November Busy-ness

November holds many important days for us. Obviously, this year, it was especially big with Pete's 40th birthday! Pete and I both took the day off work, but I still made him get out of bed early. Scott came to pick him up at about 7AM. It was a surprise all the way up until about 6:30 when another friend of theirs from high school let the cat out of the bag. Still...they had a great time. Went to visit their old high school jazz band teacher and watched the kids play. Then we got our own kids off to school and the 3 of us went into the city for a delicious brunch at Longman & Eagle. We made a couple more stops, including one at Vic's drum shop, but then got a call from the Meadowbrook school nurse. Henry had cut his chin open at recess and we had to take him to the doctor. Luckily, no stitches were needed, so the party was able to go on. 

Here's Frederick in his party clothes, ready to head to Evanston. 

 Pete set him right on the piano to put his coat on, which I thought was pretty funny.

We held the party at Prairie Moon in Evanston. I did not get very great photos. My dad has some good ones on his site, so you can check that out if you want. Here's a selection. My favorite is of the boys playing a random selection of improvised instruments later in the night. We had a pretty great time! 

 
The original plan was for Mom to be with us and then to take the kids home after a while. Due to a very sick pooch, she was unable to come, so the kids hung out with us the whole time. Frederick, thankfully, crashed in his stroller for the evening. Henry and Clara eventually fell asleep on either side of Grandpa Bill.

Amber used the lighting to our best advantage and got what is probably the only photo of Pete and I together from the night.

Rob and Carrie's family stayed with us for the weekend. We put the kids to work raking. 

Monday of that weekend was Veteran's day. The big kids and I took advantage of the free day and took the train down to the Art Institute. The lions were not yet sporting their holiday wreaths.

We saw a lot of cool things and had a really great day together!

About a week later I was able to go out on the town for the night with some girlfriends form school. It's nice to be back with such great colleagues and friends!

Last Sunday I braved the tornadic weather and took Henry and some friends out to a birthday movie. The movie was pretty terrible, but the popcorn was good. I sat behind the boys and was official popcorn refiller. We had frozen yogurt and checked out the Lego store afterwards. I think they had a great time.

Here's another school picture. My school was just awarded the national Blue Ribbon award, which is a pretty big deal. We all wore blue on the day the principal and my 2nd grade teammate/friend Nancy brought the award back. The picture is blurry, but there's the kiddos I work with every day.

Last night the big kids and I went downtown to try to catch the Magnificent Mile lights parade. I don't know when I'll officially give up on this fiasco. It's always too cold and too crowded. Aunt Carrie was in town for a conference, though, so she met us and we tried it anyway. We were able to hoist the kids high enough to wave to Goofy and Pluto and then we took off to meet Sarah, Orion and Archer for dinner at the Berghoff. Another blurry picture, but it sort of captured the moment as we left and looked for a cab to get back to our minivan. The kids were probably most excited by riding in a taxi, which was a first for them.

Go Hawks!!

Halloween 2013

Halloween morning it was a little hard to leave the house. It was raining, and the kids were watching out the front door as I pulled away. Made me feel a little sad. But we all had a fun day, even when we weren't together, so it turned out okay. 

 Pete left work early and his parents came down so they could all go see the Meadowbrook parade. Then Mary and Peter hung out with the baby a bit while the big kids did round one of trick-or-treating.

 Our pumpkins were mostly cheerful this year.

 The kids were in rain boots and umbrellas, but they still went out 3 separate times.

 Frederick stayed home, due to the rain. I dressed him up anyway.

 After her second time out, Clara's penguin tail was a bit wet, so she had a costume change.

 Frederick spent much of the night at the front door, doing this.

When all of the trick-or-treating was over, the kids counted up and sorted their loot. They enjoyed the mustaches they picked up at one house.