she said it looked like they ran the whole time.

Dorothy finally deigned to wear a thing sweater and a fleece, but she was OF COURSE frozen after just a couple of blocks.  Cooper and Jack were totally hardcore, though, and we stayed out until I thought my fingers might fall off.

Ah, Halloween.  I am already excited for next year!

October: What I Read

I don't know what's wrong with me. It's FALL READING SEASON.  I mean, isn't fall reading season a thing?  Is there anything better than a cold day and a hot beverage and a warm blanket and a farting dog?  WHY HAVE I NOT TAKEN ADVANTAGE?

I only read SEVEN books.  And only 2 novels.

What the what?

7. How to Meditate by Pema Choödrön: I DON'T UNDERSTAND.  Break free of the discursive mind?  What is there without discourse?  I have been picturing the thoughts I have while meditating as balloons and watching them go but even that is discourse.

6.  My Life and Hard Times by James Thurber:  Come for "The Night the Bed Fell;" stay to admire the fact that all of this shit is still funny.

5.  The Grown-Up's Guide to Teen Age Humans by Josh Shipp:  Probably should read this before your kids are teens.  I liked it.

4.  Daily Kindness by National Geographic:  The kids and I are making this a part of our everyday, and we really like it.

3. Hallelujah Anyway by Anne Lamott:  Oh I just love her so much. This book is a balm.

2.  Once in a Blue Moon Lodge by Lorna Landvik:  I love her, and I loved the characters in this book when they were in Patty Jane's House of Curl, but I didn't love this book, really.  Although it did make me cry, and it was like hanging out with friends.  So.

1.  Hello Sunshine by Laura Dave: Easy, breezy, funny and sweet.  A great send up of social media fame and lifestyle celebrity.

According to Goodreads, I am at 113 of my goal of 120 books.  2 months left to blow it out of the water.  Wish me luck!